Latest news with #Isegahama
Asahi Shimbun
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Asahi Shimbun
SUMO/ Hakuho to work outside of JSA to spread the sport across the globe
One week after resigning from the Japan Sumo Association, retired yokozuna great Hakuho said he isn't leaving the sport entirely but wants to take sumo global and support it outside the JSA. At a news conference on June 9 that lasted about an hour, Hakuho, 40, explained why he decided to leave the JSA rather than continue as stablemaster Miyagino. He said he had decided in March to resign from the association, but waited until after the conclusion of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament held in Tokyo in May to make a formal announcement. Hakuho said he would establish a new company designed to turn sumo into a global sport and which he would head. 'I have been loved by sumo and have in turn loved sumo for the past 25 years,' Hakuho said. 'I am here today to inform all of you that I am leaving the association and moving forward toward a new dream. Thinking about my current position, I decided it would be better to make every effort to further develop sumo from outside the association rather than within it.' He said he wanted to work toward creating a world sumo grand slam tournament as well as to make it an Olympic sport. Hakuho added that the religious roots of sumo helps to foster the physical and mental sides of an individual to make them better people. 'I believe it will be possible to transmit the fundamentals of sumo in order to rid the world of discrimination and prejudice,' Hakuho said. He explained that various proposals were raised within the JSA about what to do with his Miyagino stable, which had been placed under the auspices of the Isegahama stable. That was a result of disciplinary measures taken against Hakuho for violent acts by some of his stable members that were not reported to the JSA. Hakuho said nine stable members decided to retire rather than join a stable suggested by the JSA. Some had insisted on joining the Oshima stable now headed by the former Kyokutenho. But Hakuho said JSA officials did not approve such a move because Kyokutenho was also originally from Mongolia, like his own country of origin. Hakuho also brushed off media reports that suggested he was upset that the retired yokozuna Terunofuji would become the new Isegahama stablemaster rather than himself. Hakuho said he feels like a father to Terunofuji since he introduced him to a sumo stable when he joined the sumo world.
The Mainichi
09-06-2025
- Sport
- The Mainichi
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.
NHK
02-06-2025
- General
- NHK
Former Yokozuna Hakuho to leave world of sumo
Former Yokozuna Grand Champion Hakuho will leave the world of sumo wrestling, more than a year after his stable was closed due to a scandal involving one of its wrestlers. The Japan Sumo Association accepted Hakuho's resignation on Monday. He will retire from the sumo governing body on June 9. Hakuho won a record 45 tournament titles during his career that spanned two decades, and acquired Japanese nationality in 2019. He retired as a wrestler in 2021, and the following year became the head of the Miyagino Stable. Since then, the Mongolian-born wrestler has been known by the name Miyagino. But in February 2024, he was demoted by two ranks to the lowest rank of elders over acts of violence by one of his wrestlers. The stable was closed. The master and wrestlers were transferred to another stable of Isegahama. It is the leading stable of the Isegahama group, which his Miyagino stable belongs to. He continued training wrestlers as a junior master, but began expressing his intention to leave the association because there was no prospect of reopening his stable. Sources say he held talks with the association during the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament in May, but the two sides failed to find common ground. He entrusted his letter of resignation to a person in the group and left his fate up to the association. He is now in Mongolia. Sources say he will return to Japan soon and meet reporters as early as June 9.
