Bomb scare

[Kintamayama 47,413]

A telephone call saying a bomb will go off precisely at 18:00 at the APG (Aichi Gym) was received at around 17:00 on senshuraku . Chiganoura Oyakata, who was the Oyakata in charge and the policemen who were there were alerted immediately. Nishonoseki was also alerted and looked for Tempriiji, but alas he was "elsewhere getting ready for the final ceremonies" and was nowhere to be found. As the place was packed with 8100 spectators, the police , together with the Kyokai people, decided not to search for the bomb "so as not to cause a disturbance (read:panic) amongst the fans". This decision can be seen to be "problematic" as it could have all ended differently and extremely badly. At 18:00, Hakuhou was in the middle of his yusho speech. "I was sure it was a crank call. There are all kinds of nuts out there, out to cause a disturbance. Still, at around 18:00 I had my eye on my watch and was a bit nervous,"said Nishonoseki.

Put a tent over the Kyokai officials and tour the country as a circus, I say.

Edited July 27, 2010 by Kintamayama

[Otokonoyama 2,735]

That seems to be par for the course here. Many years ago, I'd just arrived and gone to work for a conversation school. My Japanese was limited to ten words or so, being fresh-off-the-boat. I went in to work one fine summer day, to find the office staff seemingly a bit flustered and on the phone even more than usual. I asked what was going on, and was told nothing at all. I began teaching a short while later, at a table not far from the reception area. A veteran teacher arrived about 30 minutes later. He lingered in the reception area for a time as most of us did until we had to teach, and after five or ten minutes of chat with the staff, he suddenly got upset and shouted that he was leaving. Those of us close enough to be able to overhear what was going on went to find out what caused the disturbance. He told us that they were discussing a bomb threat that had been made earlier, but that company headquarters had advised them that it was likely a crank call, and to proceed with the workday as usual. This teacher, growing up in London in the '70s and '80s, was somewhat sensitive to the possibility of bombs going off. Hearing that, the foreign staff left immediately, and invited students who wished to continue their lessons to join us in the nearest coffee shop. Faced with no teachers, the staff reluctantly cleared the school and waited for the police to conduct a search before resuming regular classes.

Edited July 27, 2010 by Otokonoyama

[ilovesumo 12]

This is all too crazy...what the ... is going on...

Could have been the bad guys, could have been some simple nerd.

[ryafuji 825]

I'm sure those 8100 spectators will be delighted that the Kyokai and the authorities just crossed their fingers and hoped that they wouldn't all get blown up.

[ilovesumo 12]

Recently we had 21 people who died in a panic, you might have seen it on the news. The event wasnt stopped at first, as reason was given -not to cause an even greater panic with more casualties.

Bomb-alert in the hall might have caused a panic, casualties as well.

Panic-researchers might have agreed not to cause a panic.

And, Sumo spectators are mostly up in age, those might have suffered heart attacks or so.

Maybe there is no real right or wrong in such a case. Whatever you do, its dangerous.

Edited July 28, 2010 by ilovesumo

[Otokonoyama 2,735]

No reason to announce a bomb alert, but to not even search (under whatever cover story is necessary..."Oh, sorry sir, but we believe their may be a gang member tucked away in your gift bag - mind if we have a look?") seems a big gamble, considering the consequences of being wrong.

Edited July 27, 2010 by Otokonoyama

[Harry 67]

Searching is tough, "looking for people bringing in outside onigiri, don't worry," but with no yusho ceremony you'd think they could have managed to wrap up at 5:30pm and get the place cleared in time. Simply hoping it was a hoax seems quite negligent especially considering all the severing of ties to the underworld and stuff like that.

[bredoumi 0]

well, the criteria is result. The result is no bomb, no panic, everybody is okay. This means the decision was correct.

[nonews 0]

it means nobody told nhk so there was no knee jerk reaction and without nhk issuing order to the kyoki the cool heads prevailed.

now nhk will not broadcast sumo in september bacause they weren't consulted on a bomb threat.

[Asashosakari 20,310]

Perhaps I'm just being cynical, but if people were aware of every single time that their lives were potentially put in danger by a sub-standard security response* to some possibly real threat that ended up being nothing, I suspect most wouldn't even be leaving their homes anymore. Sure, this could have ended badly, but a) who could possibly have a credible reason to bomb a honbasho (and please don't say, "some yakuza group that feels snubbed by the recent developments"...they're not a guerrilla force), and b) none of us have any idea whatsoever how often the Kyokai might have received similar prank calls in the past that never ended up making it to the press. As usual everybody tries to see patterns and connections in disparate events, when the only real pattern may be "heightened press attention".

* And yes, "causing an unnecessary panic through overreaction" most definitely qualifies as a sub-standard security response, too, even if most people won't be thinking about it unless the panic turns fatal.

Edited July 27, 2010 by Asashosakari