[sumo] A Call to sumo reporters- Tokitsuskaze-gate

[Scott M. Kahn]

Thank you for posting this article.  I wouldn't be surprised if
there was a cover up within the Kyokai, perhaps at the highest
levels.  Is it no wonder the Kyokai is waiting until after the
legal verdict, were this indeed the case?  Any word on whether such
an investigation is taking place?

I firmly believe if reporters such as Mr. Buckton and his colleagues
in the press were that serious about sumo, they would take their
notebooks and start doing some investigative reporting about this
incident.  It's a tragedy with an underlying story that is ripe for
the picking.  I'm sure that their talents would lead some unhappy
rikishi or policeman to spill the beans about what happened, and
the coverup that followed.  It is almost always the rule, in cases
like this, that eventually one of those involved seeks to cover
their own tooshie.  It is difficult to believe that the attempt to
cremate the body came solely from within the stable.

Your reporting would have a far deeper and positive impact in
righting the world of sumo than the recent drivel that has followed
Asashoryu.  Come on, you reporters, take up a REAL issue.  It's a
difficult task, but I know that you have it in you.  Let's get this
one right for everyone so we can clean out the Kyokai of dubious
individuals.  I want to know, "Who knew what, and when....  "

Sukubidubidu

-snip-
"...
He said the police seemed to lean over backwards to protect the
reputation of sumo. After Saito's death was attributed to natural
causes, his stable master, Junichi Yamamoto, encouraged the boy's
family to allow him to cremate the body, according to news
accounts. The father, though, insisted on seeing the teenager's
body. After he saw bruises and other wounds, he asked doctors at
Niigata University to perform an autopsy. They found that shock
from a beating had caused the youth's heart to stop..."
-snip-