Analysis11
Does the East side really have an edge?
Conclusion
East-side rikishi averaged 7.59 wins and West-side rikishi 7.41. But when the same rank is compared directly, the difference is almost zero. The advantage belongs to banzuke rank, not direction.
How to read this number
The banzuke ranks East above West at every level: at Maegashira 5, East outranks West. Averaged across everyone, East therefore wins more by construction, not by advantage.
The test is simple: compare East and West at the same rank. Once that is done the difference all but disappears. The east side of the ring carries no luck, and the dressing room does not matter. What was visible was the ordering of the banzuke itself.
It is a clean example of a common trap. Comparing raw averages quietly compares things you never intended to compare. That is why the other tests on this site try to hold conditions steady first.
Methodology
- Period
- Hatsu 2000 through Natsu 2026
- Sample
- Basho took all 15 bouts at Makuuchi Kunio
- Sample size
- East 3,001Basho, West 2,888Basho
- Calculation
- 1Basho average wins. East 7.59 wins, West 7.41 wins
- Same status comparison
- The average difference between East and West for the same position and number of wins is -0.01 wins, which is practically zero.
How to read this
The overall difference between east and west includes the order in which east is half a page higher on Banzuke.