Friday, October 05, 2007

Homicide in sumo

Sumo, like boxing, has always been a sort of murky world with rumors of fixes, performance enhancing drugs and the like. There was even a pair of mysterious deaths of former sumo wrestlers who had spoken publicly about fixes and conveniently died soon afterwards---I would google for a link, but not right now. (OK, I found one conspiracy theory or not here.)
The reason that many people believe they were murdered is that they had published a book alleging wild-sex parties, drug use, and most importantly bout-rigging.
Today retired sumo wrestler and stable master Tokitsukaze was expelled from sumo for his part in the beating death of a 17- year old apprentice wrestler in his charge last June. Seems Tokitsukaze has bashed him across the head with a beer bottle, and encouraged other trainees to beat him with baseball bats over a period of 30 minutes. Of course, more such "training" had occurred prior to the fatal event.

Interestingly, just as the police saw nothing suspicious about the two former wrestlers suddenly dying shortly after suggesting fixed matches, they have not seen it necessary to arrest Tokitsukaze and hold him while they are investigating the homicide. Usually, they take people into custody for the usual 20 some odd days and then find a friendly judge to indefinitely extend the period. I guess even with the decline of sumo---which many of the blue-hairs attribute to them thar foreigners---the sport still gets special, kid's glove treatment from the elites in power. Why, this sport must certainly embody all the fantasies of Fujiwara's neo-bushidoism.

Amazingly, The Japan Times on-line has no recent articles on this story even though it has been all over the TV and in Japanese language newspapers lately.

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