[sumo] Tokitsukaze Beya Developments

[Jack Gartin]

For those of us following the outcome of this scandal, here's the latest:

BEST
Tamagoyama

Ex-stablemaster to be arrested over death

The Yomiuri Shimbun

NAGOYA--The Aichi prefectural police have decided to arrest the former
stablemaster Tokitsukaze and three sumo wrestlers by early next month, after
concluding that their beatings and assaults over two days on a 17-year-old
junior wrestler led to his death in June, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

Tokitsukaze stable wrestler Tokitaizan, whose real name was Takashi Saito,
died after collapsing following a training session on June 26 in Inuyama,
Aichi Prefecture.

The former stablemaster's real name is Junichi Yamamoto.

Initially, the Inuyama Police Station determined his death was caused by
disease. However, after Saito's parents requested that an autopsy be
conducted, it was learned that his death was caused by traumatic shock as a
consequence of multiple external wounds. The prefectural police are
investigating the case on suspicion that his death was caused by the
beatings.

The ensuing police investigation revealed that the assaults on Saito began
early in the afternoon of June 25. Besides the three senior wrestlers, the
police will soon consult with prosecutors about sending papers on four or
five other wrestlers who joined in the beatings.

During dinner on June 25, Saito was believed to have been struck on his
forehead with a beer bottle by the former stablemaster at the stable house
in Inuyama. This was believed to have been followed by an apparent group
hazing by senior wrestlers who severely beat Saito. Saito died after
training the following day.

Saito, who was fed up with his severe training regimen, tried to flee the
stable house on the morning of June 25. But he was caught by senior
wrestlers at a convenience store about 700 meters away in Inu-yama.

Saito was taken back to the stable house and was apparently assaulted until
dinnertime.

On June 26, during a training session incorporating butsukarigeiko, in which
a wrestler pushes an inert counterpart across the sumo ring and is then
thrown to the ground, some senior wrestlers beat Saito with metal baseball
bats.

However, the prefectural police decided to establish their case as one based
upon a series of assaults, due to the difficulty of proving precisely which
action constituted the fatal blow.

The former stablemaster ordered Saito to sit in a kneeling position during
the dinner on June 25 and beat the young wrestler with a beer bottle on the
forehead while scolding him, then allegedly instructed the senior wrestlers
to perpetrate further violence. Several senior wrestlers have told
investigators they acted on the stablemaster's instruction.

Therefore, the prefectural police judged it possible to establish the case
as one of inflicting bodily injuries resulting in death.

Meanwhile, Nagoya University, which has been examining tissue from Saito's
body, detected a high level of potassium in the junior wrestler's
blood--indications that are consistent with a body being severely
bruised--to a degree that would lead to cardiac arrest.
(Jan. 26, 2008)