- Sumo stable master Kise leaves Ryogoku-Kokugikan hall after attending a board meeting of the Japan Sumo Association. AFP/Getty Images
June 1, 2010, 3:42 PM JST
Sumo may be struggling to attract fans to its tournaments, but it’s having no trouble getting attention from Japan’s tabloid media and police.
In the latest airing of massively oversized dirty laundry, police say a Tokyo stable master gave ringside tickets to high-ranking gangsters, according to Kyodo news.
According to police, Kyodo says, the mobsters wanted the tickets so they could be seen on TV by their underlings and associates—in prison. Among the gangsters hoping for a moment in the limelight was Kenichi Shinoda, boss of Japan’s biggest crime syndicate, the Yamaguchi Gumi, police said. As a result of the episode, 40-year-old stablemaster Kise–real name Naoto Sakamoto—was forced to resign. His 27 wrestlers will be absorbed into another stable.
The affair followed allegations just days earlier that one of sumo’s highest-ranking wrestlers, 34-year-old Kotomitsuki, may have been blackmailed over gambling on professional baseball. The weekly magazine Shukan Shincho – known for its lurid coverage of showbiz and sports — claimed May 20 that Kotomitsuki, who holds the second-highest rank of ozeki, paid gangsters 100 million yen in hush money over the gambling. After the article appeared, police moved in to question Kotomitsuki, his and several other stable masters, all of whom denied the report .
The two incidents heaped more grime onto sumo’s image, which was already well caked in the stuff after a series of unsavory incidents culminating in the forced retirement of grand champion Asashoryu in February after he reportedly punched a man outside a Tokyo nightclub. That incident attracted blanket coverage in Japan–people may less interested in buying tickets to see sumo these days, but they’re still happy to pay to read about it.
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