Hakuho vows to grow sumo globally after exiting local sports body

Japan Times

2 days ago

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.'