All the buzz: Pot scandal jolts Japan's sumo world

Wakakirin falls from the ring after being pushed by opponent Tamawashi, left, to lose their bout at the New Year Grand Sumo tournament in Tokyo Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009. Japanese sumo wrestler Wakakirin, 25, whose real name is Shinichi Suzukawa, was arrested for possession of marijuana Friday, Jan. 29, 2009, becoming the fourth wrestler in Japan's ancient sport to become involved in a widening drug scandal.

By ERIC TALMADGE, Associated Press Writer
Thu Feb 5, 2:46 pm ET

TOKYO – Sumo wrestlers with pot bellies, yes. Sumo wrestlers with pot? Now that's harder to grapple with.

In the past six months, four wrestlers have been kicked out of the ancient sport for allegedly smoking marijuana, creating the biggest drugs-in-sports scandal that Japan has ever seen.

Although three of the wrestlers who have been expelled from the sport were from Russia, the arrest last week of a 25-year-old Japanese athlete who goes by the ring name of Wakakirin for possession of marijuana has raised concern that use of the drug may be more widespread than originally thought.

In Japan, sumo wrestlers are not seen as athletes in the way that baseball or tennis players are. A photo of U.S. swimming star Michael Phelps with a marijuana pipe got wide play in the media here, but nowhere near the consternation of the sumo scandal.

The sting of the busts in sumo — which only recently introduced doping tests — was made all the worse because of the breakdown in Japan's still relatively drug-free environment. Marijuana use, in particular, is rising rapidly despite a stiff punishment — up to five years in prison for possession.

"We are appalled by his utter folly," The Asahi, a major newspaper, said in an outraged editorial. "Some young people casually try pot. It is vital that we educate them on the risks of this drug from a fairly early age."

More than being simply a drug issue, however, the scandal has been amplified by the fact that it involves one of the world's oldest and most tradition-bound sports — and one that is solidly rooted in religious purification ritual.

Sumo wrestlers are expected to live the old-school life of a disciple. They wear their hair in topknots, dress in traditional robes and train in communal "stables." Their schedules are tightly regulated and the word of their coaches, who are still called "masters," is absolute and final.

Sumo aficionados like to note that former grand champion Musashimaru, of Hawaii, had a 10 p.m. curfew.

But that is changing.

The wrestlers at the center of the scandal came from training stables where a new, and often younger, stable master was in charge, and discipline was not what it might have been in the old days.

"In the most recent cases, the normal connections are not there anymore," said David Shapiro, a sumo color commentator for broadcaster NHK. "Stable masters normally are your surrogate fathers and now they are your surrogate stepfathers. There are certain stables where this never would have happened."

Still, many Japanese believe that to stain the purity of sumo is to tarnish the heart of Japan itself.

Moving quickly to ease criticism, the Japan Sumo Association, which oversees the professional sport, voted this week to dismiss Wakakirin, whose legal name is Shinichi Suzukawa.

Many Japanese saw even that punishment as too light. Dismissal — unlike the harsher punishment of expulsion from the sport — leaves open the door for Wakakirin to receive severance pay, although the Kyodo news agency reported that he has opted not to do so.

"It is hard not to call them lenient in this case," said Sports Minister Ryu Shionoya. "This is utterly shameful."

Sumo initiated limited drug-testing in September after the Russian wrestler Wakanoho was caught by police for allegedly possessing marijuana. Two wrestlers, Roho and his brother, Hakurozan, also of Russia, tested positive and were kicked out of the sport.

All three were top-division wrestlers, and well-known in Japan even beyond sumo circles.

With Wakakirin's arrest, officials now say they will further beef up doping tests for marijuana and stimulants. Marijuana is not considered a performance-enhancing drug.

Wakakirin reportedly became interested in marijuana after reading about it in magazines and seeing others smoking it at hip-hop clubs.

Mark Buckton, a sumo columnist and blogger, said he thinks the scandal has pretty much run its course.

"A lot of these guys are young and single so it could go further, but it's not really fair to say it's a breakdown in discipline in sumo," he said. "There are 700 men in sumo and the majority of them don't smoke marijuana."

In sumo, competitors vie to push their opponents out of the ring or make them touch the dirt with any part of their bodies other than the soles of their feet. The wrestlers, who can weigh up to 550 pounds and are mostly in their 20s, fight in six 15-day tournaments each year.

Despite its status as Japan's national sport, sumo has been hit with several scandals in recent years, including persistent accusations of bout-fixing, the hazing death of a young wrestler two years ago, and the antics of its top champion, a fiery Mongolian who fights under the name of Asashoryu.

Asashoryu recently had to sit out three tournaments as punishment for skipping a road trip to go home to Mongolia. He claimed he had an injury, but was seen playing a spirited game of soccer in his homeland. Last month, after winning the most recent tournament, Asashoryu was warned by sumo officials for pumping his fists to celebrate.

Displays of emotion in the ring, which is considered sacred ground, are frowned upon.

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There is incredible ignorance of drugs in Japan.
Penalties are severe.
I know someone who is trying to educate people, but it is a slow, laborious process.
Here are some videos he has created (or put together from other videos) and (mostly) translated into Japanese:
One about medical marijuana (he really did a great job on this one):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTJCMgenP9M&feature=channel_page

One on the 2008 Tokyo Marijuana March, which shows that some Japanese people know that government propaganda is not the whole story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzJf8dy5d_Q&feature=channel_page

And one on a recent Growers' show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1oXtNMHCcM&feature=channel_page

Man, it has been my dream for the longest time to visit Japan before I die.

But 5 years for some weed is insane!!! Maybe it depends on the amount?

LOL how would they pack on those pounds without the munchies? Seriously though, whats the difference if those fatasses smoke pot or do any drugs for that matter, they will die very young thanks to obesity anyway, nobody over there seems to be bitching about the message that sends!

Not surprising, if you were already aware of their drug penalties.

Anyone have any insight as to why drugs are frowned upon so much over there?

^They aren't. Japanese consume alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine with great impunity. Illegal drugs are frowned upon because of Japan's long standing culture of absolute conformity and obedience. Japan's social condition has not changed as much since WWII as many people think. The extremism has been wiped from the surface, but the spirit is still there. It has nothing to do with any romanticized notions of "purity" that some may argue.

^ You pretty much nailed it. If you're from the US, it's pretty much equivalent to small town conservative Americans who'll frown on anything illegal simply because it's illegal, and see lawbreaking as a show of disrespect and disloyalty to the nation that protects and supports your coveted way of life. After all, such people say, lawmakers have your own good in mind when they make laws, and it's hardly the individual citizen's place to judge what is, and isn't, a just law.

The overwhelming majority of Japanese people would fall under the Western category of 'social conservative'. Law and order and upholding the status quo = win. The Confucian worldview, in which benevolence from the top is exchanged with unquestioning obedience from the bottom, lends itself well to this kind of thinking.

Marijuana is the main reason I don't 'Japan' anymore.

While it is true that many Japanese are afraid of illegal things just because they are illegal, there is a system of propaganda and lies told as part of every child's education here, a deliberate attempt to misinform (kinda like DARE).
When I first arrived here, the big news was that a famous actor was caught with one gram of marijuana in the airport. He did time in prison, several years if I remember, and was unable to continue his career upon being released.
Things have changed somewhat, however, and several students from major universities have been caught with pot in the past months. It always makes big news, but the idea that marijuana has become an important part of certain social groups here is slowly leaking out. Yes, there are Japanese hippies, and ravers. The public is in the process of learning this, and that some of them are actually in good schools, and are important parts of society.
My friends' videos (the last two I referred to in my post above) show that there is a growing marijuana culture in Japan, and it is slowly coming head-to-head with mainstream culture. We will see how each emerges from the confrontation.

The good news is that the government here often releases foreigners who are caught with pot, instead of making them serve time (they are sent back to their own countries). Racism, maybe, but fortunate if you are the unlucky foreigner who is caught. Of course, if you are living in Japan and planning to continue living here, you really don't want to be kicked out, but it is still better than jail time...

^ A deportation from a foreign country, which goes on your criminal record back home, can be as damning to your life prospects as a felony conviction, or a dishonorable discharge from the military.

Japan also bans any foreigner caught with drugs from EVER reentering Japan in his life, for any reason. This is a pretty harsh penalty for anyone with family, friendships, livelihood, or assets based in Japan. The real reason for this law, of course, is so that the Japanese Mafia can assure itself 100% market share of drugs imported.

But even Japan is a walk in the park compared to a number of other Asian countries. In Singapore or Malaysia, you're executed. No questions asked. In China and Taiwan, possession carries long jail sentences like in Japan, and dealing and importing carry the death penalty. Overall, this area of the world is just not the place to get caught with drugs, even in small amounts. There is no 'grey area' of 'small amounts of soft drugs' there. If you're on that side of the fence even just a little bit, you're chopped liver, at least legally, if not socially quite so much anymore.

All in all, I'd just not recommend East Asia as a place for people who can't go without their illegal drugs. Just like I wouldn't recommend Saudi Arabia for someone who'd find it hard not to have a glass of wine every night. Do opportunities come up for drug use in East Asia? Clearly. I've done it myself. But I'd only do drugs there in private, and only if they were provided by a trusted local.

By the way, it's a little known fact that Japan actually had a history of marijuana use before contact with the West -- it was used (pretty much exclusively) by some guilds of geishas, because it made them relaxed and more entertaining conversationalists. This use, already pretty small by that time, was quickly stamped out in the Meiji Restoration, along with co-ed public bathing, in Japan's attempt to civilize itself in the eyes of the West.

MyDoors says
"A deportation from a foreign country, which goes on your criminal record back home, can be as damning to your life prospects as a felony conviction, or a dishonorable discharge from the military."

Maybe in some sense, but I'd sure as hell rather be kicked out of a country than to serve jail time (and then be kicked out upon release, as is the custom here).

MyDoors says
"Japan also bans any foreigner caught with drugs from EVER reentering Japan in his life, for any reason. This is a pretty harsh penalty for anyone with family, friendships, livelihood, or assets based in Japan. The real reason for this law, of course, is so that the Japanese Mafia can assure itself 100% market share of drugs imported."

Absolutely - you've hit the nail on the head. The yakuza, or Japanese mafia, is incredibly powerful here (and they get, I'm told, some amazingly good pot, if you are connected). And the penalty is pretty steep, considering it even applies to foreigners caught with tiny amounts of illegal substances (think one joint).

MyDoors says "In China and Taiwan, possession carries long jail sentences like in Japan, and dealing and importing carry the death penalty."

Yes, but that is for locals. A foreigner caught at (I think) Peking University with several ounces of pot was expelled from the country, not put in jail or executed, as a local would have been. BTW, the government in China likes to execute people with a bullet to the head, and then sends a bill for the price of the bullet to the executed person's family. Talk about evil.

^ Yeah come to think of it, a foreigner (from a first world country) caught in China or Taiwan or a lot of other places around there would most likely just get deported. I wouldn't push my luck importing it, tho. I know Malaysia and Indonesia have hung a few Westerners for this.

I think that practice in China is disgustingly barbaric, and flies in the face of what more liberal countries are finding works regarding drug policy. I'm not even sure it really even makes a dent in drug use in China, though. The vast majority of people in China 'just say no', and that's all there is to say, and for the ones who say yes, the drug scenes aren't hard to find at all.