[sumo] EX - Tokitsukaze: Worse and Worse

[Jack Gartin]

A short article from Yomiuri and another 'detail' leaks out.

Tamagoyama

Ex-stablemaster admits having wrestler tied up

The Yomiuri Shimbun

NAGOYA--A former stablemaster arrested on suspicion of assault resulting in
the death of a 17-year-old sumo wrestler admitted to police he ordered his
students to tie the wrestler to a pillar for a slapping exercise,
investigators said Monday.

However, the former Tokitsukaze stablemaster, whose real name is Junichi
Yamamoto, has continued to deny criminal intent, insisting that the order
was meant to discipline Tokitaizan, whose real name was Takashi Saito, but
not to hurt him, according to the special investigation squad of Inuyama
Police Station in Aichi Prefecture.

Yamamoto, 57, was arrested earlier this month along with three sumo
wrestlers of the stable.

According to the police, Yamamoto struck Saito about 10 times with a beer
bottle at the stable's lodging in Inuyama on June 25, the day before his
death.
(Feb. 26, 2008)