Hakuho leaves Sumo Org

Hakuho's final ritual salt toss at Ryogoku Kokugikan (March 3, 2021)

Former yokozuna Hakuho, now known as Miyagino-oyakata, is leaving the world of sumo. Neither the process nor the outcome is acceptable to me in any way. It would not be an exaggeration to call this mistreatment a form of bullying. It is evident that he has not been treated in a manner befitting his significant contributions to professional sumo.

Hakuho achieved a record-breaking 45 tournament championships and an 84.8% winning rate in the makuuchi division, surpassing even the legendary yokozuna Taiho, and the highest among postwar wrestlers. He served as yokozuna for 14 years, the longest tenure in history. When the foundation of professional sumo was shaken by a match-fixing scandal over a decade ago, it was Hakuho who stood firm and supported the sport.

Last year, however, Miyagino-oyakata was demoted by two ranks within the Japan Sumo Association due to inadequate supervision following a scandal involving one of his disciples. In addition, the Miyagino stable, which he had inherited from his predecessor, was dissolved, and he became affiliated with the Isegahama stable. While there have been cases in the past where a stable was dissolved due to misconduct by the oyakata himself, there is no precedent for a stable being shut down because of a disciple's misconduct. More than a year later, even though the aged Isegahama-oyakata has retired and the stable was handed over to Terunofuji, who is seven years junior to Hakuho, the reestablishment of the Miyagino stable was still not allowed.

Hakuho was frequently reprimanded during his active career for behavior said to be against sumo tradition and spirit. However, from an outsider's perspective, many of his actions and statements were quite understandable. Just because something goes against traditional practice does not necessarily mean that the tradition itself remains reasonable or appropriate by modern standards. If Hakuho's conduct was truly problematic, then greater responsibility lies with the stablemasters and senior officials of the Sumo Association, who failed to properly educate and guide a young man who came to Japan as a teenager and entered the sumo world. They failed to help him fully understand and internalize expectations, thus allowing issues to recur repeatedly.

It recently made headlines that a graduate of the highly esteemed University of Tokyo entered the world of sumo. But overall, one might wonder whether Mongolian wrestlers like Hakuho are actually smarter than their Japanese counterparts. Terunofuji, for instance, reportedly won a middle school math competition, and Tamawashi has a sister who studied at the University of Tokyo's graduate school. Even when watching sumo broadcasts on TV, the commentary by Hakuho and Kakuryu is exceptional?both in terms of technique and mental insight. In contrast, some Japanese sumo elders offer commentary that not only lacks substance but sometimes makes little sense in Japanese itself. Can such elders really be trusted to properly educate and guide young wrestlers?

The number of young Japanese aspiring to become sumo wrestlers continues to decline. In fact, modern sumo would not survive without foreign-born wrestlers. Without them, the sport would be at an unacceptably low level. In the Edo and Meiji periods, if one wanted to become rich through sports, sumo was probably the only option. But after World War II, professional baseball became popular, followed by soccer, basketball, tennis, and other, more "cool" professional sports.

In terms of salary, a baseball player in Japan can earn up to one billion yen per year, and in the U.S., someone like Shohei Ohtani earns as much as 15 billion yen annually. By comparison, even a Yokozuna in sumo only earns 36 million yen in base salary. Even with additional income sources, the recently retired Yokozuna Terunofuji reportedly earned just over 100 million yen a year. With figures like these, it's no surprise that talented young Japanese athletes are drawn to sports other than sumo. The continued existence of professional sumo is due in large part to strong young men from lower-income countries like Mongolia choosing to enter the sport.

In addition to his impressive career as a sumo wrestler, Hakuho has also undertaken various activities to increase the popularity and reputation of sumo, such as founding the Hakuho Cup, a tournament that brings together children from Japan and around the world to attract young talent to the professional world of sumo. Many of today's promising young wrestlers participated in that tournament, and as a result, a number of talented youths became his disciples. One of them, Hokuseiho, was involved in a recent scandal, but others like Hakuoho and Kusano now training under the Isegahama stable are continuing to strive forward. There's also the popular wrestler Enho, who dropped to the lowest division due to injury but has since fought his way back up to the makushita division.

Hakuho has also been active in social contribution: donating sumo rings to disaster-hit areas after the Great East Japan Earthquake and reviving and donating the "Taiho-go" blood donation vehicle, a project once led by his idol, the great Taiho. The departure of such a former Yokozuna from the sumo world will undoubtedly have a profound impact.

While Hakuho submitted his resignation, wrestlers like Asashoryu and Harumafuji were forced to leave. Observing how those events unfolded, it's hard not to feel that the Japanese sumo elders demonstrated both incompetence and a discriminatory attitude toward foreign wrestlers. To become a sumo elder, one must hold Japanese citizenship, and although there are eight foreign-born elders (including Hakuho and two other former Yokozuna) out of around100, none of them hold senior positions in the association. It's hard to deny that the Sumo Association is riddled with prejudice and discrimination against foreigners. And it's not just within the association Sumo insiders and fans alike often place undue importance on whether a Japanese Yokozuna emerges or whether a Japanese wrestler wins a tournament.

For the future of sumo, it is crucial that foreign wrestlers be treated with greater respect and given more important roles. Perhaps Japanese fans should adopt the kind of open-mindedness the British show when watching Wimbledon and start cheering for strong, spirited young athletes from abroad.

I can't deny that this latest scandal has cooled my enthusiasm for sumo. For now, I intend to keep some distance and simply observe how the world of sumo evolves in the future.

Hakuho, through his many years of success in the sumo world, has earned a large number of sympathizers and supporters even within Japan. He has declared that he will continue working for the benefit of sumo even outside the official framework of the Sumo Association, and I am watching with interest to see what he will do next, drawing on his worldwide network of connections and considerable influence.

 2025.6.6