This is coming from a YouTube video I just saw so I can’t yet verify its accuracy (maybe we’ll know more next week when NHK World Japan does their regular Grand Sumo Preview special for the upcoming tournament), but it’s huge if true: July champion Ichinojo is OUT of the January tournament AND Isegahama, chief judge of sumo and stablemaster of Isegahama Beya, may be either demoted or removed from the sumo ranking board. That also would be huge for the banzuke and especially his wrestlers (pretty much anybody with “Fuji” at the end of their name). And one lower tier wrestler at the stable has been forced to retire over bullying allegations (it should be noted this stable boasts, among others, current Yokozuna Terunofuji).
Ichinojo’s issues seem to stem from poor conduct and missing training often, likely due to excessive drinking, and reportedly struck his stablemaster’s (Minato) wife once as she tried to escort Ichinojo home from a bar (and Ichinojo, the Mongolian who is the biggest top-tier wrestler at well over 450 pounds, and closer to 475, probably outweighed her by at least 350 pounds so that’s very scary). But this supposedly happened over 5 years ago so it’s “old news”. But this charge was reduced to breaking Covid rules (that’s what got former Ozeki Asanoyama suspended for a year, and November champion Abi suspended for 6 months). Minato (stablemaster of Minato Beya) is docked 20% pay for the next 3 months.
As for Isegahama Beya, a younger wrestler claimed he was beaten and had boiling chanko (stew) water poured on him, and those claims were found to be true. One of the guilty parties has retired, the other is out the next 2 tournaments. We may know who when the Nihon Sumo Kyokai updates the “Absent Rikishi Info” page on their website as the start of the tournament nears at the end of next week. Stablemaster Isegahama, the chief judge often seen prominently at sumo tournaments and as part of the awards ceremony, will likely be gone from that role completely and not seen at all.
The source of this news is the YouTube video below:
