toku-dawara

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 徳俵 (tokudawara, “special rice bale”).

Noun

toku-dawara pl (plural only)

1. (sumo) Small enlargements at the cardinal points of the dohyo; originally the entry and exit points.
   • 1976, The East, volume 12:

     In fact, the sumo ring is not exactly round. Instead, the ring is broadened at four points by the width of a small rice bag (see fig. 1). These four rice bags placed at the cardinal points of the ring are called toku-dawara (lucky straw bags).

   • 2000, Tony Allan, Realm of the Rising Sun: Japanese Myth, page 51:

     Just outside the circle the cardinal directions are marked by four tokudawara. It is only on these that the contestant can step outside the ring and not be deemed to have lost.