Yokozuna backer had sex with minor

The head of the national support association for Mongolian yokozuna Asashoryu has been arrested on suspicion of buying sex from a 16-year-old girl via a prostitution agency, police said Friday.

Tomoyoshi Wada, 54, president of a forestry firm in the city of Tokushima, allegedly paid 60,000 yen in cash to the girl in March to have sex with her at a Tokyo hotel despite knowing she was a minor, they said.

His name was on the client list of the prostitution club, whose owner was arrested in April.

Wada was quoted as telling investigators, "I paid about 80 girls up to around 20 years old for sex during the past few years. I took nude pictures of them as a hobby."

Police have seized more than 100 photos at his home and are investigating other possible cases.