Sumo great Hakuho plans to promote sport from outside ruling body
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Former yokozuna Hakuho plans to remain involved with sumo despite severing ties with the sport's ruling body, the winner of a record 45 elite-level tournaments said Monday.
The Mongolian-born ex-wrestler's retirement from the Japan Sumo Association was formalized the same day.
His exit comes little more than a year after the indefinite closure of the Miyagino stable that he had overseen as stablemaster, following revelations that one of his proteges, top-division competitor Hokuseiho, had physically abused younger wrestlers.
At a press conference in Tokyo, the 40-year-old said he wanted to promote sumo from outside the association.
"I want to develop sumo from an outside perspective," he said. "I will focus on projects to spread sumo around the world."
Hakuho, who retired from competition in September 2021, said he agonized about his decision to quit as a sumo elder, considering the potential impact on the wrestlers he had been training.
"I really struggled with it," he said. "My charges were competing in the Summer tournament (in May), so I told them after it finished."
Hakuho was demoted two ranks as an elder to take responsibility for the scandal at the Miyagino stable, whose members transferred to the Isegahama stable.
With the future of the Miyagino stable in limbo, Hakuho had grown increasingly dissatisfied with his treatment by the sumo authorities.
The end of his competitive career was marked by criticism about what was seen as his brash manner in the ring and sometimes overly rough wrestling, prompting the sumo association to make him sign a pledge to abide by its rules before allowing him to become an elder.
Despite his split with the sumo hierarchy, Hakuho will be remembered as an all-time great for a dominant career in which he won 1,187 matches, more than any other wrestler in the sport's long history.
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Japan Times
14 hours ago
- Japan Times
Hakuho's new venture not an automatic 'Grand Slam'
World Sumo Grand Slam was the moniker used by former yokozuna Hakuho to describe his next venture during a retirement press conference on Monday. It's a smart move to adopt a label used for golf and tennis majors that also evokes imagery of dynamic sumo finishes. In addition to being instantly recognizable and easy to remember, World Sumo Grand Slam is a very catchy name. Unfortunately for those hoping for more details, that's all it seems to be — at least for the moment. Given the suddenness of his departure from professional sumo, it isn't surprising that Hakuho hasn't yet worked out the particulars of this new path. Even so, it was disappointing to receive so little of substance from Hakuho during what was ostensibly an announcement of future plans. The fact that nothing seems to have been decided beyond a vague notion of something related to global sumo was obvious in the hesitant and at times confusing language used by the participants. For example, at one point "rikishi" rather than "senshu" was used to describe international sumo wrestlers, though the former is a term exclusively reserved for those in ōzumo. And while he was no doubt being allegorical, Hakuho's claim that each country has its own yokozuna was a reminder that wrestlers who didn't come up through the collegiate or international amateur systems often have a poor understanding of exactly how those organizations work. The mixing of amateur and professional sumo terminology was unfortunately reminiscent of past failed efforts to create a commercially viable version of international sumo. The most recent of those, World Championship Sumo – a U.S. based production that featured amateurs facing off against former ozumo stars such as Osunaarashi and Wakanoho — hasn't been heard from since a social media post 12 months ago claiming that it was about to 'take off.' It's a reminder that while there has been no shortage of excitement and enthusiasm expressed about Hakuho — arguably sumo's greatest ever exponent — turning his full attention to the global game, expectations should be kept in check. WCS, despite putting on several sold-out shows at large venues and receiving extensive media coverage from outlets such as Jomboy with millions of followers, was unable to parlay early gains into sustained success. Twenty years ago an even bigger production 'World S.U.M.O. Challenge: Battle of the Giants" sold out the almost 20,000-seat Madison Square Garden in New York. With an event that featured taiko drumming and pageantry more akin to professional wrestling, that 2005 tournament was broadcast live on ESPN and covered by CNN, with its participants making appearances on shows such as 'Regis and Kelly' and 'The Late Show with David Letterman.' Despite all the attention and strong ticket sales, plans for a worldwide sumo tour never came to fruition and World S.U.M.O. Challenge met the same fate as every other attempt to create a viable professional sumo organization outside Japan. Hakuho poses with the Brazil team at the Sumo World Championships in Osaka on Aug. 28, 2015. | John Gunning Of course, none of those efforts were led by a 45-time Emperor's Cup winner with significant backing from some of Japan's biggest companies. And Hakuho isn't a total novice when it comes to international or amateur sumo, with his namesake tournament — the Hakuho Cup — being arguably the biggest and most important event on the calendar for elementary school boys, and the Dream Girls Tournament a trailblazing effort to provide something similar for girls. Even so it's going to take significant work — in countries where he has little to no name recognition — for Hakuho to establish a commercially sustainable sumo venture. That's of course assuming World Sumo Grand Slam is even intended to be a professional sports organization. The lack of details in Monday's press conference left it uncertain whether Hakuho's new project will be a professional sporting body or an effort to enhance and build on existing amateur sumo structures. With the stated goal of getting sumo into the Olympic Games, it could very well be the latter. Should that be the case, the former yokozuna may find that the politics and factionalism inherent in amateur sumo are far deeper and more bitterly fought than even those in ōzumo. Over the past three decades, amateur sumo has seen numerous spats and schisms with every split of a governing body or usurping of power weakening the sport and leaving athletes out in the cold — in an activity which can ill-afford to lose participants. And while some may hail Hakuho as a hero riding in on a white horse to save the day, there are plenty who will see the yokozuna's arrival as a threat to their power. Just as there has been backlash in flag football circles to NFL players assuming they can waltz in and take slots on national teams for the 2028 Olympic Games — particularly when many of them display a lack of even the most basic knowledge about the sport — so too may there be resistance in amateur sumo's halls of power to 'outside' interference, even if it comes from the sport's most decorated champion. There is no doubt that ōzumo's loss is international sumo's gain, and having someone with the profile and powerful backing that Hakuho brings opens up all kinds of exciting possibilities. But whether it's a new professional organization, or the improving of existing amateur structures, the scale of the challenge is enormous. Until Hakuho shows he's able to win outside the ring in the same manner that he did inside it, expectations should be tempered.
The Mainichi
2 days ago
- The Mainichi
All-time great wrestler Hakuho quits Japan Sumo Association with plans to form global body
TOKYO (AP) -- Hakuho, a retired "yokozuna" or grand champion and viewed by many as the sport's greatest wrestler, quit the Japan Sumo Association on Monday after an apparent falling out with the governing body of the ancient sport. The Mongolia-born Hakuho was earlier sanctioned by the Japan Sumo Association, accused of failing to control the behavior of a wrestler in his so-called stable, the term used for a training team headed by retired wrestlers. Hakuho's stable was closed a year ago. Japanese media reports say the wrestler in question engaged in physical violence. But closing a stable, instead of just punishing an individual wrestler, was unusual. He did not directly criticize the professional Japan Sumo Association, but he said wrestlers who had trained under him were treated unfairly. Hakuho, who was granted Japanese citizenship, said he had been in talks with the association but recently decided to quit because there was no hope of reopening his stable. His farewell and future "After 25 years of loving sumo and being loved by sumo, I want to advance toward a new dream," Hakuho told reporters Monday at a Tokyo hotel. Hakuho said he wants to create a body to govern sumo outside Japan -- the "world sumo project." "When I think of my situation, I think it's best to contribute to sumo from the outside," he said, wearing a dark suit and referring to the Japan Sumo Association. Appearing with a lawyer and other officials he had tapped for his team, Hakuho said they were getting corporate sponsors to back sumo grand slams, which draw amateur sumo wrestlers from around the world, including children and women. Hakuho said he was friends with Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Akio Toyoda, who has expressed interest in supporting his efforts. Toyota already supports various amateur and professional sports activities. Many regard the Mongolia-born Hakuko as the greatest champion in the sport's history and he holds many of its records. Hahuko's late-father, who went by the given name of Monkhbat, was an Olympic silver medalist for Mongolia in 1968. He also competed in at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Sumo encompasses very strict rules and traditions that have prompted other top wrestlers to pursue careers outside the sport. Hahuko retired from active wrestling in 2021.
Japan Times
2 days ago
- Japan Times
Hakuho vows to grow sumo globally after exiting local sports body
Former yokozuna Hakuho, who assumed the name Miyagino when he took over the stable of the same name and became a sumo elder, left the Japan Sumo Association Monday, saying later in the day that his distrust for the body led him to quit and start a new international project aimed at amateur sumo wrestlers. The impetus for the decision, Hakuho said, was the failure of the JSA to provide a clear timeline about the restoration of Miyagino stable, which was shut down in late March 2024 amid a bullying scandal involving one of its wrestlers. 'April marked a full year after the stable shut down, but there was no specific date (on when the stable will resume) which was a big reason for me to quit,' said Hakuho, who returned to Japan from Mongolia, his home country, on Saturday. In a statement last week , the JSA said there had been discussions with Hakuho and other board members about restoring the stable after the next November Basho, trying to persuade him to stay on but without success. Isegahama oyakata, better known as former yokozuna Asahifuji, was quoted as saying in the statement that Hakuho seemed to be 'less passionate' in training junior wrestlers, apparently because his mind was elsewhere, with him considering his resignation. 'I had wavered, and it may have shown in my words and actions since March,' Hakuho said. The Miyagino stable shut down after one of its wrestlers, Hokuseiho, was found to have been regularly beating two junior wrestlers in the stable. In February 2024, Hakuho was demoted two ranks and received a pay cut for failing to prevent the abuse. When Miyagino stable was closed, its wrestlers joined Isegahama stable with the hope that the JSA would restore their original home in the future. Media reports said the Isegahama stable's decision to allow former yokozuna Terunofuji, Hakuho's junior, to become its oyakata was the final nail in the coffin for the former sumo great. Hakuho denied those reports, saying, 'I have no bad feelings about being under Terunofuji.' Hakuho also received proposals for him and his wrestlers to join Asakayama stable during the last phase of the Summer Basho, which ran for two weeks through May 25, but nothing was certain, he said. The JSA's rigid rules, such as allowing only one foreign sumo wrestler per stable, also led Hakuho to seek a different, more flexible platform to spread sumo around the world. 'There are many young sumo wrestlers (overseas) who want to join stables in Japan,' he said. 'I want to support them.' What Hakuho has in mind is to host international amateur sumo matches based on his experience of hosting the Hakuho Cup for junior wrestlers for the past 15 years. 'An annual international sumo match has wrestlers from around 25 to 30 countries participating,' he said. 'There are also yokozuna in 150 countries. So there's already a base. 'I will do my best to develop sumo from outside of the JSA,' Hakuho said. The project has already attracted at least one prospective major sponsor — Toyota, with Toyota Motor Chairman Akio Toyoda expressing interest, he said. Details of the plan will be revealed at a later date. Born as Davaajargal Monkhbatyn, Hakuho became the 69th yokozuna in 2007 at the age of 22. He became a naturalized citizen of Japan in 2019 and retired as a wrestler in 2021 . 'The past 25 years were years I've loved sumo and have been loved by sumo,' he said. 'I have no regrets.' But in his last words before he wrapped up the news conference, Hakuho appeared to show a painful reluctance to leave the young wrestlers he took under his wing. 'I wanted to see my wrestlers become yokozuna and ōzeki,' he said. 'I'll cheer them on from outside once Miyagino stable resumes.'
