Sumo yields another pot arrest

YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) A second-division sumo wrestler was arrested Friday for possessing marijuana in the latest stain on the image of the ancient sport, police said.

Kanagawa Prefectural Police apprehended Wakakirin, 25, and musician Tsutomu Hirano, 30, in Tokyo in connection with possession of cannabis. Wakakirin, whose real name is Shinichi Suzukawa, is the first Japanese sumo wrestler to be arrested for pot.

Police said Wakakirin admitted he possessed marijuana for his own use and blended it with tobacco.

The arrest of Wakakirin, who made his sumo debut in 1999 and is currently wrestling in the second-tier juryo division, came after Russian sumo wrestlers were charged with possession of marijuana and expelled from the sport over the last six months.

Top-division grappler Wakanoho rocked the sumo world when he was arrested for marijuana possession in August. Compatriot brothers Roho and Hakurozan both later tested positive in drug tests conducted by the Japan Sumo Association.

Investigative authorities Friday said Wakakirin's urine sample initially seemed suspicious, but the sport's governing body cleared him.

His stablemaster, Oguruma, apologized for his protege's wrongdoing at a time when sumo has been disgraced by various scandals, including lingering match-fixing allegations and the 2007 fatal beating of a teenage wrestler, whose stablemates and stablemaster were later tried for the killing.

"I have not got the whole picture of this incident, but I feel I have been betrayed if it's true," Oguruma said. "I apologize for all the trouble caused by the arrest. Wakakirin is destined to have his top-knot removed (for expulsion), and it is up to (JSA) Chairman Musashigawa to decide on my fate."