SUMO WRESTLING STABLEMASTER Junichi Yamamoto, also known as TOKITSUKAZE, WAS DISMISSED FROM THE SUMO ASSOCIATION OVER THE DEATH OF A YOUNG WRESTLER DURING TRAINING. PHOTO: AFP / JIJI PRESS
Shota said he had wanted to be a sumo wrestler since the age of 10, but if he’d known what would happen to him years later, he might never have set foot in the ring.Tasked with carrying his senior stablemate’s belongings one evening several years ago, Shota forgot an item, prompting his senior to punch and slap him for an hour, leaving him covered in bruises. “I can only hope that the same thing doesn’t happen to other wrestlers,” he said.Kanata Matsubara, a 30-year-old retired wrestler formerly known as Takatenshu, said violence was commonplace when he was an active sumo wrestler just three years ago. “I saw everything from light knocks on the head to people getting beaten with shoes or hangers,” he told VICE World News.“I can only hope that the same thing doesn’t happen to other wrestlers.”
Practice can be grueling for sumo wrestlers. They endure hours of tough training, known as keiko, to develop bodies needed to win bouts. Photo: Behrouz MEHRI / AFP
Sumo remains a popular Japanese sport, despite the numerous scandals that have emerged in recent years. Photo: BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP via Getty Images
Ex-wrestler Daisuke Yanagihara said the Sumo Association told him he had to keep competing in tournaments, despite fears over contracting COVID-19 with his underlying health conditions. Photo: STR/JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images
