Hazing Allegations in Sumo Death

In scenes unprecedented in Japan's history, where wrestlers are seen as national heroes, the sumo stars were shown handcuffed and with jackets over their heads surrounded by cameras and reporters.

Police arrested sumo wrestlers Masakazu Kimura, 24, Yuichiro Izuka, 25, Masanori Fujii, 22, and their stablemaster, Junichi Yamamoto, 57, who is also known as Tokitsukaze. Aichi prefectural police allege Yamamoto ordered the three wrestlers to beat a 17 year old junior wrestler so brutally that he died.

Takashi Saito, 17, collapsed at his sumo stable and was rushed to the hospital.

Initially, the boy's death was listed as "ischemic heart failure", until his family viewed his body. They say his body was covered in bruises, cuts and burns. They begged police to open an investigation, believing he'd been punished for trying to flee the stable.

"He said he'd be a good boy, I just need to come get him (from the stable)," his father told reporters last summer, through choked tears. "I should have listened and trusted him."

Police say on June 25, Yamamoto instructed the wrestlers to beat the boy using sticks and a metal bat.

Yamamoto publicly denied striking Saito inappropriately, though he did admit to striking him on the head with a beer bottle during dinner that day. He told reporters shortly after Saito's death, "This was an ordinary practice. How could you think I would do anything to hurt someone I consider my child?"

Following the death of Tokitaizan, a wrestler in the lowest-ranked jonokuchi division at the Tokitsukaze stable and whose real name was Takashi Saito, apparently caused by group hazing, people at the stable arranged for his body to be cremated without gaining the permission of his family, according to the Aichi prefectural police and its Inuyama Police Station.

Based on these facts, the police suspect the former Tokitsukaze stablemaster, whose real name is Junichi Yamamoto, tried to hide the evidence of the assault and his involvement in Saito's death.