The sumo champion, the sickie and the story that shook Japan

這則英國報導晚台灣的*約一周 (8月1日) 不過優點是更能掌握全貌

The sumo champion(橫綱), the sickie and the story that shook Japan

Mongolian-born Asashoryu has always cut a controversial figure in his adopted country. So the sight of him playing football when he was on sick leave, and rumours that he wants to retire, have caused uproar.

By David McNeill

Published: 07 August 2007

They thought he was indestructible. But now Japanese sumo fans are not so sure after it emerged that the national champion is seeing a psychiatrist to help him deal with the worst crisis of his career. Asashoryu, the Mongolian-born firebrand, is reportedly in such a fragile mental state that he wants to quit Japan and go home. Many fear he will not return, abruptly ending the controversial reign of sumo's greatest modern champion and throwing the sport he dominates into a tailspin.

Just one month ago, it all looked very different. Asashoryu swatted aside the sport's 14 best wrestlers to take his 21st title, putting him firmly in the pantheon of sumo greats. And he did it in style, battling through media accusations of match-fixing and a catalogue of painful battle scars that included a fractured lower back and nerve damage. "I was tired mentally and physically, so I'm happy to win the yokozuna (grand champion) told his fans before handing sumo's ruling body a medical certificate claiming that his injuries would force him to sit out the autumn tournament.

A few days later, goggle-eyed Japanese viewers watched as TV pictures showed the invalided star in a Wayne Rooney T-shirt hurtling around a football field in his native Mongolia. Mugging happily for the cameras that would eventually betray him, the 26-year-old looked as fit as any 150kg, top-knotted yokozuna as he executed a lethal-looking series of dives and tackles. The pictures of the charity match were relayed home and all hell broke loose. By the time a glum-faced Asashoryu was ordered back in Japan last week, his already scandal-tainted career was about to take a turn for the worse.

(break loose Escape from restraint, as in The boat broke loose from its moorings, or He finally broke loose from the school of abstract expressionism. This expression also appears in all hell breaks loose, which indicates a state of fury or chaos, as in When Dad finds out you broke his watch, all hell will break loose, or When the children saw the dead pigeon in the hall, all hell broke loose. [Early 1400s] )

Amid accusations that he had faked his injuries, the Japan Sumo Association (JSA) handed Asashoryu the toughest punishment in the history of the professional sport, suspending him from two forthcoming tournaments and slashing his 2.8-million-yen monthly salary by 30 per cent. The suspension - the first for an active yokozuna - stunned many sumo watchers because the JSA was effectively cutting its own throat by benching its top draw.

But the ruling body was in no mood for compromise. "It was such careless conduct," said JSA board member Isenoumi. "He deserves the punishment because as a yokozuna he is supposed to be the people's role model."* As sumo's rebellious poster-boy, Asahoryu would probably laugh at the idea of being anyone's role model. But like it or not, as the grand champion his beefy legs support a sport marinated in a millennium of tradition and culture. Those who grunt their way to the top are showered with money, fame and the sort of adulation doled out to rock stars. In return, they must strive to live up to the sport's exalted standards of decorum and dignity, collectively known as hinkaku, overseen by the arch-traditionalists in the JSA. Asashoryu, in the eyes of many hardcore followers, has failed the hinkaku test.

*The term Role model was introduced by Robert K. Merton ^[1]. Merton says that individuals compare themselves with "reference groups" of people who occupy the social role to which the individual aspires. ^[2]. The term has passed into general use to mean any person who is an example to others.

Reference

1. ^ Robert K. Merton article on Wikipedia
2. ^ article about Merton by Gerald Holton

Throughout his career, the champion has been dogged by criticism and tabloid allegations, starting with an early claim that he liked to trawl clubs and once tried to buy the services of a young hostess with his sumo winnings. Some have alleged that he delights in playing rough with his sparring partners and has hurt several - not always in the ring: One story said he fired air gun pellets at the buttocks of young trainees and attacked an opponent in the dressing room after they had an argument. Since early this year, he has persistently denied magazine stories that he is guilty of yaocho - rigging fights for bribes.

But many of his transgressions can seem petty to the non-initiated. Traditionalists sniffed last week at the sight of the sport's top athlete in a football T-shirt, just as they once condemned him for swapping a kimono for a Western suit. Many Sumo fans grimace at the clenched-fist "guts pose" that Asashory sometimes adopts over his fallen opponents, a betrayal in their eyes of the Bushido tradition of mercy for a defeated enemy. The wrestler, whose real name is Dolgorsuren Dagvadorjban, has noticeably toned down such displays since his early career, blaming them on a failure to control his emotions.

"In Mongolia, having a fiery temper is considered manly," says Mark Schilling, a Sumo commentator for state broadcaster NHK. "You're not expected to hide your feelings like you are in Japan. But here, stuff like that will get him in trouble."

In one of his most famous sins against the sport, the Mongolian tugged an opponent to the ground by grabbing his mage (top knot), earning him instant disqualification and the lasting animosity of many fans. Just as serious was a fight early in his career when he angrily disputed a decision by a head judge, an outrageous insult to the Sumo code. Worst of all, he has refused to take Japanese nationality.

These incidents convinced many conservatives that foreigners will never carry themselves like a Japanese yokozuna. Unfortunately for them, Asashoryu's career trajectory coincides with a crisis in the sport. Young Japanese are no longer willing to endure years of eating rice porridge and grappling with sweaty, fat men in sumo stables, which failed this year to attract a single new recruit. Foreigners, led by Mongolians and Koreans are increasingly rushing in to fill the vacuum. So dominant are foreign wrestlers, the Sumo Federation has limited non-Japanese recruits to one per stable. Several Europeans, including the Bulgarian Kotooshu, have even started to climb the ranks.

Kotooshu is everybody's favorite foreign sumo wrestler. At a shade over two metres tall and with the rippling frame of a bodybuilder and the face of a TV star, he looks about as good as it is possible to get while wearing nothing but a giant nappy. His pin-up looks and impeccable manners have endeared him to fans and earned him the popular media title: "The David Beckham of Sumo." Some believe Kotooshu may help conservative Japanese swallow the idea that this most traditional of sports no longer belongs to them.

But although the Bulgarian may have grasped the mysteries of hinkaku better than most, he will never be as good or as ruthless a wrestler as his swaggering Mongolian counterpart. "There are no stars in wrestling now, that's the problem," says the veteran sumo commentator Mark Schreiber. "At least Asashoryu is a star." Asashoryu's star-power and his phenomenal wrestling abilities have helped him overcome the constant controversy, but there have been recent signs that he is tiring of life in the spotlight. In media appearances this year, where he was peppered with questions about match-fixing, he appeared even more sullen and bad-tempered than usual. He put in one of his worst performances in May, losing to five wrestlers, which he subsequently blamed on injury. Even before his disastrous excursion to Mongolia, many commentators had started to speculate that he might return home permanently. Mongolia would certainly welcome him back. He is a national hero there and the government was quick to defend him when the latest scandal erupted. In a statement to the JSA, the Mongolian embassy apologised for the incident and said they had "half-forced" the wrestler to promise to come as "we wanted children to make contact with the hero Asashoryu. We initially planned to let him go early but instead created the situation in which he was forced to join in the soccer." Unfortunately, even that wasn't enough to save the wrestler from his two-tournament ban or - worse for this proud, temperamental man - public humiliation.

Asashoryu is today reportedly holed up in his Tokyo home, deeply depressed and demanding that he be allowed to return to Mongolia. Japanese press reports say he was visited by a psychiatrist on Sunday who recommended that he go home to "soothe his nerves". But so far, the JSA has denied him permission, insisting that he produce evidence of his condition. "I hear that Asashoryu is suffering from psychological problems but we will not permit him to return to Mongolia so he can settle down", the JSA chairman, Kitanoumi, said over the weekend. The stalemate effectively means that the sport's greatest star is under house arrest.

Will the champion tough it out and come roaring back? In a statement to the press, he said he was taking his punishment "very seriously" and was preparing for his comeback in the winter. But even for someone who made his fortune grappling with some of the biggest men on the planet, the next few months will be the fight of his life.

A sport of extremes

Calling sumo wrestlers big is like saying England is a bit showery - it doesn't do the subject justice. Current champion Asashoryu weighs in at a svelte 305lb, but ex-champion Akebono was 488lb before his knees gave out, and the biggest of them all, Konishiki, was a quivering 624lb. Getting this fat might sound about as difficult as sinking a sixth pint of beer, but it takes hard work. Trainees in about 50 stables around Japan rise at dawn, clean up after the older wrestlers, work like pack horses and stick to a diet centred on a high-calorie stew of seaweed stock, chicken, fish, prawns, tofu and vegetables. If it weren't for the huge quantities consumed, the regime might be healthy, but the fighters also take long naps after meals to slow the metabolism and put on weight. Together with the many gallons of beer they drink, the diet gives wrestlers the characteristic sumo bulk around the belly, buttocks and legs, making them harder to knock down. Weighing in at an average of 350lb, wrestlers are bigger than ever, even as the ring has stayed about 15 feet across, meaning many are landing more heavily and sustaining serious injuries, further reducing the dwindling ranks. That also means they pay later in life with buckled knees, aching backs and perforated livers, with the only comfort being marriage to a Japanese supermodel. The sport has long been tainted with suggestions that wrestlers trade victories and losses for money as a way of "sharing" the considerable riches at stake in the top rankings. In the mid-1990s, two well-known former wrestlers died within hours of each other after going public with lurid details of sumo sex parties, drug taking and match-fixing. Another former wrestler has alleged - to disbelief by outraged fans - that 80 per cent of sumo matches are fixed.

*日本職業相撲界最高位階的橫綱蒙古籍朝青龍，以惡形惡狀在日本相

撲界享有「盛名」。
他在夏季場所拿下冠軍後，不顧還有「夏季巡業」慣例，以身體受傷為由向相撲協會告假，返回故鄉蒙古度假，卻傳出他在蒙古草原「生龍活虎」大踢足球，日本相
撲協會明天將開會議處，最重可能處分他禁止比賽。
這是日本職業相撲界有史以來，首次準備對「橫綱」祭出禁賽處分的大鍘，希望對愈來愈多來日本討生活的外國力士產生殺雞儆猴之效，以維護這種日本最具傳統特色國技的紀律。
被日本媒體痛罵「裝病蹺班」的朝青龍卅日回到日本，知道事態嚴重，已擺低身段，與他所屬「高砂部屋」的親方（師父）一同到相撲協會向北之湖理事長道歉，並
立即辦理住院手續，硬是裝出骨折無法參加夏季巡演的模樣。相撲的巡迴演出活動在日本稱為「巡業」，目的在開拓新的相撲支持群眾，是相撲界主力活動，今年共
要巡演四十天。
事情發生於本月廿五日。朝青龍剛拿到夏季冠軍，立刻就向相撲協會提出「腰疲勞性骨折，需療養六周」的醫院診斷書，棄即將於八月三日開始的夏季巡迴演出活動於不顧，立刻搭機離開日本回蒙古老家。
沒有想到，幾天以後日本相撲協會接到消息說，朝青龍在蒙古草原參加了足球比賽，與日本前職業足球明星中田英壽等人踢足球，不僅生龍活虎般在場上飛躍，還扭腰用頭頂球，完全沒有受傷的樣子。這段從蒙古傳到日本的新聞影片播出後，日本輿論大譁。
北之湖理事長向高砂親方問朝青龍的動態，結果竟然連親方都不知道橫綱何處去也，更讓北之湖相當氣憤。日本電視新聞節目連日批評朝青龍徒有蠻力，卻沒有橫綱該有的品格，這種人應該要逐出日本的相撲界，否則日本的國技會愈來愈被外來力士看不起。
日本相撲協會將在八月一日召開會議決定如何懲處他，輕則減薪三個月，重則禁止參加秋季的正式比賽，甚至今年完全禁賽。
蒙古駐日本大使館發現事態嚴重，卅一日特地向日本相撲協會發函致歉。蒙古大使館表示，朝青龍參加的是蒙古政府舉辦的慈善足球大賽，他剛好回到蒙古探親，因此「勉強朝青龍參加了大會，並表演了一段足球秀」。
今年廿七歲的朝青龍在二○○五年成為日本相撲史上第一個達成七連霸的力士，當年還拿下八十四勝，打破大鵬（前橫綱）保持的八十二勝紀錄。目前他每月收入三百多萬日圓，加上他比賽獲得冠軍的一千萬餘日圓獎金，禁賽處分如果成立，將給朝青龍帶來至少一千萬日圓的損失。



外來橫綱沒品 日本受不了了
【聯合報╱東京特派員陳世昌／三十日電】

2007.08.01 01:58 am


蒙古籍的橫綱朝青龍，在日本相撲界素以惡形惡狀出名，卻因日本這幾年別無橫綱可以取代他的地位，以致造就了他在日本相撲界目中無人的局面。

一位相撲審議委員會的人士就直截了當的說，像這樣沒有品格的橫綱，日本寧可不要。

他說，作為最高階位的橫綱，除了在比賽的土俵上表現高人一等之外，私生活也要表現出高度的人品，這樣的外來橫綱只有讓日本丟人現眼，開除掉他算了。

朝青龍私生活的無品，經常出現在報章雜誌上。二○○三年的名古屋場所比賽，他和同是蒙古出身的旭鷲山對陣時，因為違反規則拉著旭鷲山的頭髮將他摔倒，被判決輸了以後，竟然對旭鷲山懷恨在心，不僅破壞旭鷲山車子的後視鏡，還在比賽前的準備房間內，要找旭鷲山單挑。當時被報導出來後，朝青龍橫綱幾乎面目掃地。

最近，日本現代雜誌報導日本相撲界，包括朝青龍橫綱在內，在比賽時有作假的情況。相撲協會對此深為震怒，把朝青龍等力士找來問話，但是都被否認，相撲協會因此告上法庭，要報導的雜誌社還給力士們清白。

這事還未了，朝青龍對檢舉他有作弊嫌疑的指控相當不滿，在一次到對方部屋去作賽前訓練時，故意重擊對方的力士，讓對方力士受傷必須休養數周才能夠參賽，讓日本人的小力士一提到朝青龍都嚇得不敢對陣。

日本相撲協會這次要對朝青龍施以重罰，主要是過去夏威夷的橫綱曙時代，也曾經發生過違法亂紀卻未遭處罰，造成現在的蒙古橫綱藐視日本國技的情況。未來可望接替蒙古力士時代的將會是來自舊蘇聯的東歐力士，這批力士更有俄國人的北極熊蠻勁，現在的蒙古力士問題若不解決，以後將出現更難管教的局面。

根據民進黨中央的民調，謝長廷與國民黨總統參選人馬英九只差九個百分點，預估兩人民調黃金交叉點，也就是謝長廷超越馬英九的時間點，將在今年十二月間；他並表示，謝長廷正規畫訪問泰國或印尼。


一檔老戲的再生，或許少不了一些無厘頭的討論，但隱藏在口水背後的，盼是無悔的耕耘與付出。歷史的洪流「一視同仁」地掃過，淹沒了平凡的伎倆和作品，也淹沒了出色的表藝瑰珍；唯靠有心的淘寶人不斷地挖掘、修補、潤色、展出，才有代代不斷的驚豔與傳承。