Sumo Scene / For Rikishi Fighting Solitary Battles, Mothers Are Often Their Greatest Supporters

By Kuniyuki Kamimura / Yomiuri Shimbun Senior Writer

11:14 JST, October 15, 2025

For sumo wrestlers who step into the ring to fight solitary battles, the presence of family must be an irreplaceable source of comfort. Often, the attachment of wrestlers to their mothers seems to be particularly strong.

Many wrestlers who dedicate themselves to sumo from a young age receive strict guidance from their fathers. Perhaps this is why mothers, taking the opposite role, tend to be gentler with their sons.

Before the recent Autumn Grand Tournament, former ozeki and now top-tier makuuchi wrestler Mitakeumi lost his mother, who was only 55. Margarita Omichi had frequented the Ryogoku Kokugikan since his very first day as a trainee and cheered him on passionately.

The sudden loss of his beloved mother must have been a profound shock. Just before the start of the tourney, Mitakeumi rushed back to his hometown in Agematsu, Nagano Prefecture, to bid a final farewell before returning to Tokyo.

Three years ago, in January 2022, when Mitakeumi was promoted to ozeki, Margarita watched her son’s proud appearance at the ceremony for promotion held at the Dewanoumi Stable in Tokyo. She expressed her heartfelt joy, saying, “I’ll keep praying you don’t get injured.”

Throughout the Autumn tourney, Mitakeumi refrained from answering questions about his mother, desperately focusing on his tasks in the ring. Of course, his heart must have been overflowing with gratitude for the mother who raised him so well.

Former komusubi Takamisakari — now sumo elder and coach Azumazeki — was also particularly close to his mother. Affectionately nicknamed “RoboCop” for his robotic prematch routine, he grew up as the third son of an apple farmer. His mother, Hisako Kato, used to watch her somewhat clumsy son with a worried expression.

Referring to Takamisakari’s unusual prematch routine, which he used to pump himself up, Hisako said he did this because, “My boy can be nervous at times.” His mother was his greatest supporter and also eased his loneliness in the dohyo.

Sumo is a symbol of a man’s world. Yet, the power provided by women — not just mothers, but wives and daughters, too — is immense.

— Kamimura is a sumo expert.