＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
<Added 9/27/2021>
Hakuho, who lacked the dignity of a Yokozuna and was bad at giving up, has finally decided to retire. His retirement is natural, but I think it’s too late. I think he was the “worst Yokozuna in the history of the Heisei era.”
I also believe that “Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hakkaku bears a great deal of responsibility for allowing Hakuho to continue in his career, despite his lack of dignity as a yokozuna, exemplified by his almost foul-like techniques and his domineering and arrogant behavior both inside and outside the ring.”
I believe that sumo stablemaster Miyagino, who looked to Hakuho for approval and did not (could not) say what he should have said, and Chairman Hakkaku, who continued to defend Hakuho, should take responsibility and resign immediately.
<Added 2021/3/24> Kakuryu, who had been refusing to quit, has finally announced his retirement.
It can be summed up in one word: “It’s too late.” I think the remaining wrestler, Hakuho, should also retire as soon as possible.
He frequently used violent techniques such as kachiage (pushing down) and slaps (striking down), which are unbecoming of a yokozuna, and made unnecessary finishing blows and repeatedly made fist pumps on the ring, displaying unseemly behavior that showed no sign of the dignity of a yokozuna.
The attitude of Chairman Hakkaku, who panders to Hakuho, is also unpleasant and incomprehensible.
<Added 3/12/2021> Kakuryu should retire immediately.
His repeated absences are an “abuse of Yokozuna privileges”!
Continuing his “slacker hiatus,” Kakuryu also missed the New Year tournament, and despite saying he would “decide his future at the Spring tournament,” he withdrew again just before the Spring tournament. I would like to say, “Kakuryu, who continues to take a slacker hiatus, should just retire quickly.”
The stablemaster Mutsu (former ozeki Kirishima) also recommended that he retire, but Kakuryu said that he “still has the desire to remain a yokozuna” and that he “wants to take a break and continue active.”
However, as a sumo fan, I feel extremely infuriated by Kakuryu’s dishonorable attitude of refusing to retire and taking a break from the tournament.
I think that the Yokozuna Deliberation Committee after the Spring Tournament should be able to impose a more severe punishment than a “retirement recommendation,” namely “disciplinary dismissal.” The situation is so urgent that it may be possible to impose a punishment before the Spring Tournament.
However, strangely enough, on March 12, Shibatayama (former yokozuna Onokuni), the Japan Sumo Association’s public relations director, announced that “the Yokozuna Deliberation Committee will not be held after the Spring Tournament, taking into consideration the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Although it could have been held as an online meeting or a rotating meeting, the decision not to hold one is understandable as it raises suspicions that the Sumo Association was trying to curry favor with Hakuho and avoid recommending retirement to Kakuryu.
<Added 11/26/2020> The Yokozuna Deliberation Committee finally resolved to “warn” Hakuho and Kakuryu on 11/23
It seems a little late, but perhaps the Yokozuna Deliberation Committee has grown tired of Hakuho and Kakuryu, who have both missed three consecutive tournaments, including the November tournament, and has finally resolved to “warn” them.
Personally, I think it would have been better for Kakuryu to be advised to retire. Kakuryu recently acquired Japanese citizenship, and will be able to remain in the sumo world as a stablemaster even after his retirement.
Seeing through perspective, you could say that “he was clinging to his Yokozuna title by repeatedly taking time off until he obtained Japanese citizenship.” If this is the truth, I think that a person who uses such underhanded and cowardly methods is not fit to be Yokozuna…
On the other hand, Hakuho can also be called a “great yokozuna” if we look only at his wins and number of championships, but his rough approach in the main matches, such as his “powerful thrusts” and his arrogant behavior outside the ring, are by no means befitting a yokozuna.
Depending on how he performs and behaves in the 2021 Hatsu Basho, I think it would not be surprising if they recommended that he retire.
I hope that Miyagino Oyakata (Hakuho’s stablemaster) and the Sumo Association will change their servile attitude of always looking to Hakuho for approval and take a firm stance.
By the way, the Yokozuna Deliberation Committee’s “internal rules” state that if a Yokozuna has many absences or has performed very poorly as a Yokozuna and is deemed unworthy of the rank, the committee can make decisions such as “encouragement,” “warning,” or “recommending retirement.”
<Added on 2020/7/20> Kakuryu’s absence from this tournament is outrageous. He should leave the ring immediately!
On the first day of the July tournament, he lost to Endo, and it was reported that he had once again submitted a notice of absence. I believe that the Sumo Association should not accept Kakuryu’s notice of absence, but rather recommend his retirement.
This will be Kakuryu’s 16th absence since the first tournament of the year, which is far too many. His reason for taking the day off is that he “worsened an injury during the match,” but it doesn’t seem like an obvious injury, and to me it seems like he’s taking a “snub” out of fear that “if he continues to compete like this, he will continue to lose.” Was a “fair diagnosis by a disinterested doctor” designated by the Sumo Association carried out?
１．Former Yokozuna Takanohana’s “Rebellion”
Following the Takanoiwa assault incident by Harumafuji in November 2017, former yokozuna Takanohana came into decisive conflict with the Japan Sumo Association, led by Chairman Hakkaku (former yokozuna Kitakachiyama), and was ultimately forced to retire.
Although Takanohana’s handling of his dealings with the Japan Sumo Association and Isegahama stablemaster after the incident was outrageous, it was a poor approach that was difficult for the general public to accept, and he also took inexplicable actions such as fielding multiple candidates in the association’s board of directors election, which further isolated him, leading to the worst possible outcome: he withdrew his complaint and resigned.
２．Japan Sumo Association “Expels Takanohana”
After the incident, the Japan Sumo Association applied tangible and intangible pressure (power harassment) in order to “drive Takanohana out,” saying, “The accusations were made based on groundless reasons. You will have no choice but to retire as a stablemaster.” After doing prior groundwork with the stablemasters other than Takanohana, they suddenly made the decision to change the rules to “all stablemasters must belong to a stable, and stablemasters who do not belong to a stable cannot have their own stable,” and without informing Takanohana, they forced him to resign.
３．Takanohana’s belief in the “way of sumo” is unwavering
However, I think Takanohana’s belief in “Sumo-do” (the way of sumo) of “spending one’s life” is unwavering and admirable. Perhaps he has completely lost patience with the Japan Sumo Association, which has yet to break away from its old habits of “concealment,” “violence (pampering),” and “fixed matches (buying and selling wins).”
４．Yokozuna Hakuho’s recent “arrogant attitude and behavior” is outrageous and unbecoming of a Yokozuna.
It may also be that at the root of his resentment is his growing dissatisfaction with the Sumo Association’s pandering attitude toward Yokozuna Hakuho, his “arrogant attitude and behavior,” his “excessive use of slaps and dodging during the initial bout,” which are uncharacteristic of a Yokozuna’s style, and “the formation of factions among Mongolian wrestlers.”
<Added on 2019/11/25> Yokozuna Deliberation Committee requests guidance for Hakuho’s slap, saying it was “too much and unsightly”
I think the Yokozuna Deliberation Committee has finally said what it needed to say to the Sumo Association. To be honest, I think it was too late, but I think everyone agrees that Hakuho’s “arrogant attitude and behavior” and “powerful slaps and thrusts, and other aspects of sumo unbecoming of a yokozuna” are unimpressive. Given the current situation in the Sumo Association where Hakuho is the only strong player, perhaps Chairman Hakkaku and Public Relations Director Shibatayama are reluctant to voice harsh opinions due to their “weakness of relying on Hakuho,” but I think Takanohana has long considered this an issue. To me, he just seems like a “heterodox yokozuna who is tarnishing the way of Japanese sumo.”
The proverb “It’s better to win even if it means taking a small step” does not fit in with Yokozuna sumo.
５．The ancient practice of “fixing” in sumo
Regarding the “match-fixing problem,” former Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro has stated his opinion by saying, “That’s just how sumo is. It has always been a given,” and criticized the current state of the sumo world by saying, “It’s ridiculous to say that sumo is a national sport that is the essence of Japanese culture and is based on Japanese culture and tradition.”
This is just second-hand news that my father heard from an avid sumo fan, so I don’t know how true it is, but he said that “wrestlers ranked at or above Juryo are guaranteed a very high salary if they win more than they lose, so when times get tough, it’s common for them to trade wins in exchange for each other’s wins, or “fixed matches.”
By the way, the current monthly salary for a “Juryo” wrestler is 1.1 million yen, “Maegashira” 1.4 million yen, “Sanyaku” 1.8 million yen, “Ozeki” 2.5 million yen, and “Yokozuna” 3 million yen. That’s a pretty high salary even for a Juryo wrestler.
I loved Takanohana’s “serious sumo” during his active years. In the summer tournament in 2001, he was injured after losing to Musashimaru, but he did not take a break and instead defeated Musashimaru in the deciding match on the final day to win the championship. When Junichiro Koizumi, the prime minister at the time, personally handed Takanohana the Prime Minister’s Cup, he said, “You did a great job enduring the pain! I’m so moved!”
６．Repeated absences from tournaments by Mongolian Yokozuna
Former yokozuna Asashoryu was supposed to be “taking a break due to injury,” but he was reportedly seen playing soccer in Mongolia, drawing criticism.
I feel like Kakuryu has been absent from tournaments too many times. He also withdrew midway through this year’s Hatsu Basho. I’m sure he had a “doctor’s note,” but there were many cases where I was left scratching my head wondering if his injuries were serious enough to warrant a withdrawal. If you look at it meanly, it seems like he’s “slacking off” by taking a break when he starts losing. Kakuryu has been absent from tournaments 12 times.
I am also sometimes concerned about Hakuho’s absence. His absence from the first tournament this year is especially puzzling. He seems to have a doctor’s certificate, but he didn’t seem injured enough to warrant a rest. Am I the only one who thinks it was a “cover-up” for Tamawashi, who won the tournament?
Hakuho’s absence was also brought up as an issue at the Yokozuna Deliberation Committee after the first tournament. Chairman Kitamura (honorary advisor to the Mainichi Newspapers) said after the Yokozuna Deliberation Committee, “Both Hakuho and Kakuryu were wrestling properly up until that point. They suffered consecutive losses, but from the outside it didn’t look like they had suffered a serious injury. No one knows except for him. It’s disappointing in that sense. There were definitely voices saying, ‘something’s wrong.'”
It seems that there was also discussion about making it mandatory to “submit a medical certificate by a doctor designated by the association” in the future. Chairman Kitamura said, “In the case of injuries like that, it would be fine for the decision on how many days a wrestler needs to rest to be made by a doctor selected by the association, not the wrestler’s doctor. There was also the opinion that it would be fine for there to be a diagnosis that everyone can agree on.”
I would like to see the yokozuna, who continues to make questionable absences in order to maintain his title, leave the ring with dignity.
７．Kisenosato’s absence
The reason for Kisenosato’s first absence from the tournament was that he was pushed down in his bout against Harumafuji on the 13th day of the 2017 Spring Tournament, where he had won two consecutive tournaments, and suffered serious injuries to his left front shoulder and chest, forcing him to be rushed to the hospital.
I was watching this match on TV, and Harumafuji hatedly slammed Kisenosato out of the ring with more force than necessary. I think this was the fatal blow that ultimately ended Kisenosato’s life as a Yokozuna.
“He endured the pain and did his best,” just like Takanohana mentioned above, but I think he would have been able to continue his sumo career for a longer period if he had taken a break from the tournament immediately and not made his injury worse, rather than aiming for the championship. This is purely hindsight, but…
Originally, Kisenosato suffered frequent injuries and was not yet competent to become a yokozuna, but he may have been promoted to yokozuna due to the demand for a Japanese yokozuna.