Asashoryu and Hakuho Vent Their Frustrations on One Another

By Freddy Benstein | Monday, May 26, 2008

“How about Asashoryu?” I asked a Japanese friend of mine.  She gasped, “Oh no! He’s bad boy! I don’t like him!”  If Asashoryu is trying to promote a “bad boy” image, he did a great deal for it in yesterdays final match of the 2008 Summer Sumo Tournament.  Even though the tournament’s winner, Kotoshu, had been decided during the previous day’s bouts, Asashoryu and Hakuho seemed to be taking their own match rather seriously.  The tension built as they waddled around the ring, trying to “read the air” for just the right moment to begin the match.  Perhaps both were slightly disappointed that this was not the match deciding the tournament, after all, they have each one a tournament this year: Hakuho, the Hatsu Basho, and Asashoryu took home the prize for the spring tourney.  This time around they were both owned by a European Sumo wrestler, who, after his performance in the last tournament, seemed to be on his way down.  Their disappointment and frustration may have been pushed to the limit, and boiled over in this match.

Soon after Hakuho and Asashoryu sprang out of their stances to start the match, it seemed that Hakuho slipped or lost his balance and it was necessary for him to stretch out his hands in front of him in order to keep from doing a face-plant in the dirt.  This also meant that he lost the match.  Based on the look on Asashoryu’s face, his opponent’s mishap seemed to catch him by surprise.  What happened next is where the problems will start.  As soon as Hakuho’s hands were down on the ground, Asashoryu attempted to push him down from the side using both hands.  Again, basing my thoughts on Asashoryu’s facial expressions, it looked as though as soon as he did this, his mind thought “oops”, but it was too late.  Hakuho was back on his feet in a flash... well, as close to a flash as a sumo wrestler can move, I guess, and returned the ill-advised late hit with a little bodily contact of his own.  This was followed by a staring match of about 5 seconds, during which the arena suddenly became uncomfortably silent and the referee looked to be at a complete loss. 

As I said, both wrestlers were likely frustrated and disappointed by their performances in the tournament, which probably played into the flaring of tempers at the end of this match.  Still, I am beginning to understand a little better why my friend said that Asashoryu “...is bad boy” and even why Wada Aikiko was critical of him for un-god-like behavior (which I just mentioned in a previous article). 

This little incident would hardly be worth even noting in sports like football, where Asa would have simply been hit with a 15 yard, late hit penalty, or in baseball, basketball or hockey, where such altercations and staring matches between players are the norm, rather than the exception.  Coming from this background, I can partly understand Asashoryu’s actions.  He is in the heat of a high-tension match, his opponent slips unexpectedly and his gut reaction is to follow through and make sure that Hakuho stays down.  Perhaps he was thinking, “That happened too easily, too quickly, I’d better make sure that I actually won.”  At least that was my first reaction when I watched the match.  As I watched the replays, however, I began to wonder if Asa simply wasn’t exercising self-control (an important virtue in Japanese culture).  The late hit did happen fairly quickly after Hakuho went down, but the more I watched the replay, the more I thought there should have been enough time for Asashoryu to realize what was happening and hold up on the late push. 

This is, after all, Japan, where perseverance is a virtue, and Yokozuna sumo wrestlers are literally divine. This type of behavior is unacceptable for athletes of such status.  Actually, I would say it is unacceptable for athletes of any status.  Many of the sports I enjoy playing and watching in the States would be much more enjoyable without all the drama and egos of highly paid primadonnas getting in the way.  This is usually absent from Japanese traditional sports, especially martial arts.  I practiced Kendo for several years, and one of the principles all of my instructors put a great deal of importance on was considering/respecting your opponent.  Kendo is a fencing, born out of need to safely practice sword techniques and combat, but still, your mindset is to “kill” your opponent or be killed, and there is no need to disrespect him or her, should he or she be on the losing end.  This is essentially what Asashoryu did to Hakuho by pushing him after the match was officially over. 

The Japan Times always seems to be a day late with their sumo coverage, but in the Japanese papers today, it seems like this little scuffle has caused a bit of a stir.  According to the Japanese papers, The Japanese Sumo Association (日本相撲協会) has received around 30 phone calls complaining about the incident.  Mr. Ebizawa of the association has said that both wrestlers are at fault for the incident and need to carry themselves in a more Yokozuna like way.  Other members of the association took a lighter view of the incident, brushing it off as youthful recklessness.

Last year was already an eventful year for the sumo world, with the death of Takashi Saito, the suspension of Asashoryu and his nervous breakdown which followed.  Now we have a European Emperor’s cup winner, and a couple of Mongolians who cannot keep their tempers.  It should be an interesting year.

Freddy Benstein's Profile

I am a language teacher working at a private Junior High/High School and College in Western Japan. Since I earned my undergraduate degree in 1997, I have spent nearly half of my time living, working and studying in foreign countries, in Asia and Europe. Since 1995 I have visited Japan nearly every year and spent two years living here from 1998 - 2000. I am now working again in Japan for an unspecified length of time.

Interests: Japanese, taiko, music, photography, German Romanticism, 19th century history/literature

→ Read all of Freddy Benstein's articles
Subscribe to Freddy Benstein's RSS feed

Forum comments on this article

Latest Forum Threads