Ex-sumo ‘stablemaster’ to be arrested for death

? The Aichi prefectural police have decided to arrest former stablemaster Tokitsukaze and three of his stable’s senior sumo wrestlers by early next month, after concluding that their beatings and assaults over two days on a 17-year-old junior wrestler led to his death in June, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

Tokitsukaze stable wrestler Tokitaizan, whose real name is Takashi Saito, died after collapsing following a training session at the stable’s facilities in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, on June 26.

Initially, the Inuyama Police Station determined Saito’s death was caused by disease. However, after the wrestler’s parents requested an autopsy on their son, it was learned that his death was caused by traumatic shock as a consequence of multiple external wounds.

The ensuing police investigation revealed that the assaults on Saito began early in the afternoon of June 25. The police plan to consult with prosecutors about sending papers on four or five other wrestlers who joined in the beatings.