Riho Rannikmaa
Interview by Carolyn Todd
In
the midst of the makuuchi bouts on Day 13 of the Osaka Basho, I hung
out in the nosebleed seats with Riho Rannikmaa, Secretary General of
the Estonian Sumo Association, and his wife Renata, who very graciously
acted as translator. Riho runs the Sakura Budo Club in Vinni, 8km from
Rakvere (site of the Junior Amateur Sumo Championships in 2006), and is
an old sensei, friend and mentor of Baruto.
CT: Thanks for meeting me at the basho today Riho. Is this your first time in Osaka?
RR: Oh no, we’ve been here many times for amateur sumo events, but this is our first honbasho. We usually watch the stream, when we can get on it!
CT: This is your first basho?! What brought you to Osaka this time, considering that your prodigy Baruto is out injured?
RR: Well, of course, we were planning to come and watch Kaido (Baruto) and we made the reservations before he withdrew, so we decided to come anyway.
CT: Have you managed to speak to him while you’ve been here?
RR: Actually, we saw him this afternoon before we came to the basho. He’s quite fed up, stuck at the heya while the others come to the basho. We wanted to meet him near here but of course he can’t because of all the fans.
CT: How’s he doing? I know that everyone misses him and wants an update.
RR: Well, you know, he wanted to take part in this basho but he and his oyakata decided that he should pull out because of the condition of his knee.
CT: That’s quite surprising considering the usual attitude in sumo to just grit your teeth and keep going.
RR: Yes, but it was a good decision. Considering his future, it has to be healed completely. He’s currently undergoing treatment and exercising. At the basho in May, he’s determined to reach makuuchi again.
CT: And how is sumo faring in Estonia since you hosted the World Junior Championships last year?
RR: As you know, Kaido came to Rakvere to support us and that was a great help. The usual sumo people came but many people came to see Kaido and experienced the sumo event too, so we had more exposure. Having a successful professional rikishi from Estonia has a big effect on the popularity of the sport.
CT: Do you think it will encourage more Estonian youngsters to take up sumo?
RR: Well, in Estonia, schools hold summer and winter Olympic Games, and now they’re starting to include sumo, so yes, the popularity is growing.
CT: How are your sumo facilities in Estonia?
RR: Well, unfortunately, we usually only have a plastic dohyo, placed flat on the ground, so the atmosphere isn’t very inspiring. For the Junior World Championships we built a real clay dohyo using local construction workers, and that was great! The IFS was pleased with the construction. (SFM note: Riho has been honoured with an official Certificate of Commendation (Gaimu Daijin Houshou) by Taro Aso, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, for his years of service to sumo and for promoting Japanese culture in Estonia.)
CT: Talking of the ISF, how’s the relationship between European sumo and Japan?
RR: Speaking for ourselves, we’ve always had a really good relationship with Tokyo. From the very beginning, Kazuo Kurazono, related to the family of ISF President Hidetoshi Tanaka, began to teach us in 1996, on the instructions of Mr Tanaka, and encouraged us to get involved and take part in events. He also encouraged Kaido to come to Japan and join a heya. When he (Kaido) arrived, of course, he spoke no Japanese; had no idea what to do, and Mrs Tanaka was so generous, helping him with board and lodging, showing him where to go, giving him information. Now Mr Kurazono’s son, who studied and trained at Nichidai, is with Kaido at Onoe Beya.
CT: We recently interviewed Francois Wahl from the Swiss Sumo Society who is concerned that the ISF has changed the date of the World Championships, causing them to lose sponsorship? Do you know anything about that?
RR: I have no idea about that. We received confirmation of the date at the end of 2006, and we didn’t hear about any date change.
CT: In a few months the International Olympic Committee will be meeting to vote on the possible inclusion of sumo as an Olympic sport – is this a realistic goal for amateur sumo or are there too many internal problems and too much Japanese control of the sport?
RR: As Tokyo is an Olympic candidate for 2016, and given that sumo is the national sport of Japan, we will be pushing for inclusion in 2016. If Tokyo wins the bid, it will be much easier to have it accepted into the schedule as a natural step. If Osaka had won the bid for 2008, we would have aimed for that target date, but it went to Beijing.
A lot of hard work and money has been invested in supporting Championships and showing the IOC how we operate, and here in Estonia we are already affiliated to the Estonian Olympic Committee and we receive limited funding, although of course not as much as official Olympic sports.
There are always internal problems in sporting associations, but there seem to have been many misunderstandings in the problems faced by the members who went to the US last year. (SFM note: Several members of the ISF were banned from events after joining a sponsored organisation in the US in 2006, which was outside the amateur realm and therefore outside the ISF; at present, those bans are still in force.)
As for too much Japanese control, when judo was first introduced in the Olympics, the Japanese tried to keep their own traditional rules and change was slow. Judo is quite difficult to understand so in international competitions, one competitor wears white, and the opponent wears blue, to easily differentiate them. The Japanese did not agree to this and, in national competitions, they continue to wear all-white in Japan, which is their decision. The same would hold true for sumo.
CT: So, you think that sumo could be successful as a spectator sport worldwide?
RR: Oh yes, of course. It was always intended to be a spectator sport and, compared to other wrestling styles, it’s very visual. And the rules are so simple compared to other sports that anyone can understand instantly what is going on. They keep suggesting that the rules for other wrestling styles should be simplified to make them more understandable for spectators, but if they simplify them too much, they’ll have sumo!
CT: On the professional side of the sport, how do you feel about the limited opportunities for non-Japanese entering the sport nowadays?
RR: Well, amasumo is a greenhouse for professional sumo, but sumo is Japan’s national sport and it’s natural for them to want to have Japanese rikishi as opposed to foreigners. They could afford to have more than one gaijin per heya but I definitely think there should be a limit. The Japanese people will eventually lose interest if their sport is only made up of foreigners, and the NSK needs local support as much as any sporting association.
CT: How difficult do you think it is for foreigners to fit into traditional Japanese heya life?
RR: I think it must be very difficult. They’re young, they’re away from their family, friends, language, culture, and it’s a hard life. I think foreign rikishi have to be very determined to stick it out through the homesickness and the general difficulties of living in a society where they initially don’t understand anything that’s going on.
Sumo is very difficult, like a vocation. When you’re a judo athlete, you can try out other wrestling styles, no problem, but sumo is sumo, nothing else is allowed to interrupt the focus.
CT: When Baruto joined professional sumo, he came to Japan with another Estonian wrestler who unfortunately left after a short time. Is he still involved in sumo back in Estonia?
RR: Ah, Ott Juurikas. (SFM note: Kitaoji – retired August 2004). When he first came back he won the Estonian openweight division in amasumo, but then he gave sumo up completely due to his health and he now has a regular job.
CT: Do you have any other good Estonians coming up who could make it in professional sumo?
RR: Hmm, physically yes, mentally no. Kaido’s brother is actually very good but I don’t think he’d be happy with heya life. Actually, his sister does shinsumo (women’s amateur sumo) and she’s pretty good too.
CT: On the subject of shinsumo, here in Osaka the Governor is a woman and she sponsors an award at the basho, but as a woman, she’s not allowed on the dohyo so a deputy always has to make the presentation. Given that amasumo welcomes women as enthusiastically as men, how do you feel about that?
RR: Actually we came up against that problem in Tokyo with amasumo because we couldn’t hold the shinsumo competition on the dohyo at the Kokugikan. I suppose from an outsider’s point of view it might seem outdated, but if it’s the tradition in Japan, what are you going to do? It’s not that the Japanese have a negative view of women’s sumo: the Estonian women’s team was invited to compete in the World Games in Akita back in 2001 so there was an active effort to include women, and they’re held in high regard. Professional sumo is different, with ancient traditions.
CT: After the success of the Junior World Sumo Championships in Rakvere in 2006, I understand that you have some exciting news?
RR: Yes, Rakvere will be hosting the 2008 World Amasumo Championships!
CT: You must be delighted.
RR: Yes, it’s a great achievement for Rakvere, which is a town of only 18,000 people. We don’t have a firm date but we expect that it’ll be sometime in October, and we hope that Kaido and his oyakata will be guests of honor. Rakvere has a new sports hall for 3000 people and now we’re building a hotel and spa. Of course, the main problem as always is sponsorship, as companies allocate funds a year in advance so we need to start work on that now. We don’t receive any state support, although the Estonian Olympic Committee sponsored the doping control at the Championships in 2006 and hopefully will support us in 2008, although there will be a lot more competitors. If anyone out there is interested in getting involved, we would be happy to talk to them.
CT: And how about the future of sumo in Estonia? How would you like to see it develop?
RR: I would like to see all the wrestling styles in Estonia, including sumo, join together under the Estonian Sumo Association so we have some coherence. Also, the development of worldwide events to attract supporters so we can grow and develop; hopefully the World Championships in Rakvere will attract a lot of attention.
CT: To finish, looking down on the Osaka Basho from our perch up high, who do you support (apart from Baruto)?
RR: Well, I like Ama for his fighting spirit, and Kaio – I appreciate his calmness.
CT: On that note, let’s settle down and watch the final few bouts, and thank you for talking to SFM today.
Estonian Sumo Association
Sõpruse 16, Vinni
46603 Lääne-Virumaa
Estonia
E-mail: sakura@estpak.ee
http://sumo.rakvere.ee
Sumo Fan Magazine Home
CT: Thanks for meeting me at the basho today Riho. Is this your first time in Osaka?
RR: Oh no, we’ve been here many times for amateur sumo events, but this is our first honbasho. We usually watch the stream, when we can get on it!
CT: This is your first basho?! What brought you to Osaka this time, considering that your prodigy Baruto is out injured?
RR: Well, of course, we were planning to come and watch Kaido (Baruto) and we made the reservations before he withdrew, so we decided to come anyway.
CT: Have you managed to speak to him while you’ve been here?
RR: Actually, we saw him this afternoon before we came to the basho. He’s quite fed up, stuck at the heya while the others come to the basho. We wanted to meet him near here but of course he can’t because of all the fans.
CT: How’s he doing? I know that everyone misses him and wants an update.
RR: Well, you know, he wanted to take part in this basho but he and his oyakata decided that he should pull out because of the condition of his knee.
CT: That’s quite surprising considering the usual attitude in sumo to just grit your teeth and keep going.
RR: Yes, but it was a good decision. Considering his future, it has to be healed completely. He’s currently undergoing treatment and exercising. At the basho in May, he’s determined to reach makuuchi again.
CT: And how is sumo faring in Estonia since you hosted the World Junior Championships last year?
RR: As you know, Kaido came to Rakvere to support us and that was a great help. The usual sumo people came but many people came to see Kaido and experienced the sumo event too, so we had more exposure. Having a successful professional rikishi from Estonia has a big effect on the popularity of the sport.
CT: Do you think it will encourage more Estonian youngsters to take up sumo?
RR: Well, in Estonia, schools hold summer and winter Olympic Games, and now they’re starting to include sumo, so yes, the popularity is growing.
CT: How are your sumo facilities in Estonia?
RR: Well, unfortunately, we usually only have a plastic dohyo, placed flat on the ground, so the atmosphere isn’t very inspiring. For the Junior World Championships we built a real clay dohyo using local construction workers, and that was great! The IFS was pleased with the construction. (SFM note: Riho has been honoured with an official Certificate of Commendation (Gaimu Daijin Houshou) by Taro Aso, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, for his years of service to sumo and for promoting Japanese culture in Estonia.)
CT: Talking of the ISF, how’s the relationship between European sumo and Japan?
RR: Speaking for ourselves, we’ve always had a really good relationship with Tokyo. From the very beginning, Kazuo Kurazono, related to the family of ISF President Hidetoshi Tanaka, began to teach us in 1996, on the instructions of Mr Tanaka, and encouraged us to get involved and take part in events. He also encouraged Kaido to come to Japan and join a heya. When he (Kaido) arrived, of course, he spoke no Japanese; had no idea what to do, and Mrs Tanaka was so generous, helping him with board and lodging, showing him where to go, giving him information. Now Mr Kurazono’s son, who studied and trained at Nichidai, is with Kaido at Onoe Beya.
CT: We recently interviewed Francois Wahl from the Swiss Sumo Society who is concerned that the ISF has changed the date of the World Championships, causing them to lose sponsorship? Do you know anything about that?
RR: I have no idea about that. We received confirmation of the date at the end of 2006, and we didn’t hear about any date change.
CT: In a few months the International Olympic Committee will be meeting to vote on the possible inclusion of sumo as an Olympic sport – is this a realistic goal for amateur sumo or are there too many internal problems and too much Japanese control of the sport?
RR: As Tokyo is an Olympic candidate for 2016, and given that sumo is the national sport of Japan, we will be pushing for inclusion in 2016. If Tokyo wins the bid, it will be much easier to have it accepted into the schedule as a natural step. If Osaka had won the bid for 2008, we would have aimed for that target date, but it went to Beijing.
A lot of hard work and money has been invested in supporting Championships and showing the IOC how we operate, and here in Estonia we are already affiliated to the Estonian Olympic Committee and we receive limited funding, although of course not as much as official Olympic sports.
There are always internal problems in sporting associations, but there seem to have been many misunderstandings in the problems faced by the members who went to the US last year. (SFM note: Several members of the ISF were banned from events after joining a sponsored organisation in the US in 2006, which was outside the amateur realm and therefore outside the ISF; at present, those bans are still in force.)
As for too much Japanese control, when judo was first introduced in the Olympics, the Japanese tried to keep their own traditional rules and change was slow. Judo is quite difficult to understand so in international competitions, one competitor wears white, and the opponent wears blue, to easily differentiate them. The Japanese did not agree to this and, in national competitions, they continue to wear all-white in Japan, which is their decision. The same would hold true for sumo.
CT: So, you think that sumo could be successful as a spectator sport worldwide?
RR: Oh yes, of course. It was always intended to be a spectator sport and, compared to other wrestling styles, it’s very visual. And the rules are so simple compared to other sports that anyone can understand instantly what is going on. They keep suggesting that the rules for other wrestling styles should be simplified to make them more understandable for spectators, but if they simplify them too much, they’ll have sumo!
CT: On the professional side of the sport, how do you feel about the limited opportunities for non-Japanese entering the sport nowadays?
RR: Well, amasumo is a greenhouse for professional sumo, but sumo is Japan’s national sport and it’s natural for them to want to have Japanese rikishi as opposed to foreigners. They could afford to have more than one gaijin per heya but I definitely think there should be a limit. The Japanese people will eventually lose interest if their sport is only made up of foreigners, and the NSK needs local support as much as any sporting association.
CT: How difficult do you think it is for foreigners to fit into traditional Japanese heya life?
RR: I think it must be very difficult. They’re young, they’re away from their family, friends, language, culture, and it’s a hard life. I think foreign rikishi have to be very determined to stick it out through the homesickness and the general difficulties of living in a society where they initially don’t understand anything that’s going on.
Sumo is very difficult, like a vocation. When you’re a judo athlete, you can try out other wrestling styles, no problem, but sumo is sumo, nothing else is allowed to interrupt the focus.
CT: When Baruto joined professional sumo, he came to Japan with another Estonian wrestler who unfortunately left after a short time. Is he still involved in sumo back in Estonia?
RR: Ah, Ott Juurikas. (SFM note: Kitaoji – retired August 2004). When he first came back he won the Estonian openweight division in amasumo, but then he gave sumo up completely due to his health and he now has a regular job.
CT: Do you have any other good Estonians coming up who could make it in professional sumo?
RR: Hmm, physically yes, mentally no. Kaido’s brother is actually very good but I don’t think he’d be happy with heya life. Actually, his sister does shinsumo (women’s amateur sumo) and she’s pretty good too.
CT: On the subject of shinsumo, here in Osaka the Governor is a woman and she sponsors an award at the basho, but as a woman, she’s not allowed on the dohyo so a deputy always has to make the presentation. Given that amasumo welcomes women as enthusiastically as men, how do you feel about that?
RR: Actually we came up against that problem in Tokyo with amasumo because we couldn’t hold the shinsumo competition on the dohyo at the Kokugikan. I suppose from an outsider’s point of view it might seem outdated, but if it’s the tradition in Japan, what are you going to do? It’s not that the Japanese have a negative view of women’s sumo: the Estonian women’s team was invited to compete in the World Games in Akita back in 2001 so there was an active effort to include women, and they’re held in high regard. Professional sumo is different, with ancient traditions.
CT: After the success of the Junior World Sumo Championships in Rakvere in 2006, I understand that you have some exciting news?
RR: Yes, Rakvere will be hosting the 2008 World Amasumo Championships!
CT: You must be delighted.
RR: Yes, it’s a great achievement for Rakvere, which is a town of only 18,000 people. We don’t have a firm date but we expect that it’ll be sometime in October, and we hope that Kaido and his oyakata will be guests of honor. Rakvere has a new sports hall for 3000 people and now we’re building a hotel and spa. Of course, the main problem as always is sponsorship, as companies allocate funds a year in advance so we need to start work on that now. We don’t receive any state support, although the Estonian Olympic Committee sponsored the doping control at the Championships in 2006 and hopefully will support us in 2008, although there will be a lot more competitors. If anyone out there is interested in getting involved, we would be happy to talk to them.
CT: And how about the future of sumo in Estonia? How would you like to see it develop?
RR: I would like to see all the wrestling styles in Estonia, including sumo, join together under the Estonian Sumo Association so we have some coherence. Also, the development of worldwide events to attract supporters so we can grow and develop; hopefully the World Championships in Rakvere will attract a lot of attention.
CT: To finish, looking down on the Osaka Basho from our perch up high, who do you support (apart from Baruto)?
RR: Well, I like Ama for his fighting spirit, and Kaio – I appreciate his calmness.
CT: On that note, let’s settle down and watch the final few bouts, and thank you for talking to SFM today.
Estonian Sumo Association
Sõpruse 16, Vinni
46603 Lääne-Virumaa
Estonia
E-mail: sakura@estpak.ee
http://sumo.rakvere.ee
Sumo Fan Magazine Home