Reader jmotzi had a very interesting question that I felt needed more/better explanation on my part. First of all, the reports do not indicate that Isegahama-oyakata will be appointed to supervise Miyagino-beya. As jmotzi points out, Isegahama had his own bullying controversy which resulted in the loss of his powerful position on the Kyokai’s board. Instead of Isegahama-oyakata, the reports indicate that an oyakata will come from Isegahama-ichimon and if that name has been determined, I have not seen it reported.
“Interesting that the caretaker is from Isegahama-beya which had it’s own bullying episode in 2022. Or maybe I am confused by the names. Anyway we can hope that this puts everybody on notice regarding these type of behaviors and all stables become more proactive.”
jmotzi
The various (usually around 40) stables are organized into associated groups, or factions, called Ichimon. I’m not going to dive into the politics and the leadership contests and leadership struggles because, well, I am still just trying to bring myself up-to-speed on that. But if you are trying to run an organization and achieve consensus on issues, it’s easier to work with a smaller group of factions than 40 independent leaders, no?
The Isegahama Ichimon includes Miyagino-beya, as well as Oshima, Asakayama, Asahiyama, and Ajigawa. The latter two of these stables do not have subordinate oyakata, or coaches but the others have a number of subordinate coaches who might be able to pick up the mantle here. I have not seen any indication that the Kyokai is planning to choose a current stablemaster, or a subordinate oyakata. If anyone has seen that, please let me know.
I would not be surprised if the Kyokai would prefer an existing stablemaster. Then again, I would not be surprised if the Kyokai thinks it would be too much and would prefer the caretaker be one of the subordinates. I have listed a table of the oyakata available here and there are a number of very interesting possibilities. I think a lot of people would love to see Kaisei take a leadership role but that would be quite the surprise, no?
Kaio.
I’m struggling to imagine that any of the 30-something-year-old affiliated oyakata will be given an outright leadership role over Miyagino-beya’s wrestlers, which would just leave 59-year-old Tamagaki from that group.
This is really an unprecedented situation, though. If it’s handled anything like the Kasugayama-beya closure a few years ago (not that this is a closure here, I’m just grasping at straws to draw parallels): Maybe they’ll put one of the heya-owning oyakata in charge officially, but delegate the work at Miyagino-beya to one of the affiliated ones. Oshima/Tamagaki would be the obvious combination in that case, but maybe they’d even be open to using Magaki in the subordinate role since he’s already established at the stable, reporting to somebody that’s not Hakuho.
However, I can’t even begin to guess how Magaki is now seen at the conclusion of the investigation. He has been both an active rikishi and an oyakata during the time period of Hokuseiho’s many transgressions, but he was also dealing with his career-ending injury before the change in status. No idea if he’s seen as complicit in some way. (The lack of a penalty on him means nothing, the full official responsibility is always assigned to the stablemaster.)
The only one that doesn’t make any sense at all is Asahiyama-oyakata, since his stable is located out in Chiba and he has nobody to sub for him there. Other than that, this could go any number of ways, including something totally different from my hunches/guesses.
I really like the idea of an executive “team” that you have here. The master imparts his wisdom and delegates to his junior…who likely has many of the skills needed. Meanwhile Hakuho hopefully learns valuable lessons.
I even wonder if the idea might have been Hakuho’s. A last ditch effort to save his skin. I mean, he has Hakuoho just starting to come back. He’s such a charming, talented youth and he wants to do it right. But maybe in a moment of humility he said, “I have no idea how to punish these guys when they do something wrong. What do you do?”
Hakuho has value, and as we see with his work in wanpaku and joshi sumo, he loves the sport. With his recruiting, coaching, he’s a great asset. But he had no idea what to do with Hokuseiho. Even after the apology, I don’t know if Hokuseiho gets it.
Wasn’t Magaki during his time in the ring as Ishiura, also accused of abusing or assaulting his juniors in a few instances?
There was one case where emotions spilled over during a training session, and he and another Miyagino rikishi needed to be restrained from going at it by their stablemates, but I think the general view was that this incident was blown way out of proportion.
Wasn’t that incident with Hokaho, who despite being lower-ranked wasn’t exactly a junior?
Yup.
Based on my impressions, i would expect a more experienced person ( as an Oyakata ) than Kaisei to take this mission. But, I remember in a “Sumo Prime Time” video, Miyagino Oyakata saying Kaisei was possibly too nice in a coaching context, and later Asakayama ( ex Kaio ) when asked said, “He’s adorable. I don’t think he needs to change anything, i want him to coach young rikishi with kindness” which stood out to me. ( i did have to review the video to make sure i wasn’t mis-remembering ) I think Kaio knows that you don’t need to coach in a militant or insensitive way. He or Kaisei would be a great pick. People defend the “hard road” as a winning method because that’s how they had it, but they can’t prove they would have been unsuccessful without it. I think the qualities to succeed are in there and bashing it out is not the only way to do it. It actually takes more skill to be patient and thoughtful. Though i can respect the old grouchy method somewhat as i get older. Sorry to rant, i’ve been holding it all in since this drama unfolded. cheers
But the nice guy would still need to deal with Hokuseiho. What’s the “nice guy” method?
Let me contribute to this question: the nice guy’s work would base on clear and open communication, trust, reliance and a friendly perception of other‘s strengths and weaknesses. He would have a heya community which is attentive to what happens to any member of it, so nobody would be left alone with a guy who can‘t handle the responsibility put on him as the ‚top dog‘ of the group. The weight would lie in prevention more than reaction on bad things you simply wait for to happen or not. There‘s always influence, even on people who are already ‚spoiled‘ in some way. Hard work sometimes, patience is awarded.
On youtube you can watch nice videos of the Futagoyama beya everyday life. They seem to enjoy living together and have a good time while sharing their work. It‘s not only a question who the persons are. Carefully built social environment is obviously playing a key role. The heya itself has a broader network and cooperates with surrounding institutions, as I understood.
This could be a perfect background for intense training, and evoking the best results from every athlet. In the end the development of exciting sumo, of course. :)
I once dated a lady who studied early childhood education and I always quizzed her on how she would avoid corporal punishment when dealing with any situation i could imagine. She always had a great response. There’s always a way, or you make him retire. ( ye old reliable method)
Oh, I didn’t think that was a rant, btw. It is a very valid and interesting perspective.
Looks like it’s Tamagaki: http://www.sumoforum.net/forums/topic/43550-hokuseiho-accused-of-bullying-hakuho-faces-demotion/?page=9&tab=comments#comment-512302
Yeah, he seemed the most senior of the supporting, non-stablemasters.