[sumo] oshi-dashi'd message

["Christopher J. Basten" <cbasten@statgen.ncsu.edu>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "ozora ozora" <ozora@hotmail.com>
Subject: Asashoryu rocks the boat [SHUKAN POST]
Date: Mon, 02 Aug 2004 10:59:05 +0000

Mongolian sumo grand champion Asashoryu is proving to be a handful for the
staid Japan Sumo Association (JSA) which has been a closed community.

Currently, there is no Japanese yokozuna. Having won four straight
tournaments, Asashoryu is starting to upset the applecart.

In the sumo world, the relationship between the "oyakata" (stablemaster) and
his wrestlers has been maintained without change for decades. Wrestlers must
obey traditional rules and do whatever their masters say.

Not too long after winning last month's tournament, Asashoryu got into a
fight with his oyakata and went on a drunken rampage, which prompted
neighbors to call the police.

In the past, Yokozuna Futahaguro had to resign because of violent behavior
he exhibited against his oyakata. Asashoryu seems to be in the same kind of
trouble, although is oyakata is pretending that nothing happened.

The trouble started around 10 p.m. on July 20 when Asashoryu's angry voice
could be heard on the street outside the Takasago stable.

One neighborhood housewife said, "That evening, I happened to see Yokozuna
Asashoryu return from the Nagoya tournament. I saw him park his car and use
his cell phone as he sat on a bench in front of a pub. At around 10 p.m., I
heard screams coming from men in front of the stable and soon, I heard the
sound of breaking glass. I wondered what happened. The next morning, I saw
that the Takasago oyakata's wife was visiting neighbors and apologizing."

One store owner, who witnessed the altercation, said that Asashoryu was
involved in a rumble with others, who seemed to be executives of his
supporters association. The yokozuna freed himself and kicked the door of
the entrance and broke its glass.

Neighbors called police and emergency service and after several minutes, a
police car arrived.

The next morning, Shukan Post visited the stable and found that the entrance
door had already been fixed with plywood and wire. Cracks in the glass were
seen, which told the story as to what happened the previous night.

It's hardly the sort of publicity that Asashoryu wants, as he prepares to
marry Tamir, a Monglian lady, on Aug 19 in his native country. He is also
planning to hold a grand wedding ball in Tokyo on Aug 31.

One of the Mongolian's supporters said: "It has been already decided what TV
station will televise exclusively Asashoryu's wedding ball at the New
Takanawa Prince Hotel on Aug 31. Before the wedding, he had decided that he
would hold a grand wedding ball if he won all of his bouts in the Nagoya
tournament, which he did."

Asashoryu, however, ignored one rule in the sumo world. He made a contract
with a TV station to televise his wedding without consulting his oyakata and
his wife.

"The custom of the sumo world dictates that income generated from all events
of a stable must be shared with the oyakata," said the supporter. "One
example is that when a wrestler has exhibition matches celebrating his
retirement, he has to give 60% of his revenue from the matches to his
oyakata. The same formula is applied to weddings which generate a huge
amount of gifts in cash. Also, a TV station pays at least several million
yen to for exclusive telecasting rights. Asashoryu has to share this with
his master as well."

According to Asashoryu's support association, related parties had a meeting
to discuss his wedding and invited TV station executives. The focal issue of
the meeting was the distribution of revenue from the wedding ball. Takasago
Oyakata claimed his share of the revenue of Asashoryu's wedding in Mongolia
as well.

"This made Asashoryu angry and a fierce argument developed," said one source
who recalled that Asashoryu told his oyakata: "Oyakata, you have opposed my
wedding. So, I do not understand why you want to get your share of the
revenue generated from it. You have nothing to do with my wedding."

Takasago Oyakata's wife told Shukan Post the next day: "You're making too
much out of all this. The truth is that Yokozuna Asashoryu was drunk and
raised his voice. That's all. I imagined that we troubled our neighbors with
our loud voices and that was why, the next morning, I visited them to
apologize. No one was hurt. I do not know anything about the police and
emergency cars. They did not come to us. I heard that there was a drunken
man in our neighborhood."

Takasago Oyakata, a board member of the Japan Sumo Association, told
reporters that Asashoryu was drunk and raised his voice. "He had gone out
for dinner with his colleagues. After they returned to the stable, they
drank and raised their voices in front of the stable. I heard from them that
an emergency car was called because one of them fell due to excessive
drinking. Next morning, Asashoryu came to me and apologized."

Asked whether Asashoryu had called him an *ssh*l*, the stablemaster
replied:
"Once anybody drinks too much, they will do crazy things. I have never heard
directly that Asashoryu said such a word. If it was true, I would never get
angry with him. If I lose my temper, I would no longer be able to be an
oyakata."

Kazuo Ichiriki, the owner of the Kahoku Shinpo Newspaper and former
president of the Yokozuna Council, said, "Frankly speaking, if there were
two or three yokozuna as strong as Asashoryu now, I would strongly urge
Asashoryu to abandon the sport. A grand champion must exhibit heart,
technique and body. I do not believe that Asashoryu has these qualities.
Once when he lost a match, he remarked, 'I will lift him out of the ring
using tsuri dashi (a technique where the the wrestler gets both hands on the
belt and lifts out the opponent with both feet off the ground).' Such an
utterance is totally inappropriate. Even low-ranked wrestlers would never
say this.

"The relationship between oyakatas and wrestlers must stay as it has
throughout the history of sumo. If Asashoryu cannot follow that rule, I
would ask him to leave the sumo world. Unfortunately, he's the only
yokozuna, so I want him to do his best to be an honorable wrestler."

August 2, 2004


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[EndPost by "Christopher J. Basten" <cbasten@statgen.ncsu.edu>]