Sumo: Hakuho reveals company, Toyota chairman heads amateurs' body
Former grand champion Hakuho announced the name of his new company on Saturday as he looks to promote the sport through the concept of a "world sumo grand slam" after leaving the Japan Sumo Association.
Earlier in the day, the Japan Sumo Federation, which oversees the amateur side of the sport, unanimously elected the chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. and long-term Hakuho supporter Akio Toyoda as its new head.
Hakuho's new company, Hakuho Dayan Sumo & Sports Inc. named after a Mongolian emperor, was unveiled at a party with some 200 of his supporters in Tokyo, including former Japan football star Keisuke Honda and former Olympic minister Seiko Hashimoto.
"I'm grateful," Hakuho said during the party after hearing of Toyoda's appointment. The Mongolian-born former yokozuna, who hopes sumo will one day become an Olympic sport, also indicated his intention of attending the sumo world championships in Bangkok in September.
Toyoda, a supporter of the former grand champion since his wrestling days, was appointed for a two-year term at the federation after the 69-year-old expressed his interest in taking up the role this spring.
The move follows Hakuho's decision to leave the JSA on Monday and promote the sport from outside the ruling body.
Hakuho, who won a record 45 Emperor's Cups, left little more than a year after the indefinite closure of the Miyagino stable he had overseen as stablemaster, following revelations that one of his proteges had physically abused younger wrestlers.
The 40-year-old has organized the Hakuho Cup, an international youth sumo tournament, since 2010 and his future interaction with the Toyoda-led federation could provide a new opportunity for the sport.
Toyota Motor has an amateur sumo team and sponsors a national tournament.
"It feels we've welcomed a strong leader," the federation's vice chairman Kozo Katsuda said. "We'll look into the idea (of collaborating with Hakuho) if there is such talk."
Related coverage:
Sumo: Kotozakura bids to get back on track by focusing on basics
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