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Kitanoumi lost the plot with sumo scandals

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The marijuana scandal is the latest in a string of incidents to plague the Japan Sumo Association. In the last 12 months, the association has had to contend with the death of a young wrestler at the hands of his stablemaster and co-wrestlers and Asashoryu's pretended sick leave so he could play soccer in Mongolia.

Whenever a scandal broke, outgoing sumo association chief Kitanoumi was frequently castigated by the media for his irresponsible reaction to issues.

Kitanoumi, 55, is the 55th yokozuna (grand champion) and has his own sumo stable as well as being the head of the association until he announced this week he was resigning. "After watching the news about the latest trouble, I regret donating money for his statue,” says one of his supporters in Kitanoumi's hometown of Sobetsu in Hokkaido. His support group opened a Kitanoumi museum and built a statue worth 8 million yen.

Kitanoumi was mainly criticized by the media for blaming every incident on individual stables and individuals. He would always say: "It's a matter between the stablemaster and his pupils,” or “The stablemaster is responsible for monitoring the private lives of his wrestlers.”

In the case of Wakanoho's use of marijuana, Kitanoumi tried to close the case by firing Wakanoho and kicked his stablemaster off the JSA board.

Masato Takahashi, a professor at Kokusai Budo University, who is a specialist in doping issues, says, “Normally, a positive reaction to cannabis cannot be detected 10 days after its use. The sumo association postponed random testing of other wrestlers for two weeks following the Wakanoho case, which seems to me be aimed at hiding new scandals.”

“It is actually Kitanoumi who proactively accepted Russian sumo wrestlers,” recalls one insider at his stable. “He scouted the first Russian sumo wrestler in 2000, and arranged for brothers Roho and Hakurozan to go to different stables because according to association rules, only one foreigner can be accepted by one stable. On the first day that Roho came to the stable, Kitanoumi received something like a receipt from an agent. It was almost like human trafficking.”

While Kitanoumi reportedly did not take care of Russian wrestlers because he didn't speak their language, the owner of a Russian restaurant has carefully observed them. He says, “Roho and Hakurozan frequently came to my restaurant and often said they felt lonely. Then they would often go to nightclubs and discos where undesirable foreigners gather. Their master should have more carefully taken care of them.” (Translated by Taro Fujimoto)

© Japan Today

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15 Comments
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stringent rules have been implemented like two fist at the tachai. That is really going to help.

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I don't think he worries too much about who supports him. He is still making a cool 1.450.000 yen a month, which is just 50.000 yen less than being the chairman.

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Will his koenkai still support him?

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MMM! An interesting turn of phrase, "lost the plot!" Is it possible to lose something you never had? - I guess it is cos the Russian wrestler also lost the pot he never really had, right?

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Then they would often go to nightclubs and discos where undesirable foreigners gather.

Yes, but so to do thousands of Japanese. If anything, these "undesirable foreigners" appear to serve as a drawing card that's helped Roppongi to thrive. And just down the street are the headquarters of the Inagawa-kai and Sumiyoshi Rengo, the 2nd and 3rd largest crime syndicates in Japan, so it would seem that "undesirable" is by no means limited to foreigners.

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I wonder if there is a Russian language equivalent to "Dude!" 400 pound bohemouths tokin' up and calling each other "dude" would make quite a sports movie......maybe we can get Cheech Marin to play one of the refs.

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THX.

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Maybe yes, maybe not. You seem to know him well. Pls, give me the address of his restaurant and an introduction.

Sungari Larek Tokyo Koto Ku.

I live in the ku next to Koto ku and work in Koto ku. I assume the restaurant is the above, although I've never seen it and the only Russians I've ever met in Koto ku (very downtown Tokyo) in my 12 years there are bar girls

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Maybe yes, maybe not. You seem to know him well. Pls, give me the address of his restaurant and an introduction. ;)

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Is from the russian restaurant owner not kitanoumi

And this 'russian' restaurant owner will be a local Japanese 'who had spent years studying in Russia under the best chefs' (reality check, he bought a book on DIY Russian cooking and hoped to make a quick buck on the latest local foreign novelty by changing his ramen shack into a Russian restaurant). The guy is a totally non credible source in this affair, might as well have asked the high school arbait in the local 7-11 combi, they probably saw more of Roho and Hakurozan.

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The following quote:

He says, “Roho and Hakurozan frequently came to my restaurant and often said they felt lonely. Then they would often go to nightclubs and discos where undesirable foreigners gather. Their master should have more carefully taken care of them.”

Is from the russian restaurant owner not kitanoumi.

But yes, many other foreign wrestlers are also lonely.

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So the wrestlers felt "lonely" huh? So sad. How do they think other foreign wrestlers that came before them and paved the way for them felt

Yeah I'm going to believe the word of a man who in the following sentence says 'Then they would often go to nightclubs and discos where undesirable foreigners gather'.

There is something very fishy about this whole saga. When the JSA reported that Roho had admitted to them smoking the dope with a black man in the toilets of a nightclub, my BS antennas went up. Sure Russians can be equally as racially ignorant as the worst Japanese, but that statement is so ignorant and racially stereotypical that.........well 'll leave others to infer my own racial stereotype about Japanese ojis and ignorant racial statement

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This guy never looks happy!

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So the wrestlers felt "lonely" huh? So sad. How do they think other foreign wrestlers that came before them and paved the way for them felt? Feeling lonely, not speaking the language, that's universal for any foreigner that goes to and lives in another country. You either deal with it or you don't.

Sure Kitanoumi could have done things better but that doesn't excuse others from breaking the rules. No need to shift the blame here.

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If you try to foist the responsibility of your association onto someone else, you will crumble in the dust.

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