Even the newest sumo fans are aware of the complicated situation regarding sumo and foreigners. The top ranks are dominated by non-japanese; the highest ranked wrestler (rikishi) is Mongolian and of the six wrestlers at the second highest rank, two are Mongolian, one is Bulgarian, and one is Estonian. Actually the number of gaijin in sumo as a whole is relatively low, about 10%, but the ones who are there crowd the top two divisions, and about 40% of sekitori (rikishi from the elite top two divisions) are not Japanese.
Sumo is in a very bad place for many different reasons right now. There is the hard lifestyle, somewhat like a mix between boot camp and being a monk, that dissuades many young Japanese from getting into sumo. There was the recent match-fixing (yaocho) scandal, which rocked the sumo world to its core. There are allegations that many rikishi had gambling ties to the Yakuza, Japanese organized crime. There was the controversial behavior of polemic retired star Asashoryu-zeki, who by all accounts did not live up to the dignity associated with his rank. And the expelling of multiple rikishi for drug use. And the death of a young trainee while being beaten by his oyakata (coach), which resulted in criminal convictions. Record low interest in sumo. And all the other problems in Japan, from the earthquake to the economic crisis. The list goes on, and on, and on. But in the eyes of the Japanese "powers that be" no problem is so serious as the influx of foreigners within the top ranks of sumo.
There are six basho a year, and a native-born Japanese has not won one- not even one- for over six years. Many, probably correctly, consider this particular "problem" the biggest cause for sumo's waining popularity and overall position in society. This is probably correct, although there are many reasons for sumo's hard times, as I detailed above. The problem lies when the Nippon Sumo Kokkai (the Japan Sumo Association, the JSA) overcompensates for this problem. This manifested itself in a big way last basho, and is set to do so again this time around. Pretty much all of the top five gaijin (who occupy 5 of the top 7 spots in sumo) had subpar records, especially the highest ranked rikishi, the yokozuna, a Mongolian known as Hakuho-zeki. He had a 10-5 record, which is the worst he has ever had since attaining sumo's highest rank five years ago. Many cynical commentators believed that these men essentially took orders from the JSA to lay low to allow a pure-blood Yamato to win the tournament. While I tend to have a kind of see-no-evil attitude when it comes to this sort of thing, lest I become disillusioned with my favorite sport, I sort of agree.
Ironically, the poor performance by the top 5 foreigners (Hakuho-zeki, Harumafuji-zeki, Kakuryu-zeki, Baruto-zeki, and Kotooshu-zeki) only paved the way for another gaijin, veteran Mongolian Kyokutenho-zeki, to take the tournament. And when the rankings for the Nagoya basho came out, Kyokutenho-zeki had not even reached the fourth-highest rank, the lowest rung in the "titleholder" rankings. he remained in the "rank-and-file" group, and was only the second rikishi in history to win a tournament from the ranks and not make sanyaku (the titleholder ranks) for the next tournament. Instead, the lower two sanyaku ranks were filled up with four Japanese. Kyokutenho-zeki said "I probably really should be here", pointing at the sanyaku area on the rankings sheet. Rikishi are extremely reverent and almost never show emotion, much less second guess the JSA's judgement, so this shows how extreme the case is. The message from the JSA was clear. They will unabashedly do anything they can to put a native boy on top. even if it costs further stains on the integrity of the sport. For me, this makes me a lot less likely to root for Japanese-rikishi. Before, I had often rooted for them because I sympathized with their plight to bring back the glory. Now, it just seems like the foreigners are the ones admirably succeeding against all odds, the true rikishi deserving of admiration.
I apologize for the sloppy writing. As a side note, the suffix -zeki is a Japanese honorific that applies to sekitori, the 70 rikishi of the top two divisions. It is not part of their names. Photo below: Hakuho-zeki (left, holding the flag) and Kyokutenho-zeki (right) after Kyokutenho's surprise tournament win in March.
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