Flying Monkey Trouble - Tobizaru Accused of Bullying

[Kaninoyama 1,787]

Our favorite Flying Monkey appears to be in hot water over accusations of bullying younger heya rikishi. 

Excessive butsugari-geiko, kicking his deshi in the face, yelling at them for various trivialities they weren't responsible for, making them cook his meals at home and buy feminine products when in the company of a female companion. His current tsukebito, Satsumasho, is said to be so traumatized that his hair is falling out. 

Four of his other previous tsukebito have also quit as his understudy due to various forms of physical, verbal, and psychological power harassment.

 

Where were Endo and Daieisho, not to mention the Oyakata, when all this was going on? 

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 07:32 by Kaninoyama

[WAKATAKE 2,656]

If the allegations are true, then the flying monkey might be searching for the cloud to fly on soon. Also, Chris Sumo is going to have the time of his life accusing the JSA of hypocrisy if they don’t close down Oitekaze beya if true 

Edited Wednesday at 07:27 by WAKATAKE

[Bunbukuchagama 722]

30 minutes of butsukari? With a kick in the face as a cherry on top?

[Kishinoyama 595]

3 hours ago, WAKATAKE said:

If the allegations are true, then the flying monkey might be searching for the cloud to fly on soon. Also, Chris Sumo is going to have the time of his life accusing the JSA of hypocrisy if they don’t close down Oitekaze beya if true 

IF TRUE, then what do you think the punishment should be? Remember, the bullying at Miyagino had been going on for more than an a year. If four previous tsukebito have quit and the current one is the first to come forward, then how long has the bullying been going on at Oitekaze? Also, with the example that they made of Miyagino, how can they not give similar punishment to any other long term bullying done at any other beya? 
 

it will be interesting to see if this is actually true. And if it is true, what the NSK decides to do with those involved. 

[rhyen 1,840]

I think Nihonoseki heya has a lot of space to accommodate them.

[RabidJohn 1,786]

The apparently long-term nature of the bullying makes me think it was going on before Hokuseiho dropped Miyagino in it, which makes me wonder if it's nothing out of the ordinary at Oitekaze-beya. The pace of change in ozumo is indiscernible at times.

Tobizaru, though? That's so disappointing. I really liked him.

[Godango 984]

This is incredibly disappointing. Beyond the the obvious of this kind of thing shouldn't happen, he's a favourite in our household, far and away my wife's favourite. I had just printed her some Tobizaru earrings for our upcoming trip to Nagoya in July. This is not going to go down well. 

If true, anything short of intai and the stable being temporarily closed will be super hypocritical. Though they could always use the argument that oitekaze is too big to be merged I assume. Not that I'm super familiar with their sizes but it seems big. 

[Akinomaki 40,481]

It's from the same tabloid that pointed out Hokuseiho's case http://www.dailyshincho.jp/article/2025/02051131/?all=1

- weeks before the scandal started. Similarly, nothing in the proper papers yet.

[Jakusotsu 5,969]

What's the status of Oitekaze anyway? There's been no update about his health for quite some time.

[BuBa 76]

Of course it is true. Nothing new, and pretty much expected. The whole sumo is in various degrees inflicted with violence and bullying.
Only thing that surprises me is the surprised reaction these kind of reporting gets here. At this point it should be regarded as trivial news as spilled chanko or spoiled mavashi. 

Edited Wednesday at 13:26 by BuBa

[Yarimotsu 578]

38 minutes ago, BuBa said:

Of course it is true. Nothing new, and pretty much expected. The whole sumo is in various degrees inflicted with violence and bullying.
Only thing that surprises me is the surprised reaction these kind of reporting gets here. At this point it should be regarded as trivial news as spilled chanko or spoiled mavashi. 

Why it is different now is the whole sumo world now kicks up a fuss about such things, and we have very recent examples of similar behaviour drawing severe consequences from the association. There is of course also the insistence from most rikishi that such things don't go on anymore.

My current read on these accusations is similar to my initial read on the Hokuseiho scandal - there's some concerning behaviour for sure, some of the accusations are potentially relatively minor but definitely bullying and not allowed, and some of the accusations can be explained away depending on how sustained that pattern of behaviour is. He always seems like a boisterous and trickster-like fellow so I can imagine that rubbing people the wrong way and him coming off as loud / accidentally kicking a face while showing off some fancy nonsense move in training. But of course in the Hokuseiho situation, it came out not long after that there were much more serious allegations along with the initially reported concerns and we had details of the extent of time and place in that scenario, removing all doubt that the consequences must be serious for Hokuseiho.

If there's no further reporting I'll be surprised to see any public consequence for Tobizaru here but if the reporting continues I'll be surprised to see him remain in sumo. A precedent has been set.

[Andreas21 184]

6 hours ago, Kaninoyama said:

Excessive butsugari-geiko, kicking his deshi in the face, yelling at them for various trivialities they weren't responsible for, making them cook his meals at home and buy feminine products when in the company of a female companion. His current tsukebito, Satsumasho, is said to be so traumatized that his hair is falling out.  

This is a remarkable combination of accusations that makes me wonder.

Kicking in the face stands out and is surely illegal and punishable inside Sumo world and to be prosecuted (if not accidentally happened). If this is the only accusation then it is a clear case (if proven) and the consequences can be discussed. It is the combination with the other things which makes it weird.

Butsugari-geiko is a normal training drill. Tough, sure, and theoretically life-threatening when overdone. The same as in any other sports, especially combat sports.

"There was even a case where he gave a former attendant who had just returned from an injury close to half an hour of head-to-head training." (another excerpt from the original article) Come on, what type of accusation is this? Here, I would ask, is Tobizaru responsible for training? Where are the Oyataka?

Make them buy female underwear, make him cook for him. I don't know for sure about the cultural context. Is there a law against that? Coercion? But then, the threat should be reported, not the act itself. Female underwear makes the story ridiculous.

Then the connection to Alopecia is highly weird. Sure, psychosomatics must always be taken into account for a differential diagnosis, however, in the way it was reported, no physician was apparently involved.

This doesn't belong in the same basket as Hokuseiho's case with a high number of prosecutable wrongdoings in a combination which can only be explained by a serious mental condition.

 

[Koorifuu 995]

5 hours ago, Andreas21 said:

Then the connection to Alopecia is highly weird. Sure, psychosomatics must always be taken into account for a differential diagnosis, however, in the way it was reported, no physician was apparently involved.

To be fair, stress has long been connected to hair loss (telogen effluvium), it isn't a farfetched assumption. I really doubt there's an official diagnosis, though 

[Godango 984]

I originally read this and commented just before bed, so I’d like to update my take.

There are (seemingly) no allegations of theft or deliberately burning people, so this differs from the Hokuseiho case. However, the specifics of a kick to the face especially is still quite serious. If true, a suspension seems possible, but a harsher penalty wouldn’t be surprising.

We’ll have to wait and see if more details emerge, as others have said.

[yohcun 401]

Pretty ironic that Tobizaru is a violence perpetrator given I've often thought he has the most punchable face in ozumo.

[Octofuji 357]

17 minutes ago, Godango said:

I originally read this and commented just before bed, so I’d like to update my take.

There are (seemingly) no allegations of theft or deliberately burning people, so this differs from the Hokuseiho case. However, the specifics of a kick to the face especially is still quite serious. If true, a suspension seems possible, but a harsher penalty wouldn’t be surprising.

We’ll have to wait and see if more details emerge, as others have said.

I remember watching Hakuho giving kawaigari to Takakeisho and kicking him (fairly gently) when he was down. More in the order of humiliating him rather than anything that would by itself injure him. 

So IF it was e.g. a prod to the cheek then it doesn't seem qualitatively different to what's been videoed and shared publicly fairly recently.

The thing that is most depressing to me (and where the similarity with Hokuseiho lies) is the long-term pattern of misbehaviour and the five unhappy tsukebito.

[BuBa 76]

6 hours ago, Yarimotsu said:

Why it is different now is the whole sumo world now kicks up a fuss about such things, and we have very recent examples of similar behaviour drawing severe consequences from the association. There is of course also the insistence from most rikishi that such things don't go on anymore.

My current read on these accusations is similar to my initial read on the Hokuseiho scandal - there's some concerning behaviour for sure, some of the accusations are potentially relatively minor but definitely bullying and not allowed, and some of the accusations can be explained away depending on how sustained that pattern of behaviour is. He always seems like a boisterous and trickster-like fellow so I can imagine that rubbing people the wrong way and him coming off as loud / accidentally kicking a face while showing off some fancy nonsense move in training. But of course in the Hokuseiho situation, it came out not long after that there were much more serious allegations along with the initially reported concerns and we had details of the extent of time and place in that scenario, removing all doubt that the consequences must be serious for Hokuseiho.

If there's no further reporting I'll be surprised to see any public consequence for Tobizaru here but if the reporting continues I'll be surprised to see him remain in sumo. A precedent has been set.

Kicking to the face because you are boisterous fella, is most ludicrous defense. But, nothing is different now, these things have been going and will continue going on. This is the culture. Also troubling how you guys dismiss completely the victims account and start to excuse the perpetrator. For them doesn’t matter the fine nuances and degrees of violence you guys trying to find. Actually disgusting.

[Katooshu 3,221]

I'd notice Satsumasho had lost some hair and was wondering what the issue was. Hopefully the reports aren't true, but unfortunetly this does happen ......

Also, I have to say, it irks me how eager some people are (not so much here, but certainly Reddit and YouTube) to focus on the 'it's so unfair to Hakuho' angle in every controversy, as if he's the primary victim of injustice and the most deserving of sympathy, rather than any rikishi who've been abused. I gather that some online 'personalities' have been pushing this as part of an ongoing evil JSA narrative...

Edited Wednesday at 21:12 by Katooshu

[Bunbukuchagama 722]

9 hours ago, Akinomaki said:

nothing in the proper papers yet.

"Serious" Japanese press only reports on "officially" confirmed scandals. So, it's tabloids or nothing for us.

[Bunbukuchagama 722]

53 minutes ago, Katooshu said:

Also, I have to say, it irks me how eager some people are (not so much here, but certainly Reddit and YouTube) to focus on the 'it's so unfair to Hakuho' angle in every controversy, as if he's the primary victim of injustice and the most deserving of sympathy, rather than any rikishi who've been abused. I gather that some online 'personalities' have been pushing this as part of an ongoing evil JSA narrative...

Because the Universe revolves around him, have you forgotten?

[Bunbukuchagama 722]

1 hour ago, Octofuji said:

I remember watching Hakuho giving kawaigari to Takakeisho and kicking him (fairly gently) when he was down.

In the face?

[Bunbukuchagama 722]

7 hours ago, Andreas21 said:

Make them buy female underwear, make him cook for him. I don't know for sure about the cultural context. Is there a law against that? Coercion? But then, the threat should be reported, not the act itself. Female underwear makes the story ridiculous.

Japan is weird.

[Bunbukuchagama 722]

7 hours ago, Yarimotsu said:

My current read on these accusations is similar to my initial read on the Hokuseiho scandal

But you ended up being wrong in Hokuseiho's case, I assume? What makes you thing you will end up right this time around?

[Octofuji 357]

5 minutes ago, Bunbukuchagama said:

In the face?

No I think it was to the body. I was quite shocked at the time being new to sumo, because it seemed so humiliating.

[Bunbukuchagama 722]

Just now, Octofuji said:

No I think it was to the body. I was quite shocked at the time being new to sumo, because it seemed so humiliating.

Humiliation is a part of the experience.