The hard life of sumo wrestlers after retirement: masseurs, cooks and caregivers of grandparents

It’s not easy for high-performance athletes the day after retirement. There are many examples of figures who cannot find their place in the world after leaving the activity that made them famous. The problem is even worse for sumo wrestlers. They find it extremely difficult to reorganize their working lives after living socially isolated — because they live in their own communities —, with their own codes and marked hierarchy based on meritocracy.

These are some keys to understanding the world of these athletes who are respected in Japan. When they compete, of course … To enter the world of sumo it is necessary to be male, between 15 and 23 years old, and have completed basic education, measure at least 1.67 meters and weigh at least 67 kilograms, and have accepted a heythe lodging and training ground for wrestlers (rikishi).

The age limit has been extended to 25 years for those who have already made a career in amateur sumo. The height and weight standards were relaxed in 2013 to address the growing lack of interest of the younger generation in this type of life that is demanding and increasingly distant from the current lifestyle.

sumo wrestlers living in the communitylike a big family, including your oyakata (teacher) and his wife, in a hey where they slept in a large joint room, until they reached the second division of rank.

His day is marked by a long and strenuous training, fasting, which begins at dawn and lasts for several hours. The warriors then ate a hearty lunch menu followed by sleep, which facilitated weight gain, before devoting the last hours of the day to their personal chores.

The ranking of professional sumo wrestlers – it was 620 in March 2022 – was grouped into six categories. Only members of the first two were entitled to receive a salary, a total of 70 warriors.

In each tournament, every two months, the number of wins and losses determines the promotion and relegation. Fighter of the four lower divisions arranged their maintenance and accommodation, but they did not receive money on a regular basis beyond travel expenses or prizes per tournament.

Inevitable reference for warriors, the classification (banzuke) is published every two months before each contest. They are all training hard to climb the top two divisions, a career ladder that could change their lives.

Because in addition to receiving a salary, they have their own room, they will have the right to wear nice clothes and a mawashi (combat belt) colored in tournaments.

These sumo celebrities who reached the top, were called sekitoriThey are also “served” by other lower-ranking warriors who help them with training and in the toilets, help them get dressed, serve them food, wash and iron their clothes, run for them, carrying equipment …

The sports retirement of a rikishi is symbolically marked by the cutting of his ponytail during a ceremony. The age of career end varies according to circumstances and injuries, but it is usually between 30 and 35 years old, though quite a few are well resistant in their forties.

unusual circumstances: Fighter Hanakaze, retired in January, endured competing until he was 51 years old, after more than 35 years on the sand.

Fighters who have achieved the most success throughout their careers can choose to stay in the middle and be oyakatabut this path is reserved for an elite: 7 only rikishi of the 89 who finished their sports careers in 2021.

To do this, they must fight for at least 30 tournaments in the first two divisions (or reach a certain rank) and buy another. oyakata one of 105 accrediting titles in circulation, with prices that could amount to several million euros. a post by oyakata guarantees salary up to retirement age, set at 65 years.

The battle after retirement

When Takuya Saitō He ended his sumo career at the age of 32. He had no training or professional experience, nor a definite idea about his future, like many other fighters of the ancient Japanese sports discipline.

While those who have reached the elite of sumo may aspire to open themselves up hey (place of life and training for wrestlers), this honor is very strict: last year, 89 wrestlers finished their careers, but only seven remain within the Japan Sumo Association.

When their bow, a symbol of their retirement from sports, is broken, many direct their lives toward restoration, using their knowledge gained in cooking for their classmates. heyor be a masseuse or security agent.

“First I wanted to be a baker,” Saito, now 40, told Agence France Presse. “But when I tried it they told me I was too fat”endurance of this man, who weighed 165 kilos during his career.

“I went through a lot of job interviews but I didn’t have any experience, I didn’t even know how to use a computer,” he recalls. And he added: “They showed me that entering the world of work is useless. I felt a huge inferiority complex.”

He said that then he realizes that life of rikishiwith his strict discipline and ruthless training, is sweeter than the outside world.

“My master allowed me to continue living a few months on heyhe advised me, his wife prepared the food and gave me clothes because I didn’t have much money ”.

After several hours of doubt, Takuya Saito decided to become an administrative secretary, a profession that requires passing the annual exam in Japan. He got his diploma on the third test, and decided to specialize in restaurant opening management, a way to help others. rikishi retired to be integrated into society.

An old friend, Tomohiko Yamaguchi, who entrusted him with the administrative management of the establishment he owned in Kyoto, admitted that Japanese society may have biases against rikishi“The world of sumo is very particular and I don’t think people understand it from the outside. They might think it’s hard to make a sumo wrestler work in a company.”

For the warriors themselves, it is also uncomfortable to return to an anonymous life after getting used to the ceremonies and flattery. “When I still had a bun, a lot of people promised me professional opportunities and I believed I could find a job without a problem,” Saito admits. But as soon as the bow was broken, “silence” came.

Keisuke Kamikawawho became a wrestler at the age of 15, also went through moments of uncertainty, and wanted to put his experience into the service of “young retirees”.

The 44-year-old former wrestler is now in charge of SumoPro, a talent agency for former wrestlers, brokering movie casting, advertisement, or sumo show for tourists.

That demand has fallen because of the pandemic, but Kamikawa also runs two retirement homes for seniors in Tokyo, staffed by former wrestlers.

“I think sumo wrestlers have a predisposition to take care of people”said Shuji Nakaita, one of the employees, after a game of cards with the two tenants of the establishment.

Because low -ranking warriors have a tendency to serve the strongest in the hey. Until 2019, Nakaita will take care of the champion Terunofujiwho now has the highest ranking in sumo, that is yokozuna.

“I prepared her meals, I stroked her back in the bathroom … There are similarities in caring for the elderly,” she estimates.

“They were very strong, comforting and kind,” he said. Mitsutoshi Ito70, who briefly visited the establishment, and admitted that he loved to debate sumo with the former rikishi.

By Mathias CENA / AFP