Sumo: Kotoshogiku 1st Japanese in 4 years to earn promotion to ozeki

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The Japan Sumo Association promoted sekiwake Kotoshogiku to ozeki Wednesday, making him the first Japanese in four years to reach sumo's second-highest rank.

Kotoshogiku, 27, from Yanagawa, Fukuoka Prefecture, secured his promotion with a sparkling 12-3 record at the recent autumn basho.

The JSA board of directors voted unanimously to approve the promotion at a special meeting held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on Wednesday.

The last Japanese to reach ozeki was Kotomitsuki, who was promoted in 2007 after that year's Nagoya tournament. Estonian Baruto was the last wrestler to reach that rank, when he was promoted last year after the spring tournament in March.

Association director Nishonoseki and refereeing committee member Minezaki visited Kotoshogiku at his Sadogatake stable in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, to inform him of the promotion.

In a televised ceremony, Kotoshogiku said, "Seeking the state of 'banri ikku,' I will make efforts and work hard every day."

The expression "banri ikku" was taken from an art-of-war book by sword master Miyamoto Musashi and describes the ultimate art of fighting as having a state of mind clear of indecision or complexities.

Born Kazuhiro Kikutsugi, Kotoshogiku made his debut on the dohyo when he was 17 at the New Year tournament in 2002. His ring name was Kotokikutsugi at the time.

He was promoted to juryo in the 2004 Nagoya tournament and became a makuuchi division wrestler at the New Year tourney the next year.

Weighing 174 kilograms and standing 1.79 meters tall, the new ozeki debuts as an ozeki at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament in November.

Popular ozeki Kaio, who also hails from Fukuoka Prefecture, retired recently, and many fans in Kyushu are looking forward to seeing the performance of the new ozeki.

After going through the formal ceremony, at which news of his promotion was conveyed, a visibly relieved Kotoshogiku was all smiles at a press conference.

"I've been longing for this day and I'm very happy," he said.

His stablemaster Sadogatake also had been anxious during the autumn tournament that decided his promotion. He said his heart was thumping while he watched his protege's bouts. While pleased with Kotoshogiku's promotion, Sadogatake said he wants him to climb even higher.

"This isn't the final stop. There's one more place to go up," he said, suggesting he wants Kotoshogiku to aim at sumo's highest rank of yokozuna.

Kotoshogiku graciously thanked competitors, including sekiwake Kisenosato and komusubi Toyonoshima, for inspiration.

"Thanks to my rivals, I could reach this level," he said.

Foreign wrestlers such as yokozuna Hakuho and Asashoryu have dominated sumo tournaments in recent years. The last Japanese native to win an Emperor's Cup was Tochiazuma at the New Year tournament in 2006. Japanese fans will be hoping the new ozeki can break this drought.

"I'd like to achieve good results on the dohyo an become an ozeki loved by everybody," Kotoshogiku added.

Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hanaregoma encouraged Kotoshogiku to stick to the style that has served him so well.

"An ozeki is obligated to win bouts, but I hope he'll wrestle just as he has and not crack under the pressure. I hope he'll now aim to become a yokozuna," Hanaregoma said.

Takanohana, a former yokozuna and now the head of the JSA refereeing division, said the quality of Kotoshogiku's sumo speaks for itself.

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'Pink Panther' jewel thief gets 10 years

A Montenegrin member of the "Pink Panther" international gang of thieves was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Tokyo District Court on Wednesday over a 2007 heist in Tokyo involving nearly ¥300 million worth of jewelry.

Rifat Hadziahmetovic, 43, was charged with stealing a ¥200 million diamond tiara and a necklace worth ¥84 million from the Exelco Diamond store in the Ginza district after spraying tear gas at clerks in June 2007.

He was extradited from Spain in August 2010 and indicted in Japan the following month.

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Cesium in sea may return in 20 to 30 years

Radioactive cesium that was released into the ocean from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant is likely to flow back to Japan's coast in 20 to 30 years after circulating in the northern Pacific Ocean in a clockwise pattern, researchers said Wednesday.

Researchers at the Meteorological Research Institute and the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry estimated that the amount of radioactive cesium-137 that was directly released into the sea came to 3,500 terabecquerels from March to the end of May, while estimating that roughly 10,000 terabecquerels fell into the ocean after it was released into the air.

Cesium-137 has a relatively long half life of about 30 years and can accumulate in the muscles once it is in the body and can cause cancer.

According to the analysis, the cesium is expected to first disperse eastward into the northern Pacific. It will then be carried southwestward before some of it returns to the Japanese coast carried northward by the Japan Current from around the Philippines.

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Tepco to raise power charges up to 15% for three years

Tokyo Electric Power Co. plans to raise electricity charges 10 to 15 percent for three years starting next April in an attempt to turn around its business, which has been rocked by the Fukushima nuclear crisis, sources said Wednesday.

The firm also intends to cut charges some 10 percent from the fourth year if it can eliminate an extra fee on fossil fuel power generation by resuming the reactors at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture, the sources said.

Tepco has informally explained the plan to a government committee that has been assessing the utility's assets and costs in a bid to find financial resources for damages payments over the nuclear disaster.

The utility will have to pay massive damages to people and entities affected by the nuclear accident.

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UFC to return to Japan for first time in over 10 years - ESPN.co.uk

Michihiro Omigawa speaks during the UFC press conference © Getty Images

Japan will host a UFC event in 2012 as part of planned expansion into Asia, president Dana White confirmed on Tuesday.

UFC 25 was the last event to be hosted in Japan, back in April 2000, but the organisation will return to the country on February 26, 2012.

The UFC, along with parent organisation Zuffa, have yet to decide whether the event at the 20,000 Super Arena in Saitama will be a 'Fight Night' or part of the numbered series - but White is promising a major spectacle with some big names.

"It's been over 10 years since a UFC event was held in Japan and we're pumped to bring the fastest growing sport in the world there once again," White said at the announcement. "Japan has played a huge roll in getting the sport to where it is today. UFC stars such as Rampage Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, [Antonio Rodrigo] "Minotauro" Nogueira all made names for themselves fighting in the Pride organization and dozens more fought in front of the passionate Japanese fans at some point in their careers.

"Japan has also produced world class fighters such as [Yoshihiro] Akiyama, [Takanori] Gomi and Yushin Okami. They have all headlined major UFC events all over the world. Now, this February, the wait is finally over - we're coming back to Japan."

Zuffa Asia executive vice-president Mark Fischer confirmed that it would be the first of many annual events in the country and region - and could see a number of the most high-profile Japanese fighters enter the Octagon on their home turf.

"Let me also say that while UFC Japan in 2012 will be the first event for Zuffa in Asia, it certainly won't be the last," said Fischer. "We hope to make UFC Japan an annual fixture on our calendar and we also have plans to follow-up with a series of high quality events across Asia." Email

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Abalone to show impact of tsunami 'for years'

The Yomiuri Shimbun

SENDAI--The population of young abalone growing wild in waters off Miyagi Prefecture was massively reduced by the March 11 tsunami, according to a fisheries research center, and the abalone catch is likely to suffer for several years as a result.

Young abalone numbers have fallen more than 90 percent since February, apparently because the edible mollusks were swept away by the tsunami, according to the National Research Institute of Fisheries, based in Yokohama.

The institute conducted research in the Tomarihama district on the Oshika Peninsula in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, and in the Iwaisaki district of Kesennuma in the same prefecture. The study was done in cooperation with the University of Tokyo and the Miyagi prefectural government.

Researchers looked for Ezo abalone up to one year old in the sea off both areas in June, and compared the results to a similar study done in February.

Off Ishinomaki, they found only three young shellfish per hour per person in June, compared to 29 per person per hour in February.

Off Kesennuma, they had found about 10 young shellfish per hour per person in February, but in June they found none.

The survey also found the population of adult abalone in the two areas has fallen 30 percent to 50 percent since February.

Numbers of other edible sea creatures have also been affected--in Ishinomaki, the population of northern sea urchin is down by more than 90 percent compared to February, the study found.

Seabed water in both areas was muddy, according to the researchers. In Kesennuma, the seabed was covered with debris such as fishery equipment, wood and iron frames, they said.

Most abalone culture farms along the Sanriku coast were seriously affected by the tsunami, and it remains unclear when they will be able to resume operations. It is believed the abalone population would be significantly depleted if fishermen continued to harvest them at the same pace as in previous years.

According to the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, in fiscal 2009 Miyagi Prefecture had the second-biggest abalone catch in the country, and the third-biggest sea urchin catch.

Riichi Miura, 62, a fisherman in Karakuwacho in Kesennuma, went diving for abalone in early August, having replaced two fishing boats that were washed away by the tsunami. Miura found almost no abalone shellfish.

"We'll have to cut down our abalone catch for the next few years while we wait for the young shellfish to recover," Miura said.

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Some evacuees may be kept out for years

TOKYO—Radioactive contamination may keep some areas around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex off limits for years, Japan's government said Monday.

Reuters Earlier this month, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with an evacuee, who fled from a town near the earthquake and tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, at a gymnasium in Fukushima, northern Japan.

In its first detailed survey of the evacuation zone around the plant, the education ministry said it found spots—mostly within three kilometers (nearly two miles) of the plant—where annual radiation exposure could reach 200 to 500 millisieverts. The government requires people to evacuate if the cumulative dosage is likely to exceed 20 millisieverts per year. The annual limit for nuclear-plant workers in normal circumstances is 50 millisieverts (250 millisieverts in emergency conditions).

"Some places may have to be kept off-limits to residents for a long period of time even after clean-up operations are undertaken," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said at a news conference. His comments followed Friday's announcement that levels of radioactive contamination were higher in some areas in the 20-kilometer evacuation zone than were found in the plant compound itself.

Mr. Edano said various options are under consideration to help people who may be displaced for a long time, including government purchase or rental of their land. Policy details will be determined in consultation with local authorities based on the results of a further radiation survey and decontamination programs, he said.

On Sunday, reconstruction minister Tatsuo Hirano said the government also is considering providing long-term housing for evacuees rather than the prefabricated temporary homes the government currently is building.

Other government officials noted that decontamination is possible but will take time. Goshi Hosono, minister in charge of the Fukushima crisis, stressed that "nothing has been decided on the evacuation policy, and the desires of local residents will come first in any decision."

The government had hoped to narrow the evacuation zone gradually after January, the target date for Tokyo Electric Power Co. to bring the damaged reactors fully under control and stop deadly radiation emissions. But the education ministry's measurements of radiation levels at 50 locations within the 20-kilometer radius showed annual exposure could exceed 100 millisieverts in 15 locations, including one where it could reach 508 millisieverts, compared with the government 20 millisieverts per year standard for evacuation.

The discovery of elevated radiation came as Tepco reported a sharp drop in levels inside the plant. Tepco has said the level stands at just 0.4 millisievert per year along the boundary of the plant compound, well below the normal limit of one millisievert for ordinary citizens.

"Radiation spreads like a typhoon," said an official with the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, the main nuclear regulator. "The amount of radioactive substance can be small at the eye of the typhoon, but very large outside."

Write to Mitsuru Obe at mitsuru.obe@dowjones.com

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Japan: Some Evacuees May Be Kept out for Years - Wall Street Journal

TOKYO—Radioactive contamination may keep some areas around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex off limits for years, Japan's government said Monday.

"Some places may have to be kept off-limits to residents for a long period of time even after clean-up operations are undertaken," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said at a press conference. His comments followed Friday's announcement that levels of radioactive contamination were actually higher in some areas in the 20-kilometer evacuation zone than within the plant compound itself.

In its first detailed survey of the evacuation zone around the plant, the education ministry said it found spots—mostly within three kilometers of the plant—where annual radiation exposure could reach 200 to 500 millisieverts. The government requires people to evacuate if the cumulative dosage is likely to exceed 20 millisieverts per year, and the annual limit for nuclear-plant workers in normal circumstances is 50 millisieverts (250 millisieverts in emergency conditions).

The discovery of elevated radiation, which came even as Tokyo Electric Power Co. has reported a sharp drop in levels inside the plant, poses fresh challenges to official efforts to allow evacuees to return permanently to their homes. The government had hoped to narrow the evacuation zone gradually after January, the target date for Tepco to bring the damaged reactors fully under control and stop deadly radiation emissions.

But the education ministry's measurements of radiation levels at 50 locations within the 20-kilometer radius showed annual exposure could exceed 100 millisieverts in 15 locations, including one where it could reach 508 millisieverts. Tepco has said the level stands at just 0.4 millisievert per year along the boundary of the plant compound, well below the normal limit of one millisievert for ordinary citizens.

"Radiation spreads like a typhoon," said an official with the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, the main nuclear regulator. "The amount of radioactive substance can be small at the eye of the typhoon, but very large outside."

Mr. Edano said various options are under consideration to help people who may be displaced for a long time, including government purchase or rental of their land. A detailed policy will be determined in consultation with local authorities based on the results of a further radiation survey and decontamination programs, he said.

Write to Mitsuru Obe at mitsuru.obe@dowjones.com

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Cattle outfit is year's No. 1 failure

Agura Bokujo, operator of a cattle outfit in Tochigi Prefecture, became Japan's biggest corporate failure this year after consumer fears over beef contaminated with radiation damaged sales, Tokyo Shoko Research said.

The closely held company had ¥433.1 billion in liabilities, Tokyo Shoko said Monday, citing Agura's application Aug. 9 for bankruptcy protection.

In its earnings report for the year that ended in March, Agura had liabilities of ¥62 billion, said Kazufumi Masuda, a spokesman for Tokyo Shoko, which tracks corporate bankruptcy data.

Radiation from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has entered the food chain in recent months, contaminating products from beef to milk and fish. Cattle with unsafe levels of radiation have been found in four prefectures after they were fed hay contaminated with as much as 690,000 becquerels per kilogram, compared with a government safety standard of 300 becquerels.

The discovery rattled consumer confidence after the government, which had assured shoppers that food sold in the market was safe, confirmed radiation-contaminated beef had been sold in stores. Companies affected included Aeon Co., the top supermarket chain.

Sales at Agura Bokujo were damaged by the discovery, Tokyo Shoko said, and followed on the heels of a drop in demand since the discovery of foot-and-mouth disease in Miyazaki Prefecture last year.

Food containing radioactive cesium or iodine that exceeded official standards has been found as far as 360 km from the Fukushima plant.

The government is still trying to put together a centralized system to check for radiation contamination of food, leaving local authorities and farmers conducting voluntary tests.

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