Raw Japan

Sumo “porky” tab a low blow

Bad boy sumo grand champion Asashoryu has been called many things, but it’s unlikely whether being dubbed “porky” will cause the Mongolian star to lose much sleep.

When a former wrestler, now working as a television commentator, accused the “yokozuna” of being flabby, it marked a new low in the hounding of one of the greats of Japan’s ancient sport.

Asashoryu has character flaws, which have polarised opinion within the strict, cloistered sumo world with regular breaches of protocol such as telling Japanese journalists to “Drop dead!”

But there is an undercurrent of xenophobia detectable in the increasingly frequent tabloid attacks on the 28-year-old wrestler, who needed around-the-clock police protection after receiving a death threat earlier this year.

Mummy’s boy turned sumo powerhouse

Mongolian sumo wrestler Harumafuji, the latest loin-clothed giant from his country to make his mark on Japan’s ancient sport, has a unique way of preparing for his bouts – listening to soothing Buddhist sutra music.

The method helped the 25-year-old ‘ozeki’ win his first major tournament last month and he is already being tipped to join compatriots Asashoryu and Hakuho at the elite rank of ‘yokozuna’ following his surprise Emperor’s Cup triumph.

Sumo bad boy Asashoryu melts hearts

Mongolian sumo grand champion Asashoryu is the self-styled bad boy of Japan’s ancient sport, a man who once yanked a rival’s hair before picking a soapy bathtub fight with the same opponent and later being accused of smashing the same wrestler’s car mirror.

To many seasoned sumo observers, he lacks the dignity required to hold sumo’s elite rank of “yokozuna”. To others, he is simply eccentric.