Shunjuen Incident

Signs of discontent emerged in the Sumo world in the middle of the 1860s, when a group of wrestlers from the Takasago ichimon tried to engage the Tokyo Sumo Association in discussions over a potential reform. This first reform movement didn't succeed and lost momentum during the Meiji restoration in 1867. However, it had regrouped a list of demands to advocate for a sumo reform in 1873. As a result, the wrestlers were expelled from professional sumo in December 1873.[2] The leaders of this first movement briefly established a "reform wrestling team", touring in Japan for a time before being reinstated in Tokyo-sumo. A number of reforms were however carried out, most notably the elections of chairmen instead of their nomination by governors.[2]
During the 10 years from the Great Kantō earthquake to the Mukden Incident of 1931, Japan's economy was in the midst of the Shōwa Depression. During these times, the political climate was unstable and labor-management conflicts were frequent with the rise of socialist movements in many areas.[3] The life of sumo wrestlers was rather difficult, and from the Meiji era to the early Shōwa era, there were frequent incidents of disputes that could be called "rikishi strikes".[4] With damaged Japanese businesses, patrons were less inclined to sponsor sumo wrestlers and unemployed Japanese citizens were unable to afford tickets. Hence, sumo attendances dropped, leaving the sumōtori wages to a historical low.[2] At that time, the average salary of a san'yaku wrestler was 70 yen, a salary which was the same of a government public servant. Meanwhile, the starting salary of a Tokyo University student was 50 yen, and 45 yen for a graduate of a private university. In addition, at that time, the Sumo Association's accounting was unclear, and the wrestlers had no idea how much income they received or how much money they spent on expenses. Stablemasters would also take their share of profits and wrestlers had no good income.[3]

Members of the Dai Nihon Sumo Renmei led by Tenryū (left) in Yasukuni Shrine

The Shunjuen strikers went to create two separate organizations: the "Great Japan Emerging Rikishi Group" (Dainippon Shinjin Rikishi-dan, 大日本新興力士団), by the Dewanoumi ichimon wrestlers, and the "Progressive Rikishi’ Group" (Kakushin rikishi-dan, 革新力士団), by non-Dewanoumi ichimon wrestlers. Both groups jointly organized tournaments and toured the country, performing in various locations such as Hibiya Park. On February 13, 1932, the organizations merged to form the "Greater Japan Sumo Federation" (Dai Nihon Sumo Renmei, 大日本相撲連盟), which held seven days shows in Osaka in March and Nagoya in April of the same year, followed by a 10-day show at the Yasukuni Shrine, in Tokyo, on May 3.[4] The Sumo Renmei worked on a different system than the Greater Japan Sumo Association of the time. The tournaments was a six-day individual competition in which the 31 wrestlers were divided into three ABC classes, with the winners and ranks determined by round-robin competition.[8]

Although temporarily resonating with the first strikers philosophy, the Sumo Renmei grew tired of the new form of sumo and began to drift away from the sport. Eventually Tenryū tried to form the Kansai Sumo Association (Kansai Kakuryoku Kyokai, 関西角力協会) and the unity of the comrades loosened, and from the end of 1932 to January of the following year, 12 makuuchi and 10 jūryō wrestlers left the ranks and returned to the Sumo Association.[3] Meanwhile, the Association had lost a lot of its leading figures, but with the determination to "make up for lack of numbers with enthusiasm," announced a new ranking list centered on then ōzeki Tamanishiki, who remained with the Sumo Association, saying, "I will die for my master".[3] In the spring tournament of January 1933, the popularity of new yokozuna Tamanishiki and the success of 20 returning wrestler, including Kagamiiwa, Minanogawa and Musashiyama (who was one of the first to break away from the strikers organization)[1] restored the prosperity of the Sumo Association's spring and autumn tournaments before the conflict. The Sumo Association, which was on the verge of extinction, began to show signs of recovery. The country was in the midst of an economic boom and, in the world of sumo, Futabayama began a 69-match winning streak on the seventh day of the January tournament in 1936.[3]

The Kansai Sumo Association also continued to exist, but in the shadow of Futabayama's rapid growth. Following a "consolation tour" in occupied Manchuria and Korea, Ōnosato fell ill and had to retire before dying. Without Ōnosato, and failing to create new popular wrestlers, the group began to decline and in December 1937, Tenryū and 32 other remaining wrestlers dissolved the Kansai Sumo Association.[8]

A number of theories surround the real motivations for launching the strike of the Shunjuen incident. Tenryū has a reputation as an opportunist and a revolutionary[7] in the sumo world, sometimes being referred to as a fūunji (風雲児), meaning 'an adventurer who takes advantage of troubled times'.[3] Questionable theories say Tenryū initiated the Shunjuen protest due to his bitterness from being passed over for ōzeki promotion in favor of his rival Musashiyama. Indeed, the latter did get promoted before Tenryū (from komusubi straight to ōzeki) in the January 1932 basho while Tenryū remained sekiwake for six consecutive tournaments despite having a winning record in each. However, Musashiyama did indeed have good enough records to be promoted to ōzeki at the January 1932 tournament.[5] The same theories also impute to Tenryū the recruitment of Ōnosato because the former needed the charisma and the reputation of the latter in order to win the trust of the rikishi.[12]

In 1957, an investigation by the National Diet (Committee on Education) into ticket distribution challenged the power of the sumo teahouses system and revealed information about nepotism and arrangements between elders and managers. Former Shunjuen leader Tenryū appeared as a witness before the committee on the issue of the Sumo Association's overly conservative nature, where he had the opportunity to publicly repeat his claims of the past.[13] This investigation led to Sumo Association's chairman Dewanoumi's (former yokozuna Tsunenohana) attempted suicide and reforms such as the introduction of two extra annual tournaments and a modest ticketing reform.[2] After these events, the wrestlers of the first two divisions belonged for a time to a quasi-syndicate called the Rikishi Kai (力士会), presided over by a yokozuna. Since the rikishi kai had no power to negotiate collectively, it sent complaints to the Japan Sumo Association from time to time. These complaints were often taken into consideration, but if nothing happens the wrestlers usually did not go further. In his memoirs, former sekiwake Takamiyama explained that in the rikishi kai meetings, the sekitori sometimes joked about a collective strike, but the action was hardly, if ever, considered.[14] Since the Shunjuen incident, there have been no major incidents of conflict between wrestlers and the Sumo Association. Since sumo's popularity was established by Futabayama, the living conditions of sumo wrestlers have improved. In January 2019, the Association gave a salary raise to its employees thanks to the success of Kisenosato, the first Japanese-born yokozuna in 19 years, which boosted the popularity of sumo.[4]