Corona Daily 199: The Sumo Wrestler

Kotokantetsu had entered the world of professional sumo wrestling after middle school. Once he joined the stable, he couldn’t complete his studies, but that was any way not expected of sumo wrestlers.

The 1500-year-old Japanese sport has 650 fighters that make up the six divisions. But only 60 in the top two divisions are the privileged ones. They make good amounts of money, are allowed to marry and have children. They are even permitted to own a mobile phone. The bottom four divisions are unpaid. They live and train together under a stablemaster. Once you join a particular stable, it is for life. Stables are not football clubs where you can jump from one to another.

Wrestlers in the bottom four divisions are aspiring to reach the first two divisions. Kotokantetsu, 22, also had that dream. Since the pandemic began, young wrestlers have been testing positive. In April, Kiyotaka Suetake, 28, became the first one to test positive. His condition rapidly worsened, and he died due to multiple organ failures. The World Sumo Champion, Hakuh0, 35, tested positive on 5 January, after losing his sense of smell. He has since recovered.

Japan’s New Year Grand Sumo tournament (2021) is currently going on. It will end on the coming Sunday. Kotokantetsu went to his stablemaster before the start of the tournament. He bowed, and recalled the heart operation he had a couple of years ago. That put him in a high-risk category. He wanted the stablemaster to excuse him from taking part in this month’s tournament.

Neither the stable nor the stablemaster had helped him when he had required the heart surgery. His divorced mother was forced to raise funds. But Kotokantetsu didn’t mention that.

The stable master looked at him and replied: You either compete, or leave the sport forever.

Kotokantetsu spent a bad night. Next day, he announced he was retiring from the sport. Once he was out of the stable, he was interviewed on YouTube. (Sumo wrestlers are not allowed to use social media in any form). In tears, he said he felt devastated. Now, he is forced to cut off his traditional wrestler’s topknot, the distinctive hair bun, and thrown on the street after eight years in the sport, with no qualifications, no savings and no job in the middle of the pandemic.

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Before Kotokantetsu’s quitting, the stablemaster had issued a statement, in which he said: “It doesn’t stand to reason that you want to drop out of the tournament because you are afraid of the coronavirus. There are people who will say they don’t want to go to work because of covid. He is one of them. But if everyone says that, work will not happen. And if he can’t deal with that, he needs to think about whether to stay or not.”

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Sumo wrestling is heavily regimented. Heya, the stable, is an all-male boarding house. Women, because they are considered impure, are not allowed to take part in the sport, they are not even allowed close to the ring. Only wrestlers in the top two divisions are allowed to have families, but if due to poor performance or injury any of them is demoted to the third division, they must leave their wives and children and be part of the all-male stable. Driving is not allowed, because no sumo wrestler will fit between the driving wheel and the seat. They don’t eat anything for breakfast, eat a heavy lunch made of large amounts of rice, and must take an afternoon nap after lunch.

Wrestlers in the four lower divisions have no rights. The oyakata (stablemasters) treat them like slave labour. Bullying is pervasive, and many stablemasters exploit the teenagers ruthlessly.

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The average life expectancy of a sumo wrestler is ten years shorter. In the name of the ancient tradition, this inhuman sport and the heyas continue, even glorified.

Coronavirus has managed to highlight the issue, like it has many others.

Ravi