[sumo] Fwd: [Sumo news] - Ex-Toyohibiki- how I joined sumo

[Jeff A]

Moti

Best regards,
Gaijingai

For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these:
It might have been.
- John Greenleaf Whittier


---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Moti Dichne <niramiai at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Apr 4, 2026 at 3:17 AM
Subject: [Sumo news] - Ex-Toyohibiki- how I joined sumo
To: Sumo Newsletter2 <sumo-newsletter2 at googlegroups.com>


Ex- Toyohibiki, Yamashina Oyakata (41), appeared on the Kyokai's official
YouTube channel, "Oyakata Channel," where he reflected on his sumo career.
Yamashina Oyakata recalled the incident where his mentor, Sakaigawa Oyakata
(former Komusubi Ryogoku), refused to accept him into his beya. "When I was
in my third year of high school, Sakaigawa Oyakata invited me to join him.
At that time, I was struggling with my future, and actually, I wanted to
quit sumo," he revealed, explaining his feelings at the time. He then
recalled, "During the discussion about joining the heya, my mother, my now
shisho (Sakaigawa Oyakata), and my high school coach were there. The four
of us were talking, and I had no intention of joining, but my mother was
really pushing me to do it. She kept saying things like, 'Why don't you
join a sumo beya?' and I was getting annoyed the whole time... In the end,
I just told my mother, 'Well, then you go.' My Oyakata got really angry..."
Enraged by his attitude towards his mother, Sakaigawa Oyakata withdrew his
invitation to join, and the deal fell through. Meanwhile, Yamashina
Oyakata's part-time jobs, which he started after graduating from high
school, didn't last long, and he eventually ended up living as a NEET (Not
in Education, Employment, or Training). "I quit my job, and I really didn't
know what to do. So I thought I'd try to turn things around with sumo. I
also wanted to repay my mother for all the trouble I'd caused her. I wanted
to be a good son." He knocked on the door of Sakaigawa beya once
again. Yamashina
Oyakata recalled, "I went to the beya's lodgings for the Kyushu basho to
pay my respects. It was sudden (without an appointment). If I had joined
the beya right after graduating from high school, I wouldn't have been
prepared, and things would have been different."
[image: 元豊響の山科親方]
<https://news-pctr.c.yimg.jp/uUzvQ3lML_bkIqyakc1vFhNrRI0RUQxg5aFkrX0xDg1_T0wXrbEJjtNGtrf1o9y3apXm7NOlaXyl0N6TOsDM8YCdlAY-0lRJjr53n01YQIq47rd4oacQTeGGmdBO9okA7wt6Q6ChuzmI5eDE-TchWElxtYH9lvR2uhnIa0VE86pio5cyJPym6p9-JmiQqqDuZWTvetco0XtNxIuzQ9XrlQ==>

-- 

---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Sumo Newsletter2" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
email to sumo-newsletter2+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sumo-newsletter2/04714d4c-7c1f-4833-a416-ea4f64e3407fn%40googlegroups.com
<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sumo-newsletter2/04714d4c-7c1f-4833-a416-ea4f64e3407fn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://server.webtrek.com/pipermail/sumo/attachments/20260404/036796b4/attachment.html>