2 new cases of sumo wrestler abuse surface

Two new cases of violence against sumo wrestlers came to light over the weekend, less than a year after the death from a severe beating of a 17-year-old sumo trainee.

According to the Japan Sumo Association (JSA), in one case, stablemaster Magaki, 55, who is on the JSA board of directors, beat an 18-year-old wrestler across the legs with a bamboo sword, giving him bruises.

In the other case, Toyozakura, 34, a senior wrestler in the Michinoku stable, repeatedly struck an 18-year-old wrestler over the head with a metal soup ladle, inflicting injuries that required eight stitches, the JSA said.

The JSA reported the two cases to its committee responsible for implementing measures to prevent such attacks from recurring.

Set up after the death of Tokitaizan, 17, in June last year, the committee comprises stablemasters and people from outside the sumo community.

The committee decided to issue strict warnings to Magaki, Toyozakura and stablemaster Michinoku.

However, the JSA has not reported the cases to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

According to committee members and other sources, one of the cases occurred on Wednesday, the fourth day of the ongoing Summer Grand Sumo Tournament.

Magaki beat the young wrestler on both legs with a bamboo sword several times during a morning training session that day at his stable in Tokyo's Sumida Ward.

Magaki reportedly beat the young wrestler because he had behaved badly.

When the wrestler, in the second-lowest jonidan division, appeared for his tournament match later that day, other stablemasters, serving as judges, noticed the bruises on his legs.

Some stablemasters use bamboo swords in training sessions. When a wrestler makes an error, the trainer will strike him on his mawashi loincloth belt to call attention to the mistake.

It is rare for a trainer to directly strike a wrestler's body.

On the weekend, Magaki told reporters: "What I did is not excessive. It is natural to treat students harshly in training when they do something wrong."

Meanwhile, Toyozakura, who is in the second-highest juryo division, hit a younger wrestler in the lowest jonokuchi division over the head with a soup ladle about 10 times on the second floor of the Michinoku stable, also in Sumida Ward, on Jan. 24, the 12th day of the year's first Grand Sumo Tournament.

Toyozakura apparently thought the young wrestler did not maintain a "good attitude."

Though other wrestlers were present when it happened, none of them did anything to prevent the abuse.

The young wrestler suffered an injury 7 centimeters long. He did not report Toyozakura's attack to his stablemaster.

Toyozakura and stablemaster Michinoku apologized at a news conference Saturday afternoon.

"I made light of the incident at Tokitsukaze stable (in which Tokitaizan died). I will do my best to prevent recurrence of a similar case," Toyozakura said.

After the death of Tokitaizan on June 26 last year, prosecutors in February this year indicted former stablemaster Tokitsukaze and three other wrestlers from the stable on charges of inflicting injuries resulting in death.(IHT/Asahi: May 19,2008)