Sports Graphic Number is a Japanese sports magazine and they published an interesting profile of Suginomori Eri in this latest issue. She is the wife of Ajigawa-oyakata (ex Aminishiki). The article details the role she plays as Okamisan in the heya, waking at 5am and working late into the night. Her husband manages on-dohyo activities and training while she handles much of the day-to-day operations, from organizing events to emailing supporters (even foreign supporters, in English).
The importance of okamisan, and the workload, is well known in Japan. But as foreign fans, we do not often see much about them. They are often present at promotion ceremonies and heya events but they’re rarely mentioned and their role is not often detailed in the media — especially the English-language media. So, I wanted to make sure to highlight this particular article.
There is, understandably, variation among heya as the larger ones often have gyoji and other staff available to help with management. However, for a small group like Ajigawa, much of this falls to the okamisan. The wife of the master is often unheralded, performing many tasks in the background and without plaudits or praise from the public. In Japanese, the phrase “縁の下の力持ち” (en-no-shita no chikara-mochi) expresses this concept of someone who works hard in the background, invisibly, for the success of the team or another individual.
The Number article speaks of difficulty coming early for the couple. Soon after marriage in 2013, Aminishiki’s injuries began to take a toll on his active career. He retired in 2019 with his retirement ceremony originally scheduled for July of 2020. The Covid pandemic, however, hit hard and resulted in delaying his haircut twice — ultimately taking place in May 2022. This meant Suginomori had to re-do promotional materials, reorganize the event and hand-process refunds, twice.
On a day-to-day basis, she is preparing bento for the couples’ three children and ferrying them to the train station to go to school — as well as managing the relationships with corporate supporters and visitors to the heya for keiko and chanko. With Haru basho ahead, she is the first to head to Osaka and arrange for accomodations.
Now, with a new Ozeki in the heya — who happens to be on a rope run — the Okamisan is coordinating his Ozeki promotion party, scheduled for June. After each tournament, she schedules time to check-in with each wrestler because ultimately she is a surrogate mother figure for each man. They’ve also set up a supporter association for retired wrestlers since many will retire quite young without having established a successful sekitori career as an active wrestler. She wants her wrestlers to be proud of their time with the heya, even after they have moved on.
The article is a great peek into the life of an Okamisan. Though they’re often out of the public eye, likely by choice, they play a crucial part in this traveling circus we call Grand Sumo.
