House of Yoshida Tsukasa
| House of Yoshida Tsukasa 吉田司家 Yoshida tsukasa-ke | |
|---|---|
kamon of the House of Yoshida Tsukasa | |
| Home province | Bungo later Kumamoto Prefecture |
| Titles |
|
| Founder | Yoshida Ietsugu |
| Final ruler | Yoshida Nagayoshi |
| Current head | Yoshida Nagataka |
| Founding year | 1186 |
| Dissolution | still extant |
| Ruled until | 1951 (emergence of the Yokozuna Deliberation Council) |
The House of Yoshida Tsukasa (吉田司家), also commonly called Yoshida family, is a Japanese aristocratic family who was once responsible for the organization of professional sumo in feudal Japan, controlling rikishi (professional wrestlers) and gyōji (sumo referees) throughout the country, making sure that sumo etiquette was strictly observed, and granting the rank of yokozuna and tate-gyōji through a license system.
Although still in existence today, the Yoshida family saw its authority over the sumo world diminish significantly during the Meiji restoration, and was only figurative by the early 1950s, until it ceased to be a nominating body when the Yokozuna Deliberation Council was created.