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Hawaii sumotori
deny bout-rigging
allegations

Rigging accuser remains defiant
Sumo association chief reelected

By Ginny Parker
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) -- The sumo wrestling ring has long been considered sacred ground, blessed by priests and purified with salt before each bout.

But a headline-grabbing scandal over claims by a former wrestler that Japan's national sport is rife with fixed bouts is renewing suspicions that sumo is not as clean as its official image might suggest.

"I regret what I did in the past," Keisuke Itai said Wednesday, acknowledging he intentionally lost many of his own bouts. "Sumo wrestlers are true athletes, so there should be no fixed matches."

Itai said two Hawaii wrestlers, yokozuna Akebono and Takamiyama, were among those with whom he fixed bouts.

Takamiyama, whose real name is Jesse Kuhaulua, told The Honolulu Advertiser that the allegation was untrue.

"At no time did I do anything wrong," said Kuhaulua, who retired in 1984.

Kuhaulua, who is Akebono's stable boss, also told the Advertiser that Akebono also denied the allegations.

Akebono told the Asahi newspaper that he has no knowledge of what Itai is talking about.

Since first making his allegations last month that many sumo bouts are fixed, Itai has become the target of a media frenzy and intense protests from the sumo officials, who deny there is a problem.

Itai, now a restaurant owner, rose through the sumo ranks to attain the rank of komusubi, the fourth-highest in the ancient sport. He retired in 1991.

Sumo, some 2,000 years-old with roots in Japan's indigenous Shinto religion, is a one-on-one sport fought by athletes trying to wrestle each other down or out of an elevated clay ring.

Over the past few years, however, it's the sport's image that has taken the worst beating.

The sumo establishment was slammed four years ago in a series of tabloid articles in which another former wrestler told unsavory talks of fixed bouts, tax evasion by top wrestlers and kinky sex.

Officials denied the accusations. Shortly afterward, three members of Japan's top sumo wrestling family were hit with back taxes for failing to report more than $3.7 million in income.

Modernity, meanwhile, is chipping away at sumo's traditional power base - the training "stable."

The stables, which subject wrestlers to rigorous practice sessions and strict sumo etiquette, are finding it harder to recruit talent as more wrestlers enter the sport via college sumo clubs.

Fans are criticizing wrestlers for a loss of athleticism. Amid a rash of weight-related injuries last year, the sumo association forced wrestlers to take a test measuring their body fat - and told them to go on a diet.

Although Itai has accused several current sumo stars of taking part in rigged bouts, sumo experts were unfazed.

Andy Adams, publisher of Sumo World, a Tokyo-based magazine, said the practice of bout-rigging -- usually arranged among wrestlers to help someone score the extra win he needs for promotion to a higher rank -- goes back hundreds of years.

"There's an old tradition that if you rub my back this time, next time ... I'll rub your back," said Adams. "It's unspoken. Nobody says anything to anybody. It's just sort of understood."

---

Itai defiant in
bout-fixing
controversy

By Jim Armstrong
Kyodo News Service

TOKYO, Feb. 2 (Kyodo) -- Former sumo wrestler Keisuke Itai delivered yet another body blow to the sumo establishment Wednesday, saying he is ready to defend his claims of bout fixing in court while refusing to apologize to sumo officials over the latest controversy.

Itai refueled the debate over the alleged practice of bout fixing two weeks ago at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ) when he said that many of today's top stars, including yokozuna Akebono, intentionally fix bouts in return for cash.

Several days later, the Japan Sumo Association (JSA) hit back when JSA chairman Tokitsukaze demanded an apology and told reporters that Itai had "damaged the honor" of sumo and that the association's lawyers were investigating the possibility of taking legal action.

On Wednesday, Itai returned to the FCCJ to further back his claims and take another swipe at the JSA.

"I shall never apologize because what I said earlier is the truth. I feel deep regret over rigged matches I have been involved in but the JSA should apologize to sumo fans for all the rigged matches in the past," the former komusubi said.

While the JSA has denied the existence of bout fixing, known as "yaocho" in Japanese, Itai said that at least 80% of bouts were fixed when he was wrestling during a 12-year career that lasted from 1978 to 1991.

During the bubble economy, when bout fixing was at its most prevalent, 300,000 yen per bout was the going rate when negotiating with the top wrestlers, according to Itai.

Itai said that while the ratio of fixed bouts had decreased in recent years, he can still detect at least one or two incidents of yaocho on any given day of a tournament.

In addition to Akebono, Itai also singled out Akebono's stablemaster Azumaseki and Sadogatake stable wrestler Kotonishiki for the roles they played in bout fixing in the past.

"When Azumazeki stablemaster was wrestling under the name Takamiyama, I fought him three times and all three bouts were rigged. I fought Kotonishiki four times and all of those bouts were fixed," Itai said.

When asked why no other wrestlers have come forward to verify his claims, Itai said that it may be just be a matter of time before other wrestlers jump on the whistle blowing bandwagon.

"I think a lot of the wrestlers are afraid but once they see people like me take a stand, I think more and more will come forward and I am already aware of several who are pleased with what I have done so far."

As for possible legal action by the JSA, Itai said that while he has no concrete evidence, he is more than confident he would win a legal showdown.

"I am 100% confident that I would win a lawsuit and as far as evidence goes, I am the evidence," Itai said.

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Tokitsukaze elected
for 2nd term as sumo
association head

TOKYO, Jan. 31 (Kyodo) -- The Japan Sumo Association (JSA) on Monday re-elected sumo elder Tokitsukaze as chairman of the sport's governing body for a second two-year term.

Tokitsukaze, 62, was re-elected in the vote taken at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan by the association's 10 board members, who were elected by the 103 sumo elders, sumo's four grand champions and two representatives of the bout judges earlier Monday.

Tokitsukaze's re-election had been widely expected, unlike two years ago when he was the choice of a group of stable masters who opposed organizational reforms proposed by then-chairman Sakaigawa.

In a divided vote - the first ever held by the JSA, Tokitsukaze won over former yokozuna great Kitanoumi, who had been backed by Sakaigawa.

Tokitsukaze, formerly known as ozeki Yutakayama, has been an active JSA member since 1970. The Niigata-born stablemaster has worked in many official capacities including provincial tour manager before being elected chairman in 1998.

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