Sōkokurai Eikichi

In April 2011 he was ordered to retire by the Japan Sumo Association after an investigation concluded he had been involved in fixing the result of matches. Sōkokurai and Mongolian rikishi Hoshikaze were not originally in the main group of 23 wrestlers who were found guilty, but subsequent investigations concluded that they had indeed been involved. Both wrestlers protested their innocence and refused to comply and hand in their retirement papers, and sources from Arashio stable made it clear Sōkokurai was prepared to go to court if he was thrown out of sumo.[5] He was supported by his stablemaster, who said "I believe Sōkokurai and I have just got to let him do as he wants now."[6] On April 14 both Sōkokurai and Hoshikaze were dismissed by the Sumo Association.[7] Sōkokurai was still entitled to collect his retirement money, believed to have been around 5.3 million yen.[7]

In June 2011 Sōkokurai and the Sumo Association reached a deal by which he would be paid the equivalent of a makuuchi wrestler's salary for the next year.[8] However, he still filed a suit demanding his reinstatement to sumo.[8] The Japan Sumo Association told him not to live or train at Arashio stable, but his stablemaster continued to support him, allowing him to attend training sessions as a "consultant", in defiance of the JSA.[9] In 2012, Sōkokurai was working as a chicken farmer in Fukuoka, but he returned to training with the help of some former supporters.[10] This mainly involved working out at gyms on his own, and with a rugby team.[9]

In March 2013 he won his court case against the Sumo Association, after the Tokyo District Court ruled his dismissal was invalid because the testimony of former wrestler Kasuganishiki was questionable.[11] Sōkokurai's lawyer urged the Sumo Association to reinstate him as quickly as possible,[11] and following a meeting on April 3 with the Sumo Association's head Kitanoumi, it was announced that the Sumo Association would not appeal the ruling and that Sōkokurai would appear on the July banzuke at maegashira 15, giving him time to return to full fitness.[12] Sōkokurai told reporters ahead of the Nagoya tournament that he could not bear to watch sumo on TV during his absence and had had trouble sleeping at night, but he was now in good condition and would "go all out."[13]

In his return tournament, he managed a 6–9 record but this was not enough for him to avoid relegation to the second division. After four tournaments in jūryō culminating in an 11–4 record at jūryō 9 in March 2014 he gained repromotion to the top division. He maintained his makuuchi status and in May 2015 a new high of maegashira 7 but after being forced to withdraw from the tournament through injury he dropped back to jūryō. A 9–6 record in July saw him return to makuuchi for the September tournament, and a run of three consecutive winning records in the top division for the first time saw him reach his highest rank to date of maegashira 4 in the March 2016 tournament. After four consecutive losing records saw him fall to maegashira 14, he responding by winning his first five matches in the November 2016 tournament, eventually finishing on 9–6.

In January 2017, wrestling at maegashira 10 he produced a career-best performance: wins over Mitakeumi, Takayasu and Takanoiwa in the last three days saw him finish runner-up to Kisenosato with a 12–3 record. His performance saw him being awarded the special prize for Technique. At 33 he was one of the oldest first-time award winners.[14] In the following tournament in March he upset yokozuna Harumafuji to earn a kinboshi or gold star,[15] but he finished on 4–11. Disappointing results in May and July saw him relegated back to jūryō for the September 2017 tournament. However he ended the year on a high note by winning his first jūryō division championship in November with a 14–1 record, and he was promoted back to the top division for the January 2018 tournament.

He injured his right foot in winning his match on the 11th day of the March 2018 tournament and had to withdraw. His resulting 5–7–3 record saw him demoted to jūryō once more. Ranked at Jūryō 1 in May 2018, he withdrew on Day 9 having lost five of his first eight bouts. The same injury kept him out of the following tournament in July. Eventually demoted again, he went on to win the makushita division championship at the November 2018 basho with a perfect 7–0 record and his promotion back to jūryō was confirmed shortly after the tournament.