Former sumo stablemaster accused of abusing assistant

TOKYO: A former Japanese sumo stablemaster has admitted to abusing an assistant, including beating him with a bat, stuffing a towel in his mouth and forcing him to eat a full wasabi container, reports said on Tuesday.
Kazuyuki Yamamura, who once headed the stable of record-breaking Mongolian sumo wrestler Hakuho, told a Tokyo court Monday that he had repeatedly hit his former assistant with a metal bat, the Nikkan Sports newspaper and other reports said.
Yamamura allegedly stuffed the mouth of his 31-year-old aide with a towel and slammed his fingers, elbows, knees and ankles with a bat or a hammer, the reports said.
The alleged abuse against the man, hired as a driver and personal assistant, started early this year and escalated to the point of forcing him to eat an entire container of wasabi, a notoriously hot Japanese condiment and pricking a needle under his fingernails, reports said.
Yamamura reportedly justified the abuse by blaming the man for making mistakes when he went grocery shopping for his boss and for not speaking clearly, Nikkan Sports said.
He also threatened to crush the assistant's testicles, bore an eyeball and break his teeth, it said.
The Tokyo District Court would not comment on the case when contacted by AFP.
The abused man told Nippon News Network TV that he thought he could get killed any time.
He also said he felt he could not immediately report the abuse to police out of consideration for Hakuho, but later relented, saying the abuse was intolerable.
Yamamura was expelled from the sport last month by the Japan Sumo Association over the abuse allegations.
Yamamura, who remained affiliated with Hakuho's stable until his expulsion from sumo, was demoted as stablemaster after a magazine reported in 2007 that he had told a mistress about fixing critical bouts involving the Mongolian.
The sumo association later won a lawsuit against the magazine publisher over the report.
Hakuho, a 30-year-old yokozuna grand champion, won a record 35th Emperor's Cup this summer, surpassing legendary Japanese wrestler Taiho who had held the record of 32 titles.
The reports of abuse are only the latest revelations of aggressive bullying in Japan's ancient sport.
The ritual-heavy Japanese national sport characterised by harsh training and strict hierarchy, is no stranger to bout-fixing rumours, illegal gambling and tales of extreme physical abuse.
In 2007, a 17-year-old sumo apprentice died after a hazing incident involving his stablemaster and senior wrestlers.
The stablemaster, who struck the teen with a beer bottle, was sentenced to five years in jail for negligence resulting in death. – AFP