Headline, January25, 2014

''' SUMO : SUN AND SUMMER '''

SUMO HAS, FOR CENTURIES,  been the epitome of all things Japanese. Centuries old, it has its root in the state-sponsored Shinto religion.

Like the geisha and the kabuki theatre, it is uniquely Japanese. But commercialisation has meant that the upper ranks of the sport have in recent years, been dominated by foreign fighters  -mainly Mongolians, Russians and east Europeans.

Sumo commentators have lamented the influx of these foreigners, claiming that they steal the limelight from aspiring Japanese wrestlers, while their lack of cultural knowledge and more subtle risks turning professional sumo into a freak show akin to American professional wrestling.

Others have taken a more pragmatic view, pointing to the lack of young Japanese men willing to put in the time and extreme effort required for a successful Sumo career. 

If Sumo is to continue in Japan they say the outsiders, the  gaijin rikishi  as they are known, are a necessary evil.

Despite the genteel image sumo elders have fostered, money has always been the big part of the sport. This is no charity, nor is it an admirable effort to preserve some old and important culture. It is business, pure and simple.

The stars rake in millions by millions of pounds a year and successful stables can count on rich patrons and lucrative sponsorship deals to keep them comfortable. 

But while the Sumo Association has shown considerable business acumen in negotiating deals on broadcast rights and has managed to get serious concessions from the tax authorities, the sport and its leaders are in no rush to adopt other modern practices. 

UNLIKE other professional sports, sumo lacks both transparency and accountability. There is no elected chairman or president. Instead the Sumo Association  -a so-called gentleman's club of 108 elders  -has absolute power.

The Association sets its own rules and answers to no one. The post of chairman rotates among the elders. In more restrained times, the setup appeared to work just fine. In recent times, however, cracks have begun to appear.

Then, some years ago, the National Sumo Stadium in Ryogoku, which also houses the headquarters of the Sumo Association, was far from its usual authoritarian calm. Bathed in the harsh glare of TV cameras, sweaty nervous, giant men in navy suits were harried by journalists.

In covering an endless series of crises meetings by the battered Sumo Association, the usually compliant Japanese media went for the jugular, calling for resignations and accusing sumo wrestlers of using drugs, match fixing and worse.

The last straw for the chairman of the association, the former wrestler Kitanoumi, was when three Russians wrestlers, one from his very own stable, were accused of smoking marijuana  -a grade-one drug offence in Japan. 

The Yokozuna, or grand master, of the Eighties and Nineties tried desperately to fend off critcs. But when Russian behemoth wrestler Wakanoho  -real name Soslan Aleksandrovich Gagloev-  admitted using the drug, the walls came crashing down Kitanoumi resigned.

The Russian's confession blew the lid off the already nervous world of sumo; his determination to fight to the bitter end, telling a court hearing that he was offered £3,600 to throw a bout, shook things further. ''The world of sumo is dirty,'' he told a journalist. ''I want to help restore it.''

But much worse was to come. The days ahead got clouded with investigations into the death of a 17-year-old apprentice wrestler. For once, the results of the investigation were published, uncovering institutionalised bullying, intimidation and violence 

As recently as 2003  -when the last Japanese-born superstar, Takanohana, retired   -sumo could still bring the country to a halt as millions sat glued to their TV screens.

Takanohana's bouts with the Hawaiian wrestler, Akebono, were legendary. Ticket lines at Ryogoku would snake around several blocks and ticket scalpers would do brisk business.

Then, the scalpers left and most people tuned in to the last day of the six-yearly tournaments   -if they cared to watch them at all. Even the imperial couple, long a mainstay of any tournament held in Tokyo, show up less and less.

''Something needs to be done, that's for sure, but I doubt that bringing in foreigners will solve the problem for us,''  the Oyakatta   (the stable master) sighs.

''I don't know what it is with Japanese wrestlers these days. They don't seem motivated. In the old days, young boys would do anything to be a wrestler.''

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of Japan. See Ya all on !WOW! -the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless:

''' Enigma Variations '''

Good Night & God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless