Nishonoseki Beya Drinking Party Scandal

[junsan 204]

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/2b830f03bfc9d0eb57173762db73e57facdbee8c?page=2

Rumblings in the mainstream press now about Kasugano pushing for closing down Nishonoseki, Kyokai PR saying "we have no answer at the moment"..

[Akinomaki 41,701]

Now that our new saviour of sumo has started with a (kinboshi) record breaking bad new yokozuna basho, our favorite sumo scandal paper follows up with their series about the drinking scandals at the perversity-prone heya of the previous Japanese yokozuna hope and future hope for the NSK administration. https://www.dailyshincho.jp/article/2025/08161059/

On 27/07/2025 at 22:04, Akinomaki said:

Inexplicably appearing quote from somewhere - editor flaw

Content: Onosato goes on insulting his anideshi and forces them to drink, and nobody cares - a blind eye to protect the great hope

They had the same content in June and amended it.

Implication: rather than Hoshoryu, Onosato lacks hinkaku 

[Yamanashi 4,052]

14 hours ago, Akinomaki said:

Now that our new saviour of sumo has started with a (kinboshi) record breaking bad new yokozuna basho, our favorite sumo scandal paper follows up with their series about the drinking scandals at the perversity-prone heya of the previous Japanese yokozuna hope and future hope for the NSK administration. https://www.dailyshincho.jp/article/2025/08161059/

Content: Onosato goes on insulting his anideshi and forces them to drink, and nobody cares - a blind eye to protect the great hope

They had the same content in June and amended it.

Implication: rather than Hoshoryu, Onosato lacks hinkaku 

"Why doesn't a 25-year-old college grad have huge amounts of hinkaku?"

[Bunbukuchagama 958]

18 hours ago, Akinomaki said:

Implication: rather than Hoshoryu, Onosato lacks hinkaku 

Or rather: why was Nishonoseki let off the hook while the great Miyagino lost his heya? 

[Godango 1,092]

16 minutes ago, Bunbukuchagama said:

Or rather: why was Nishonoseki let off the hook while the great Miyagino lost his heya? 

In Australia we call it "tall poppy syndrome". 

Paired with good old fashioned xenophobia. 

Edited August 17 by Godango

[RabidJohn 2,042]

4 hours ago, Bunbukuchagama said:

Or rather: why was Nishonoseki let off the hook while the great Miyagino lost his heya? 

Because Onosato likes partying, whereas Hokuseiho likes hurting people and stealing from them.

[Ripe 81]

5 hours ago, RabidJohn said:

Because Onosato likes partying, whereas Hokuseiho likes hurting people and stealing from them.

That may be, but that partying potentially include rape. Which is at least as serious as anything Hokuseiho did...

[Churaumi 753]

They've already interviewed the subjects and they all said it was consensual tomfoolery, even the one who may have needed to loosen his mawashi for a few days afterward.

And there were allegations about Hokuseiho and a mop handle, if I recall correctly.

[RabidJohn 2,042]

1 hour ago, Ripe said:

That may be, but that partying potentially include rape. 

You might not be into that sort of thing, and I know I'm certainly not, but some people are.
And wasn't that Nakamura's gang anyway?

There has never been an accusation of rape towards Onosato, only that he 'forced' an underage rikishi to drink alcohol.
That just makes me smile because. while it may be frowned upon, I needed no encouragement when I was underage, let alone force.

[Akinomaki 41,701]

2 hours ago, RabidJohn said:

And wasn't that Nakamura's gang anyway? 

There has never been an accusation of rape towards Onosato, only that he 'forced' an underage rikishi to drink alcohol.

Only Nishononoseki and Onosato were admonished, the pervert party wasn't on the agenda then. Nobody complained about it to the compliance comittee, and they are they ones to investigate sth. in the NSK.

[Bunbukuchagama 958]

6 hours ago, Ripe said:

That may be, but that partying potentially include rape. Which is at least as serious as anything Hokuseiho did...

The (w)hole Tomokaze BDSM fest happened before Onosato joined ozumo. 

 

[Ripe 81]

On 17/08/2025 at 16:13, Churaumi said:

They've already interviewed the subjects and they all said it was consensual tomfoolery, even the one who may have needed to loosen his mawashi for a few days afterward.

And there were allegations about Hokuseiho and a mop handle, if I recall correctly.

Yeah, claiming victim gave consent while drunk doesn't count and will not remove a rape charge... it might prevent a guilty verdict during trial, but not the charge. So no, claims that everyone said it was "consensual tomfoolery" doesn't really change anything. And especially not in this situation with the power structures in sumo being what they are.

 

22 hours ago, Bunbukuchagama said:

The (w)hole Tomokaze BDSM fest happened before Onosato joined ozumo. 

But Nishonoseki was there... and based on reports, he did nothing, just as Miyagino did nothing. One lost a stable and was essentially forced out, the other got no penalty and everything got swept under the rug like it never happened.

Edited August 18 by Ripe

[Fashiritētā 210]

2 hours ago, Ripe said:

Yeah, claiming victim gave consent while drunk doesn't count and will not remove a rape charge... it might prevent a guilty verdict during trial, but not the charge. So no, claims that everyone said it was "consensual tomfoolery" doesn't really change anything. And especially not in this situation with the power structures in sumo being what they are.

 

But Nishonoseki was there... and based on reports, he did nothing, just as Miyagino did nothing. One lost a stable and was essentially forced out, the other got no penalty and everything got swept under the rug like it never happened.

Glad to see no bias in either case /s

[RabidJohn 2,042]

13 hours ago, Ripe said:

Yeah, claiming victim gave consent while drunk doesn't count and will not remove a rape charge... it might prevent a guilty verdict during trial, but not the charge. So no, claims that everyone said it was "consensual tomfoolery" doesn't really change anything. And especially not in this situation with the power structures in sumo being what they are.

There was no 'victim'. There cannot be a rape charge unless a victim comes forward and makes a report to the police. If such a report had been made, Nishonoseki would have been in a whole heap of trouble.

You've seen (I assume) a video of events of which you disapprove at a heya drinking party. That's all.

Having worked in the all-male environment of a coal mine for 13 years, talked with friends who were in the then-all-male armed services, and been to many men-only parties at rugby clubs, I am able to tell that we can get up to some very weird shit when the ladies aren't watching.

[MrGrumpyGills 171]

I have to agree with Ripe.
I definitely don’t mean to lecture anyone or to sound dramatic, but I need to point a few things out so please bear with me.

Let me put it this way.
How many men did and do give consent due to peer pressure, coercion, fear or threats - explicite and implicite - of violence and/or being publicly ridiculed or shamed?
How many just shut up and (literally) take it?

Consent under the influence of alcohol or any other substance can be really iffy as it is, when in doubt back off and don’t do anything until the person sobered up and can actually consent. In particular don’t take advantage of someone who’s in a vulnerable state for your own gratification. Be a decent, kind human being.

Yes, of course it’s perfectly fine if everyone involved has fun doing stuff like this (although I don’t see the fun in having a bottle with alcohol still in it IIRC - yikes! - shoved up your behind), but we also should consider the possibility that consent could've been an issue in that situation.
And yes, men (straight and gay) can be raped, it’s not something that only happens to women.

I never was a fan of Hakuho but I also can’t stand unfairness and Nishonoseki and Onosato are treated at least somewhat differently. Not surprising at all of course, but it still sucks.

[Akinomaki 41,701]

To repeat it once again: for the bottle, nobody filed a complaint to compliance - without it a scandal remains in the tabloids and nobody in sumo or society cares.

Ozumo has lost its sacred aura, which in the past prevented punishment for any kind of violence within a heya - and prosecution of also many former rikishi. The recent wave of arrests and the many internal NSK investigations by the compliance committee  show that the blind eye for what's going on in sumo is beginning to see, but the pressure to keep things inside the walls of a heya still remains strong.

[RabidJohn 2,042]

2 hours ago, MrGrumpyGills said:

I never was a fan of Hakuho but I also can’t stand unfairness and Nishonoseki and Onosato are treated at least somewhat differently. Not surprising at all of course, but it still sucks.

Hakuho neglected his responsibilities. Both he (and Ishiura) ignored a very serious bullying situation for a long time, and having foolishly signed a contract promising he would not let anything like that happen, he was caught bang to rights.

There was a video made before Onosato joined the heya. It was very disturbing to many, but the only complaints came from 3rd party onlookers. No case to answer.

There was an incident of underage drinking at a later heya party at which pre-ozeki Onosato was present. This was reported to the compliance committee and dealt with accordingly.

IMHO, the only real comparisons to be made between moto-Miyagino and Nishonoseki is one was a much better yokozuna and the other is a much better oyakata.

[Ripe 81]

2 hours ago, Akinomaki said:

To repeat it once again: for the bottle, nobody filed a complaint to compliance - without it a scandal remains in the tabloids and nobody in sumo or society cares.

Ozumo has lost its sacred aura, which in the past prevented punishment for any kind of violence within a heya - and prosecution of also many former rikishi. The recent wave of arrests and the many internal NSK investigations by the compliance committee  show that the blind eye for what's going on in sumo is beginning to see, but the pressure to keep things inside the walls of a heya still remains strong.

49 minutes ago, RabidJohn said:

Hakuho neglected his responsibilities. Both he (and Ishiura) ignored a very serious bullying situation for a long time, and having foolishly signed a contract promising he would not let anything like that happen, he was caught bang to rights.

There was a video made before Onosato joined the heya. It was very disturbing to many, but the only complaints came from 3rd party onlookers. No case to answer.

There was an incident of underage drinking at a later heya party at which pre-ozeki Onosato was present. This was reported to the compliance committee and dealt with accordingly.

IMHO, the only real comparisons to be made between moto-Miyagino and Nishonoseki is one was a much better yokozuna and the other is a much better oyakata.

Those are such a horrible argument that I ignored previously hopping you won't repeat it... and yet you both did. 

The fact that nobody filed a complaint DOES NOT change anything! Or matter one bit. How many rapes go unreported because victim is too afraid and/or ashamed to do so? Not to mention that victim was also potentially bullied into not making a complaint by making it more or less clear that doing so would be the end of their sumo career... or the fact that he also should have a real fear that any complaint would be ignored and swept away due to Nishonoseki's "golden boy" status.

Edited August 19 by Ripe

[Katooshu 3,468]

4 hours ago, MrGrumpyGills said:

I have to agree with Ripe.
I definitely don’t mean to lecture anyone or to sound dramatic, but I need to point a few things out so please bear with me.

Let me put it this way.
How many men did and do give consent due to peer pressure, coercion, fear or threats - explicite and implicite - of violence and/or being publicly ridiculed or shamed?
How many just shut up and (literally) take it?

Consent under the influence of alcohol or any other substance can be really iffy as it is, when in doubt back off and don’t do anything until the person sobered up and can actually consent. In particular don’t take advantage of someone who’s in a vulnerable state for your own gratification. Be a decent, kind human being.

Yes, of course it’s perfectly fine if everyone involved has fun doing stuff like this (although I don’t see the fun in having a bottle with alcohol still in it IIRC - yikes! - shoved up your behind), but we also should consider the possibility that consent could've been an issue in that situation.
And yes, men (straight and gay) can be raped, it’s not something that only happens to women.

I never was a fan of Hakuho but I also can’t stand unfairness and Nishonoseki and Onosato are treated at least somewhat differently. Not surprising at all of course, but it still sucks.

Onosato had no involvement in the bottle shenanigans. Is there enough clarity about the underage drinking issue to know if he's being treated differently from comparable cases?

Edited August 19 by Katooshu

[Akinomaki 41,701]

1 hour ago, Ripe said:

Those are such a horrible argument that I ignored previously hopping you won't repeat it... and yet you both did. 

The fact that nobody filed a complaint DOES NOT change anything! Or matter one bit. How many rapes go unreported because victim is too afraid and/or ashamed to do so? Not to mention that victim was also potentially bullied into not making a complaint by making it more or less clear that doing so would be the end of their sumo career... or the fact that he also should have a real fear that any complaint would be ignored and swept away due to Nishonoseki's "golden boy" status.

You completely ignore that this is sumo. Much more violent harrassment was part of daily training for most of its existance as an organized show. You can't expect the wolves turn into sheep, just because a decree says that they now are.

[RabidJohn 2,042]

1 hour ago, Ripe said:

Those are such a horrible argument that I ignored previously hopping you won't repeat it... and yet you both did. 

I was not arguing. In the quote you used I stated three facts and offered one opinion.

I did not ignore your posts: I read them.

I simply remain unreceptive to your attempts to fashion a narrative from bent facts.

Edited August 19 by RabidJohn

[Bunbukuchagama 958]

3 hours ago, RabidJohn said:

Hakuho neglected his responsibilities. Both he (and Ishiura) ignored a very serious bullying situation for a long time, and having foolishly signed a contract promising he would not let anything like that happen, he was caught bang to rights.

Don't forget the cover-up attempts. 

[Reonito 1,757]

Are we still doing this? Some will always believe that Hakuho was singled out, others that the punishment fit the transgression; these are not even mutually exclusive.

[Katooshu 3,468]

What is the news anyway here? Just that the tabloid reposted the drinking story?

[Kishinoyama 622]

I can’t believe that this discussion is still going on. Just like a lot of things that go on behind the curtain in sumo, nothing to see here folks. Move along….