Publisher ordered to pay Y15 mil in damages over sumo match-fixing story

Friday 06th March, 06:28 AM JST

TOKYO —

The Tokyo District Court on Thursday ordered Kodansha Ltd to pay about 15 million yen in damages to the Japan Sumo Association and former JSA Chairman Kitanoumi, ruling that the major publisher had damaged their reputations by running a groundless article on match-fixing in sumo wrestling in its weekly magazine.

The article in the March 2007 issue of Shukan Gendai ‘‘was based on flawed research and lacked supporting evidence,’’ Presiding Judge Hideki Hama said, also ordering Kodansha to publish a retraction of the story, which covered a bout between Kitanoumi and another popular sumo wrestler, Takanohana, in 1975. The writer of the story ‘‘neglected to interview Kitanoumi and we see no grounds to believe that the article reports the truth,’’ the judge said. In October last year, Kitanoumi testified in court, ‘‘No match-fixing exists in sumo.’’

10 Comments

wanderlust at 09:20 AM JST - 6th March

Kitanoumi testified in court, ‘‘No match-fixing exists in sumo.’’

There, that settles it.....
timorborder at 09:23 AM JST - 6th March

So the sumo association dodges a bullet yet again, until the next drama. The stupidiity of these magazines is not that they print these stories, but rather that they think there position (as media) makes them impervious to counterattacks by the established elites, of which the sumo association is one. What do they think Japan's legal system is? Fair? Perhaps these journalists are smoking the same substances as certain former sumo wrestlers. Don't they realize the the brief of the court system in this country is too protect the status quo and nothing else?
2020hindsight at 09:39 AM JST - 6th March

A groundless article, but neverthless probably true. What we need is some real journalism to get to the truth. Obviously there is match fixing in Sumo, but you need to get the evidence.
Beelzebub at 09:48 AM JST - 6th March

Shukan Gendai went on a jihad against the Sumo Association which I think made them look mean-spirited and almost certainly alienated its readers. Weekly mags are useful for pointing out society's flaws, great and small, but they should not position themselves as crusaders for social change. Despite its MANY flaws, I would be saddened to see sumo disappear. Investigative pieces and exposes are fine, but Gendai's long-running witch hunt was excessive. Does Shukan Gendai really want sumo's demise on its conscience?
jinjapan at 09:49 AM JST - 6th March

i thought it was common knowledge that sumo matches were fixed. they should do a poll to see how many japanese believe that they are indeed fixed.
soldave at 10:56 AM JST - 6th March

They should know that the only bad stories that will stick about sumo are those involving foreign wrestlers.
mrhog123 at 11:34 AM JST - 6th March

Sumo fixed? No, go to the WWF if you want something fixed.
GJDailleult at 11:43 AM JST - 6th March

In October last year, Kitanoumi testified in court, ‘‘No match-fixing exists in sumo.’’

Guess there is no law against perjury in Japan.
frontandcentre at 12:00 PM JST - 6th March

It may be a fair result if they could not substantiate the story with clear evidence - whatever the actual facts may be. But for a witness to baldly state that no match fixing goes on in sumo (which everyone seems to doubt) is uneccesary and simply provokes inevitable scorn towards the sumo kyokai - who seem to think we were all born yesterday
terebiko at 01:16 PM JST - 6th March

It's not the WWF, it's the WWE, as in World Wide Entertainment. Of course it's fixed, there are scripts for almost everything that happens in the WWE. It is Entertainment. Regarding this story, it would have been more interesting if a bunch of sumo wrestlers went over to the magazine's office with beer bottles and bats, and confronted them. Similar to Beat Takeshi did several years ago.