bullying

Michinoku-Beya Violence Scandal Update

Andy Scandal ,

Tachiai needs to close the loop on the most recent scandal to hit the sumo world which forced me to resurrect the scandal counter. Regular readers will remember that just before the Natsu basho Yasunishi, a junior wrestler at Michinoku-Beya, went to the press in order to call out a stablemate (revealed as Kirinofuji) for bullying. The allegations included verbal and physical abuse. Yasunishi’s protestations were apparently met with a tepid response from Michinoku-oyakata thus the need to go to the press and force his hand, with apparent support of another stablemate.

Kirinofuji retired but that is not the end of the story. We found out today that the Kyokai investigated the way that Michinoku handled the situation and found fault with the way that he minimized or dismissed the allegations. Michinoku will be docked 20% of his salary for 3 months and lost his position as head of operations, though he retains a position on the board.

After repeated rules violations by deshi, Tokiwayama-oyakata and more recently Isegahama-oyakata, suffered harsh demotions. The lesson should be clear. Michinoku will need to watch his junior deshi a bit closer now and act proactively to tackle bullying and harassment in his stable.

Isegahama Bullying Incident Leads Oyakata to Resign from Board

Andy Scandal , ,

It’s Two-Fer-One Tuesday, I mean Monday, here at Tachiai! The holidays have offered up a real backlog of scandals! We’re practically giving them away!

From Jalopnik

Andy, you’d make a terrible pitch man. Just say you don’t have a picture of Isegahama and get on with the news, buddy.

While the Ichinojo thing has actually been stewing for a few months and has found some resolution (for now), another revelation has taken us by surprise today. There’s been a bullying situation at Isegahama-beya involving three wrestlers from the lower-ranks.

We do not know the identities of the wrestlers officially, yet, but two wrestlers were apparently bullying a third. The bullying included the victim being physically punched and stomped, as well as burned with chanko. One of the bullies has been forced to retire while the other is suspended for two tournaments. Isegahama has resigned from his post on the Board of Directors.

This is certainly a sad situation which has cost at least one wrestler his career. Isegahama-beya has had several recent new recruits and a few banzuke-gai, so it’s certainly not clear at this point what impact it will have on the stable. Sadly, there will be more to come on this story.

Yobidashi Takuro Out

Andy Controversy, Scandal , ,
List of Yobidashi 10-26-2019

As Herouth reported yesterday, despite the Compliance Committee’s recommendation of a two tournament ban, Takuro insisted on resigning. He was the Tate-Yobidashi, or the highest ranking of the dohyo support crew. Thus ends the career of likely the most recognizable face among the sport’s yobidashi. The Sumo Kyokai website has removed his name and now Jiro (次郎) stands as the top one, rather than the next one. Click the link for the full list.

Takuro was accused and admitted to striking two subordinates. He struck the first for eating breakfast in the section of seating reserved for patrons, and then snapped at the other for not reprimanding the first. Herouth has a full write-up here.

Takanofuji Intai Saga Update

Andy Retirement, Scandal , , ,

As was reported in the lead-up to September’s Grand Sumo Tournament, Takanofuji is at the center of yet another bullying incident. As the scandal broke before the tournament, he was suspended and did not compete. Based on the findings from the resulting investigation, and as reported by Mainichi Shimbun, the Nippon Sumo Kyokai recommended retirement and Takanofuji’s stable master, Chiganoura-oyakata, has also requested Takanofuji retire.

The incident that brought all of this to a head occurred on August 31. Takanofuji was angered by his Jonidan-ranked attendant’s poor attitude, and according to the Mainichi report, he didn’t like that the junior wrestler bathed first. As a result, Takanofuji punched the victim in the forehead creating a lump on his head and resulting in pain that lasted a couple of days.

The victim ran away from the stable with two fellow wrestlers. Why two others? The three wrestlers were given nicknames of “Niwatori,” “Hiyoko,” and “Jidori” by Takanofuji and the allegations are that they were habitually berated. They were told that rather than saying “Hai,” they should cluck like chickens (say, “ko-ke”).

This is Takanofuji’s second offense, thus the recommendation of retirement. Though he admitted the facts of the Aug. 31 incident, Takanofuji claims he did not hit the tsukebito hard. He held a press conference today, flanked by his attorney, where he stated that he does not intend to resign, asking for a lighter punishment and stronger regulation of the sport from the Japan Sports Agency, a Government Agency under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Asahi Shimbun is reporting that if he will not resign, the Kyokai will take disciplinary measures which may be a forced retirement.

The reporting on that last point is rather vague so I will try to learn what they mean. It sounded like there is a range of punishment…but to me I don’t know how much range of disciplinary “measures” there can be between “voluntary retirement” and “forced retirement”. Are fines and criminal proceedings a possible outcome? Can Chiganoura evict his unruly deshi or can he only apply pressure to encourage him to leave? I do not know but hope to find answers. The physical bullying seems to be the tip of the iceberg and this story will be around for a while, unfortunately.

Given the seriousness of the allegations, it’s understandable that there are very strong opinions. As many of my Twitter followers are aware of my little Twitter rant, I do want to note my firm belief in due process and uncovering the facts. I had a lot of questions before I reported this today; many of those have been answered as I read more but I still do have many other questions. I trust their process to deliver a just punishment in the handling of the case.