At its board meeting on 3/28, the Nihon Sumo Kyokai approved a plan to shutter Miyagino-beya and move its wrestlers and oyakata to Isegahama-beya in time for the May tournament. Hakuoho and other Miyagino-beya wrestlers will be introduced at the upcoming tournament as being from Isegahama-beya and they will not be able to fight against each other. The Isegahama Ichimon, led by Asakayama-oyakata (ex-Kaio), will be responsible for reporting back to the Kyokai after each tournament. They will provide guidance to Miyagino with an eye to re-opening his heya in the future, though there are no timelines for that at this point.
Readers will recall that the Hokuseiho bullying scandal broke during the Hatsu basho. The details quickly ensnared the heya’s master, Hakuho, because he knew of Hokuseiho’s behavior but did nothing to correct or address it for over a year. Hakuho was demoted but not dismissed from the Kyokai, and Tamagaki-oyakata was appointed as an interim-master for the Osaka tournament while the Ichimon, and the Kyokai, deliberated on a plan for what to do. Other proposals for the fate of Miyagino-beya after Osaka were considered by the Kyokai but rejected, including the idea to have wrestlers move to separate heya or be absorbed entirely at other heya in the Ichimon.
Further details about a potential reopening of Miyagino-beya have not been decided or revealed, such as whether the heya would retain its remaining wresters. Hokuseiho resigned before the tournament and Jonidan wrestler, Kurokage, retired afterward. Obviously, it is not clear at this point how well the individual wrestlers, Hakuho or Ishiura are taking this plan. It is certainly possible that other retirements will follow but I hope this will serve as a valuable education for Hakuho on how better to run and manage 20 young blokes. Folks will be quick to point out that Isegahama is not without its own scandals, including one that resulted in the demotion of Isegahama and his resignation from the board.
Commentary
This is an extraordinary decision by the Kyokai and a novel resolution to the bullying scandal. As I mentioned, we will probably never know all of the details or how the individuals have been dealing with this period of uncertainty. But it seemed apparent from the few interactions that we saw with Hakuho, that he was “bummed” to say the least. I imagine this period has been stressful as hell. Now that there is a path forward, I hope that everyone involved will make the best of it.
That’s not just lip service. It must be a challenge to manage a group of 20 dudes and teach them to live together in peace and harmony (while encouraging them to physically fight each other each day), oh, and to navigate a rigid hierarchy that results in some wrestlers being virtual serfs to those at the top. Hakuho took on a massive task when he took over Miyagino-beya. He has been a great recruiting success at a time when the sport NEEDS it.
The Kyokai acknowledges and appreciates the value that he provides…otherwise he would not still be there. The Hakuho Cup would transition to the Terunofuji Cup, just as it shifted from being the Asashoryu Cup. But Hakuho really has made that HIS cup and he’s even breaking down barriers with girls’ amateur sumo. He’s been committed to developing wanpaku sumo and he’s always been committed to the fans. So, for all of the Hakuho fans out there, ready to lambast the Kyokai as hypocritical tyrants, find solace in the fact that Hakuho is not Takanohana. He’s not an adversary. He’s an asset.
I am speculating here but I think Hakuho had no idea what to do with Hokuseiho. He’d committed to the kid when Hokuseiho was in elementary school and was kind of stuck with him from there. When Hokuseiho became an entitled prat, Hakuho did not know how to get him to stop and respect his lower-ranked stablemates. Hakuho seems to have picked out a good crop of guys since then. I’m not sure if Isegahama or Asakayama will have any great answers, either, but this will buy him the time that he probably needed in order to figure it out. The delay in opening Kakuryu’s stable, for instance, may not have been entirely about citizenship status and kabu negotiations but in preparing for, “how in the hell am I going to do this?”
As a parent of two kids, I know how to discipline my kids — at least I think so — but I would be utter crap at disciplining someone else’s kids, your kids. Shoot, I yelled at one of the neighbor’s kids about 10 years ago and the poor kid still seems traumatized. (He’s not laid a finger on my kids’ stuff, though, since.) Similarly, management is not fun. Conflict happens and some people seem to enjoy it and promote it which really freaks me out…especially at work. So, management and leadership are extremely important to get right. When Miyagino-beya reopens, I think he will have a better idea of what to do and how to do it.
They’ve been putting me in leadership development courses and stuff at work. This is a direct quote: “Andy, don’t do it. This is leadership, not work. We just want the plan, we don’t want you to do it.” My brain seized as I thought, “but this would be so easy.” I see a parallel in Hakuho’s excitement when he gets his mawashi on and gets in the ring. He’s like, “I just love sumo, I really wanna do sumo.” Similarly, I’m like, “Just let me get this s*** done, dude. It’s fun.” But there comes a time when you need to hang up the mawashi and let others get in the ring because you need to focus on helping the next generation develop their skills (and hopefully improve it and do it even better). That transition has been difficult for me and may be for him, as well.
What I have hated the most about this whole episode is the character assassination and rumor-mill which gets reported by some in the press. But I’ll not rant about that here. I have been very happy to see that the Tachiai viewership of day-to-day tournament coverage eclipsed the “scandal coverage,” so I sure feel pretty damn good about my readers. You all know what’s up. Sure, the scandal will certainly have an impact on the careers of our gladiators (and the sport as a whole) so it’s important to cover it and know what is going on. But the action on the dohyo is what brings us here, not the tawdry bits.
I see scandal coverage as sprinkles on top of an ice cream sundae — tasteless faff that I could do without and that certainly doesn’t add anything to the overall greatness of the ice cream sundae. And I leave the scandal meter up because it seems that as soon as I get optimistic and take it down, there’s a new scandal. My apologies for jinxing things. Let’s hope that number just gets bigger.
