According to "Sumo-densho" (a manual on sumo wrestling written during the Edo period), it is said that audience defined a circular space having a diameter of seven to nine meters (four to five ken) and called it as Hito-hoya in the Kamakura period.
『相撲伝書』によると鎌倉時代に見物人が直径7～9m（4～5間）輪を作り、これを｢人方屋｣といったという。