Roho
Encyclopedia
Rohō Yukio is a former sumo
wrestler. The highest rank he achieved was komusubi. His younger brother is also a former sumo wrestler, under the name of Hakurozan
. In September 2008
both were banned from the sport for life after testing positive for cannabis
.
He came to Japan in February 2002 with his brother, joining the stable of former Yokozuna Taihō
(since transferred to Taihō's son-in-law, the former Takatōriki
, and renamed Ōtake stable
). His first appearance was in May 2002, and he won his first 19 bouts. He was promoted to jūryō in January 2004, then makuuchi
for the September 2004 tournament. His result was 10-5 in this tournament, earning him the Fighting Spirit prize
. He also achieved 10 wins in the November 2004 tournament, and by May 2005 reached maegashira 1, but suffered a losing tournament and so failed to reach sanyaku. In the next tournament, as a result of a leg injury, he only achieved 3 wins, with 8 losses and 4 absences. He won 8 bouts in the September tournament, then 10 in November (the same as his brother Hakurozan). In January 2006, ranked maegashira 2, he won 9 bouts and achieved promotion to east komusubi, the first Russian to reach this rank. In March of the same year he won only 4 bouts.
By the end of the sixth day of the July tournament he had achieved 4 wins and 2 losses. On the seventh day following a loss to Chiyotaikai
, the two glared at each other and exchanged angry words. He later smashed a glass door of the bathroom and received a strong warning, but later assaulted two cameramen and was punished by suspension for three days. He returned on the 11th day to beat Kotoshōgiku
, and went on to achieve a satisfactory 8-5-2 record for the tournament. In the next tournament, as M1, he achieved a good result of 10-5, returning to komusubi for November. Unusually, there were four komusubi in that tournament, as Aminishiki
had achieved 11 wins in September, and Kisenosato
and Kokkai
had both achieved kachi-koshi
.
After a poor 3-12 showing in January 2007 Rohō was demoted from komusubi. Back in the mid-maegashira ranks for March, he surprisingly failed to achieve a winning tournament, falling to his eighth defeat on the final day. Controversy continued to follow Rohō into the 2007 May tournament, where after a day one loss against Miyabiyama
, Rohō claimed that he was not ready to start the bout and that it should have been declared a false start. However, neither the referee
nor the judges
intervened at the time and the result stood. In an interview after the match, Rohō questioned the referee's judgement. After criticism from the Sumo Association that such behaviour was not appropriate for a sumo wrestler, Rohō apologised. He ended the tournament with a solid 10-5 record. In July 2007, after winning his first three bouts, he injured his back and had to withdraw from the tournament. He remained in the middle maegashira ranks after that, and did not look like returning to sanyaku. He had to withdraw from the May 2008 tournament after injuring his back once again, but he had already attained eight wins.
He is a fan of Russian wrestler Fedor Emelianenko
, and his interests include Russian cinema and music.
. His favourite techniques
were yorikiri (force out) and uwatenage (overarm throw), although he also relied heavily on henka (side stepping) and pull-downs. Hataki-komi, the slap-down, was his second most commonly used technique after yorikiri. Henka in particular is looked down upon by sumo purists, and Roho believed that his failure to receive a special prize from the Sumo Association in the March 2005 tournament, despite winning eleven bouts, was due to use of henka in his victory over Kotomitsuki.
had a positive test result for cannabis
. This test occurred less than two weeks after fellow Russian Wakanohō
was sacked after being arrested for cannabis possession, and the surprise inspection was taken on 69 jūryō and higher ranked wrestlers, including the two yokozuna. Although the Metropolitan Police Department
questioned the two wrestlers and searched their rooms, no further legal action was taken because it is not illegal to fail a drug test under Japanese law.
On September 6, Roho and Hakurozan failed a second, more detailed set of doping tests, and he announced that he would not accept the outcome of a second positive reading for drug use on the next day.
On September 8, the Japan Sumo Association
held a meeting of the board of directors and decided on the dismissals of Rohō and Hakurozan. Both wrestlers moved out of their respective stables but remained in Japan on short term visas and continued to deny any wrongdoing. However it was reported by the Sumo Association that the brothers had admitted to officials at the testing that they had smoked cannabis whilst on a tour of Los Angeles
in June.
On October 28, the brothers filed a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court
seeking to revoke their dismissals, arguing that the tests were administered incorrectly. They also sought 100 million yen in damages. Their demands were rejected by the court in March 2009
, the judge saying "“It is recognisable that the two used marijuana...and the use of marijuana was an act to damage trust of the association." The lawyer for the brothers indicated that they would appeal the ruling.
They reappeared in court on June 29, 2009, testifying for two and a half hours and once again criticised the conduct of the tests. Cross examination of witnesses began on August 31, with Isenoumi Oyakata
, Tomozuna Oyakata and Otake Oyakata called to the stand. Otake said he was promised by Isenoumi that Roho would not be dismissed if he agreed to take the more detailed tests. Isenoumi responded that Otake's testimony was "regrettable." Former Sumo Association chairman Kitanoumi testified on December 21, saying it was the supposed admission by the brothers that they had smoked on the LA tour that tipped the balance in favour of expulsion. Roho was in attendance, still wearing the traditional kimono
and mage
of a rikishi.
The Tokyo District Court found in favour of the Sumo Association on April 19, 2010, with the judge saying, "It has been proven that urine samples which showed positive results for marijuana were theirs, and it is unthinkable that they were mixed up with samples of others... the association's decision to dismiss them was adequate given that the use of illegal drugs had become a serious social problem." The court's ruling was upheld by the Tokyo High Court
on November 18, 2010.
Sumo
is a competitive full-contact sport where a wrestler attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet. The sport originated in Japan, the only country where it is practiced professionally...
wrestler. The highest rank he achieved was komusubi. His younger brother is also a former sumo wrestler, under the name of Hakurozan
Hakurozan Yuta
Hakurozan Yūta is a former sumo wrestler. The highest rank he reached was maegashira 2. His older brother is also a former sumo wrestler, under the name of Rohō of Ōtake stable...
. In September 2008
2008 in sumo
-Tournaments:*Hatsu basho, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 13 January - 27 January*Haru basho, Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka, 9 March - 23 March*Natsu basho, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 11 May - 25 May...
both were banned from the sport for life after testing positive for cannabis
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
.
Career
Rohō began wrestling at the age of 16. At 18 he won the world junior freestyle championship. As his weight increased beyond 130 kg he was unable to continue wrestling, so he took up sumo at the age of 20. In 2001 he came third in the heavyweight class in the Sumo World Championships, and won the European championship.Taiho Koki
Taihō Kōki is the 48th Yokozuna in the Japanese sport of sumo wrestling. He is generally regarded as the greatest sumo wrestler of the post-war period. He became a yokozuna in 1961 at the age of 21, the youngest ever at the time, and he won a record 32 tournaments between 1960 and 1971...
(since transferred to Taihō's son-in-law, the former Takatōriki
Takatoriki Tadashige
Takatōriki Tadashige is a former sumo wrestler from Kobe, Japan. He made his professional debut in 1983, reaching the top division in 1990...
, and renamed Ōtake stable
Otake stable
is a stable of sumo wrestlers.It was set up in 1971, as Taihō stable, by yokozuna Taihō Kōki on his retirement from wrestling. It passed on to his son-in-law Ōtake on his retirement...
). His first appearance was in May 2002, and he won his first 19 bouts. He was promoted to jūryō in January 2004, then makuuchi
Makuuchi
or is the top division of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers , ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments....
for the September 2004 tournament. His result was 10-5 in this tournament, earning him the Fighting Spirit prize
Sansho (Sumo)
Sanshō are the three special prizes awarded to top division sumo wrestlers for exceptional performance during a sumo honbasho or tournament. The prizes were first awarded in November 1947.-Criteria:...
. He also achieved 10 wins in the November 2004 tournament, and by May 2005 reached maegashira 1, but suffered a losing tournament and so failed to reach sanyaku. In the next tournament, as a result of a leg injury, he only achieved 3 wins, with 8 losses and 4 absences. He won 8 bouts in the September tournament, then 10 in November (the same as his brother Hakurozan). In January 2006, ranked maegashira 2, he won 9 bouts and achieved promotion to east komusubi, the first Russian to reach this rank. In March of the same year he won only 4 bouts.
By the end of the sixth day of the July tournament he had achieved 4 wins and 2 losses. On the seventh day following a loss to Chiyotaikai
Chiyotaikai Ryuji
Chiyotaikai Ryūji , is a Japanese former sumo wrestler. He made his professional debut in 1992 and reached the top makuuchi division in 1997. He held the second highest rank of ōzeki or champion for 65 consecutive tournaments from 1999 until 2009, making him the longest serving ōzeki in the modern...
, the two glared at each other and exchanged angry words. He later smashed a glass door of the bathroom and received a strong warning, but later assaulted two cameramen and was punished by suspension for three days. He returned on the 11th day to beat Kotoshōgiku
Kotoshogiku Kazuhiro
Kotoshōgiku Kazuhiro , is a sumo wrestler. He made his professional debut in 2002, reaching the top division in 2005. He has earned seven special prizes in his career and been runner-up in two tournaments. He wrestles for Sadogatake stable...
, and went on to achieve a satisfactory 8-5-2 record for the tournament. In the next tournament, as M1, he achieved a good result of 10-5, returning to komusubi for November. Unusually, there were four komusubi in that tournament, as Aminishiki
Aminishiki Ryuji
Aminishiki Ryūji is a Japanese sumo wrestler. He made his professional debut in 1997 and has been ranked in the top division since 2000. He has earned ten special prizes and won seven gold stars for defeating yokozuna during his career. He has twice been runner-up in a tournament. The highest rank...
had achieved 11 wins in September, and Kisenosato
Kisenosato Yutaka
Kisenosato Yutaka is a sumo wrestler from Ibaraki, Japan. He made his professional debut in 2002, and reached the top makuuchi division in 2004 at the age of just 18. His highest rank to date is sekiwake, which he reached in March 2009...
and Kokkai
Kokkai Futoshi
Kokkai Futoshi is a professional sumo wrestler from Georgia. He began his career in May 2001. He is the first Caucasian rikishi to reach sumo's highest division, makuuchi, which he achieved in 2004. His highest rank has been komusubi, which he reached in 2006...
had both achieved kachi-koshi
Glossary of sumo terms
The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. azukari : Hold. A kind of draw. After a mono-ii, the gyōji or the shimpan "holds" the result if it was too close to call...
.
Miyabiyama Tetsushi
Miyabiyama Tetsushi is a sumo wrestler from Mito, Ibaraki, Japan. A former amateur champion, he turned professional in 1998. He has been ranked in the top division of professional sumo since 1999, holding the second highest rank of ōzeki from 2000 to 2001...
, Rohō claimed that he was not ready to start the bout and that it should have been declared a false start. However, neither the referee
Gyoji
A Gyōji is a referee in professional sumo wrestling in Japan.Gyōji usually enter the sumo world as teenagers and remain employees of the Sumo Association until they retire aged 65.-Responsibilities:...
nor the judges
Shimpan
are the judges of a professional sumo bout. In a sumo honbasho tournament five shimpan sit around the ring to observe which wrestler wins the matchup. When judging tournament bouts they wear formal Japanese dress of otokomono, haori with mon, and hakama...
intervened at the time and the result stood. In an interview after the match, Rohō questioned the referee's judgement. After criticism from the Sumo Association that such behaviour was not appropriate for a sumo wrestler, Rohō apologised. He ended the tournament with a solid 10-5 record. In July 2007, after winning his first three bouts, he injured his back and had to withdraw from the tournament. He remained in the middle maegashira ranks after that, and did not look like returning to sanyaku. He had to withdraw from the May 2008 tournament after injuring his back once again, but he had already attained eight wins.
He is a fan of Russian wrestler Fedor Emelianenko
Fedor Emelianenko
Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko) is a Russian heavyweight mixed martial artist. He has won numerous tournaments and accolades in multiple sports, most notably the Pride 2004 Grand Prix and the World Combat Sambo championship on four occasions, as well as medaling in the Russian national Judo...
, and his interests include Russian cinema and music.
Fighting style
Roho was a yotsu-sumo specialist, who preferred a migi-yotsu, or left hand outside, right hand inside grip on his opponent's mawashiMawashi
In sumo, a mawashi is the belt that the rikishi wears during training or in competition. Upper ranked professional wrestlers wear a keshō-mawashi as part of the ring entry ceremony or dohyo-iri.-Mawashi:...
. His favourite techniques
Kimarite
Kimarite are winning techniques in a sumo bout. For each bout in a Grand Sumo tournament , a sumo referee, or gyoji, will decide and announce the type of kimarite used by the winner...
were yorikiri (force out) and uwatenage (overarm throw), although he also relied heavily on henka (side stepping) and pull-downs. Hataki-komi, the slap-down, was his second most commonly used technique after yorikiri. Henka in particular is looked down upon by sumo purists, and Roho believed that his failure to receive a special prize from the Sumo Association in the March 2005 tournament, despite winning eleven bouts, was due to use of henka in his victory over Kotomitsuki.
Cannabis scandal and dismissal
On September 2, 2008, he and his brother HakurozanHakurozan Yuta
Hakurozan Yūta is a former sumo wrestler. The highest rank he reached was maegashira 2. His older brother is also a former sumo wrestler, under the name of Rohō of Ōtake stable...
had a positive test result for cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
. This test occurred less than two weeks after fellow Russian Wakanohō
Wakanoho Toshinori
Wakanohō Toshinori is a former sumo wrestler. His highest rank was maegashira 1...
was sacked after being arrested for cannabis possession, and the surprise inspection was taken on 69 jūryō and higher ranked wrestlers, including the two yokozuna. Although the Metropolitan Police Department
Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department serves as the police force for the entire Tokyo metropolis. Founded in 1874, it is headed by a superintendent general, who is appointed by the National Public Safety Commission and approved by the prime minister.The Metropolitan Police, with a staff of more...
questioned the two wrestlers and searched their rooms, no further legal action was taken because it is not illegal to fail a drug test under Japanese law.
On September 6, Roho and Hakurozan failed a second, more detailed set of doping tests, and he announced that he would not accept the outcome of a second positive reading for drug use on the next day.
On September 8, the Japan Sumo Association
Japan Sumo Association
The is the body that operates and controls professional sumo wrestling in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Rikishi , gyōji , tokoyama , and yobidashi , are all on the Association's payroll, but the organisation is run...
held a meeting of the board of directors and decided on the dismissals of Rohō and Hakurozan. Both wrestlers moved out of their respective stables but remained in Japan on short term visas and continued to deny any wrongdoing. However it was reported by the Sumo Association that the brothers had admitted to officials at the testing that they had smoked cannabis whilst on a tour of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in June.
On October 28, the brothers filed a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court
Tokyo District Court
is a district court located at 1-1-4 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. -References:...
seeking to revoke their dismissals, arguing that the tests were administered incorrectly. They also sought 100 million yen in damages. Their demands were rejected by the court in March 2009
2009 in sumo
-Tournaments:*Hatsu basho, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 11 January - 25 January*Haru basho, Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka, 15 March - 29 March*Natsu basho, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 10 May - 24 May...
, the judge saying "“It is recognisable that the two used marijuana...and the use of marijuana was an act to damage trust of the association." The lawyer for the brothers indicated that they would appeal the ruling.
They reappeared in court on June 29, 2009, testifying for two and a half hours and once again criticised the conduct of the tests. Cross examination of witnesses began on August 31, with Isenoumi Oyakata
Fujinokawa Takeo
-See also:...
, Tomozuna Oyakata and Otake Oyakata called to the stand. Otake said he was promised by Isenoumi that Roho would not be dismissed if he agreed to take the more detailed tests. Isenoumi responded that Otake's testimony was "regrettable." Former Sumo Association chairman Kitanoumi testified on December 21, saying it was the supposed admission by the brothers that they had smoked on the LA tour that tipped the balance in favour of expulsion. Roho was in attendance, still wearing the traditional kimono
Kimono
The is a Japanese traditional garment worn by men, women and children. The word "kimono", which literally means a "thing to wear" , has come to denote these full-length robes...
and mage
Chonmage
The chonmage is a form of Japanese traditional haircut worn by men. It is most commonly associated with the Edo Period and samurai, and in recent times with sumo wrestlers...
of a rikishi.
The Tokyo District Court found in favour of the Sumo Association on April 19, 2010, with the judge saying, "It has been proven that urine samples which showed positive results for marijuana were theirs, and it is unthinkable that they were mixed up with samples of others... the association's decision to dismiss them was adequate given that the use of illegal drugs had become a serious social problem." The court's ruling was upheld by the Tokyo High Court
Tokyo High Court
is a high court in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The Intellectual Property High Court is a special branch of Tokyo High Court....
on November 18, 2010.
Top division record
See also
- Glossary of sumo termsGlossary of sumo termsThe following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. azukari : Hold. A kind of draw. After a mono-ii, the gyōji or the shimpan "holds" the result if it was too close to call...
- List of past sumo wrestlers