Flying Monkey Trouble - Tobizaru Accused of Bullying

[Kintamayama 45,145]

Nikkan is now all over the story. Tobizaru's koenkai issued a statement pretty much mirroring what Tobizaru said.

" To all members - A notice regarding the article in the Shukan Shincho (February 13th issue)  - We are extremely sorry for causing you so much concern because of the article. There were many statements in the report that were not true, and we are extremely sorry that such an article was published. The origins of this article lie in the fact that Tobizaru's current tsukebito went directly to the Kyokai to complain about Tobizaru and a former tsukebito complained as well. As a result, Tobizaru and Oitekaze Oyakata were called to the compliance committee to hear their side of the story. Tobizaru said he answered all questions regarding his dealings with his tsukebito honestly and sincerely, without lying. Some have suggested that Tobizaru will be let off with a severe reprimand but the final decision will be made by a third party committee. Both the current and former tsukebitos have no intention of leaving the heya at this point. There are other tsukebitos that testified that there was no bullying.. In any case, there is no doubt this has caused great concern to our members, so we have decided to post this. When you become famous, you attract a lot of attention, and with that attention comes criticism. However, honorary koenkai Chairman Fukuda gave Tobizaru great encouragement, saying, "Be strong! You have no choice but to become stronger!" Tobizaru himself declared:   "No matter what, I will not be swayed by others, I will think only of myself, practice hard, and become stronger!" All of our members must have seen Tobizaru countless times, desperately trying to get back up even after falling in the dohyo, being pushed off the dohyo, or being knocked down by a Yokozuna. He also loves children, has a kind personality, a charming and innocent smile, and is a rikishi who can naturally interact with all of our members without discrimination. I think you all know this better than anyone. I sincerely ask all of our members to please continue to support Tobizaru. We will report on the decisions of the third-party committee as soon as they are known, " read the letter, posted on the Koenkai's homepage. 

Steak- at least one basho suspension.

Edited February 8 by Kintamayama

[Godango 984]

39 minutes ago, Kintamayama said:

Steak- at least one basho suspension.

Methinks you'll be swimming in steak.

My mind keeps jumping to "that's the last we've seen of him," but really, what do I know? Looking at the suspensions for Abi, Ryuden, and Asanoyama (which was a very different set of circumstances), plus the Hokuseiho/Miyagino issue, anything less than a three-basho suspension would make it seem like they’re not taking this seriously.

That said, I still half-expect an intai announcement.

But really, at this point, nothing would surprise me.

[Ripe 71]

I'm curious about something: how common is for a rikishi to change his tsukebito? Because I seem to remeber Endo being rather emotional because his tsukebito of 7+ years decided to retire. So Tobizaru already being on his 5th tsukebito in 7 years seem rather suspicious, even if previous ones claim (according to that article) that there was no bullying there was probably a reason why they're no longer his tsukebito's...

It will be interesting to see how this play out, especially considering that whole Hokuseiho/Miyagino mess.

[Tsuchinoninjin 1,269]

The koenkai statement feels really weird. Not sure what they are trying to achieve with that.

[Octofuji 357]

47 minutes ago, Tsuchinoninjin said:

The koenkai statement feels really weird. Not sure what they are trying to achieve with that.

Yes saying "he also loves children" does seem a bit desperate.

[Kaninoyama 1,787]

2 hours ago, Tsuchinoninjin said:

The koenkai statement feels really weird. Not sure what they are trying to achieve with that.

Salvaging Tobizaru's career is what they are trying to achieve. 

Edited February 9 by Kaninoyama

[Tsuchinoninjin 1,269]

3 hours ago, Kaninoyama said:

Salvaging Tobizaru's career is what they are trying to achieve. 

Snowballs chance in hell something like that makes a positive impression on the decision makers.

[Akinomaki 40,551]

3 hours ago, Tsuchinoninjin said:

Snowballs chance in hell something like that makes a positive impression on the decision makers.

That text from the 7th is only for the koenkai members, not for the decision makers

19 hours ago, Akinomaki said:

His personal koenkai 明猿会 tobizaru.jp posted a comment for the supporters about the tabloid article https://www.tobizaru.jp/image/index/news/202502070930.pdf

[Kintamayama 45,145]

1 hour ago, Akinomaki said:

That text from the 7th is only for the koenkai members, not for the decision makers

Be that as it may, it is now totally public and widely read.  I'm pretty sure it was meant for other eyes as well. If this will help in any way is another story.

[rhyen 1,842]

20 hours ago, Ripe said:

I'm curious about something: how common is for a rikishi to change his tsukebito? Because I seem to remeber Endo being rather emotional because his tsukebito of 7+ years decided to retire. So Tobizaru already being on his 5th tsukebito in 7 years seem rather suspicious, even if previous ones claim (according to that article) that there was no bullying there was probably a reason why they're no longer his tsukebito's...

It will be interesting to see how this play out, especially considering that whole Hokuseiho/Miyagino mess.

Heya relationship dynamics do come into play, especially in big heyas.

yes, some sekitori do have career-long tsukebito “manservants”  (Shunba who served Terunofuji until his own retirement is one, I believe that Harumafuji & Aminishiki also have 1-2 such tsukebitos). Yet in the entourages, there are probably some grunt tsukebitos who carry the akemis and menial stuffs, and these members are regularly rotated.

Kotoeko also served Kotoshogiku as the lead tsukebito until Kotoshogiku retired before being promoted to Juryo himself

i think Hitoshi prior to both his promotions has always served Daieisho. Daishomaru sometimes bounces around between the sekitori entourages.

[WAKATAKE 2,656]

Chris Sumo has been strangely quiet about this whole "incident." Either he's very busy or the story actually doesn't hold up since it was tabloid to begin with.

[Bunbukuchagama 726]

23 hours ago, Tsuchinoninjin said:

The koenkai statement feels really weird. Not sure what they are trying to achieve with that.

The official friends of X club: X is a good person.

Also: we don't want to disband.

[Akinomaki 40,551]

On 09/02/2025 at 08:29, Akinomaki said:

His personal koenkai 明猿会 tobizaru.jp posted a comment for the supporters about the tabloid article https://www.tobizaru.jp/image/index/news/202502070930.pdf

The koenkai announced the removal of the pdf file of the announcement from the 6th from the site, to avoid affecting the basho. The above link is not shown any-more, but it still works - and the papers that published (parts of) it, have it anyway for a while on their sites

Edited February 10 by Akinomaki

[Tsuchinoninjin 1,269]

Yeah, that kind of cheeky end around is a bad idea in Japan.

[Kaninoyama 1,787]

Hope it all turns out to be a big nothingburger. Tobizaru the rikishi is highly entertaining and his presence is needed--the kind that can wreak havoc at a moment's notice and is not afraid to go toe-to-toe with the Ozeki and Yokozuna and occasionally deliver an upset and shake up the yusho race.

[Akinomaki 40,551]

Dailyshincho brought a new article, in 2 parts

First part a recap with details, names of the four earlier tsukebito, the first , Daishohama has retired by now, Hitoshi, Daisho, Daiyusho http://www.dailyshincho.jp/article/2025/02151056/?all=1

2nd part interviews with the heya, Tobizaru, oyakata and tsukebito. Satsumasho said he wouldn’t quit as tsukebito, everybody says "Ask the NSK". Daishohama is said to have quit the heya not because of that but because he had lost his willingness to do sumo, Daisho had to replace the chanko-ban, who had quit and he couldn't do both. http://www.dailyshincho.jp/article/2025/02151057/?all=1

Edited Saturday at 13:57 by Akinomaki

[Ripe 71]

So someone quit not because he was bullied but because he "lost his willingness to do sumo". Right, I wonder why exactly he lost his willingness to do sumo... could it be he lost it because he was bullied?

[Akinomaki 40,551]

12 minutes ago, Ripe said:

So someone quit not because he was bullied but because he "lost his willingness to do sumo". Right, I wonder why exactly he lost his willingness to do sumo... could it be he lost it because he was bullied?

Unlikely - he spent 10 years in jonidan, without a kachi-koshi in the upper half.

Edited Saturday at 14:24 by Akinomaki

[Gospodin 191]

Just aside from the current incidents, that are not proven:

First - I know the entire history of sumo and hazing. That said, from a Gai-Jin perspective, I am nonetheless wondering why this seems to be so hard to at alleviate. My grandfather told me stories about having his then- almost priceless to him - football shoes nailed to the floor, the laces cut to pieces. Before games he was smeared with shoe cream all over the face, with minutes left to remove it. He and the other rookies had to appear hours earlier to prepare the entire pitch, they were denied water in the halftime break, and slapped by the elder for wrong or inaccurate passes, and so forth. But after the first season, at most, it subsided.Today, even in the lowest legues, this is unthinkable.

So, my question to the respected forum, what is the cultural difference that makes it so difficult to evolve with time ?

[Akinomaki 40,551]

I don't think it's a national cultural difference, it's an aspect of sumo culture.

The notion of power harassment is a very recent idea, world wide. In sumo, power harassment always was the privilege of a sekitori - and oyakata. Still at the time Daishohama retired, a tsukebito who would complain about power harassment would have been thrown out - someone like that doesn't belong in sumo. Now there is a severe shortage of new recruits and many join, who have no concept of sumo life, thus they are kept, even if they are unfit for it.

[Ripe 71]

On 15/02/2025 at 15:23, Akinomaki said:

Unlikely - he spent 10 years in jonidan, without a kachi-koshi in the upper half.

I'm not so sure... I think that actually makes it more likely it was Tobizaru bullying him that caused him to quit.

I mean, he spent 11 years in sumo, never going higher than Jonidan 17, never missing a bout and then suddenly after being appointed as Tobizaru's tsukebito he looses his will to do sumo and decides to quit... that is a hell of a coincidence.

[Seiyashi 4,091]

4 hours ago, Ripe said:

I'm not so sure... I think that actually makes it more likely it was Tobizaru bullying him that caused him to quit.

I mean, he spent 11 years in sumo, never going higher than Jonidan 17, never missing a bout and then suddenly after being appointed as Tobizaru's tsukebito he looses his will to do sumo and decides to quit... that is a hell of a coincidence.

The innocent explanation which might not involve bullying is - on being appointed tsukebito, it prompted some soul searching as to exactly what he was doing with his life. Bit thin, though. 

[Akinomaki 40,551]

10 hours ago, Ripe said:

I'm not so sure... I think that actually makes it more likely it was Tobizaru bullying him that caused him to quit.

I mean, he spent 11 years in sumo, never going higher than Jonidan 17, never missing a bout and then suddenly after being appointed as Tobizaru's tsukebito he looses his will to do sumo and decides to quit... that is a hell of a coincidence.

Even a sumo loving celeb like Hattorizakura did quit after 6 years, at 23, when Corona made life miserable for all the world. It is rather amazing that Daishohama continued till age 27, leaving the following year, Aki 2022, still during the Corona depression era. Tobizaru has regular tsukebito since 2018, in makuuchi since 2020. We don't know for how long and who was tsukebito the whole time.