Hanada Toragami on "Tetsuko's Room" aired on September 1st: Sumo wrestler suffers from ankylosing spondylitis

Former yokozuna Wakanohana's Toragami Masaru appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) on September 1st. He spoke about his illness, its aftereffects, and memories of former yokozuna Taro Akebono.

As a result of sumo wrestling, he developed ankylosing spondylitis, a condition in which bone tissue that does not normally exist is formed. In sumo, wrestlers collide head-on, but he said, "It's much easier now because I know what the cause was and I can prevent it, but in the past, the pain would suddenly make it impossible for me to walk around town, and I couldn't live my life without painkillers on me at all times. There are so many after-effects that I can no longer play golf. I guess it can't be helped (as the price of becoming a yokozuna)."

At one point, he suffered from headaches that caused tears to flow from his eyes constantly. "I've had tests done and learned a lot of things," he said, adding that there was also damage to his right brain. He said that his rehabilitation involves "doing things like push-ups so that it's not too much of a burden."

Akebono was a classmate of mine. I last saw him about two years before his death in 2024. I went to see him for work. Before I went to visit him, he told me, "You may not remember me at all. Be prepared for that." Akebono loved talking about sumo, but had forgotten everything else. "Do I remember?" I asked him, and he replied, "Yes, I do," so clearly that even his family was surprised. "You couldn't hate him. He had a cheerfulness that Japanese people don't have," he said, remembering his days.

Akebono said of alcohol, "They drink a lot. They put a whole bottle in a mug and toast." He added, "The first time Akebono, Kaio (who was an ozeki), and I went out drinking, they toasted and drank the whole thing. I couldn't finish it halfway through, but the two of them just kept drinking like that. I can handle my alcohol well, but I'm no match for them."