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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The Mainichi
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- 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
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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.'
Asahi Shimbun
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