A Shukan Shincho feature examines the abnormal hardness of Hakuho’s custom elbow supporter and questions his legitimacy as a yokozuna.
With his signature elbow and forearm attacks restricted, his sudden decline in performance intensified debate.
Through testimony from Takanohana and expert commentary, the article raises deeper questions about dignity, fairness, and the pursuit of victory in sumo.

The following is from this week’s issue of Shukan Shincho, titled “The reason for Hakuho’s brutality lies in the abnormal hardness of his custom supporter,” and “A cowardly yokozuna.”
2018-01-26
The following is from this week’s issue of Shukan Shincho, featuring the article “The reason for Hakuho’s brutality lies in the abnormal hardness of his custom supporter,” and “Takanohana was furious!”
From the perspective of a “true grand yokozuna” who achieved 22 championships in genuine competition, Hakuho (32) is nothing more than a “cowardly yokozuna.”
After consecutive losses to rank-and-file wrestlers and withdrawing from the New Year tournament as if fleeing, Hakuho was wearing a supporter on his right elbow.
Stablemaster Takanohana (45) revealed its “special characteristics” to a patron.
This comes from a feature article published under that title.
“If he cannot use forearm strikes and slaps, Hakuho’s winning rate will fall to half.”
Before the New Year tournament began, a person connected to Miyagino stable, to which Hakuho belongs, had made this “prediction.”
Since becoming yokozuna, Hakuho’s winning rate has been about 90 percent, but this tournament he decided to withdraw on the fourth day when his winning rate fell to 50 percent.
It would be fair to say that the prediction by those connected to Miyagino stable proved accurate.
On the first and second days he barely secured wins, and then came the third day.
In his bout with top maegashira Hokutofuji, “it was a complete defeat for Hakuho. He remained unstable as ever, unable to set his hands properly at the tachiai and quickly became rigid under his opponent’s pushing. In the end he was pushed out sideways and lost without any effective response,” said a veteran sumo journalist.
His opponent on the fourth day was maegashira No.2 Yoshikaze.
He was a “fateful opponent” who had drawn fierce criticism in the previous tournament when Hakuho, unable to accept defeat, stood defiantly on the dohyo.
“When Yoshikaze came in from the left, Hakuho pushed from the right and aimed for a left throat thrust, but it slipped, he lost balance, and was slapped down, placing his hands on the ring in an instant,” the same journalist said.
With an unprecedented forty top-division championships and the most victories in history, the “strongest yokozuna,” who has rewritten record after record, becomes this weak simply by being unable to use forearm strikes and slaps…
Many sumo fans must have felt this way, and Hakuho himself likely could not endure continuing to expose such disgrace.
Citing injuries to both big toes, he withdrew and effectively “fled” from the New Year tournament early.
“In this tournament, Hakuho seemed unsure of what to do and as if he had lost himself. He did not look at all like the grand yokozuna who established the monumental record of forty championships,” the same journalist said.
It was around the same time that Hakuho decided to withdraw that Takanohana offered his impressions of the tournament to influential patrons.
Without touching on the content of the bouts, he stated, “The supporter he (Hakuho) is wearing appears to be special. It seems it was custom-made by a manufacturer and made harder than ordinary ones. Using such a thing is cowardly.”
He then reportedly added, “The dohyo of sumo is a world of serious competition, but once an opponent steps off the ring, one must have the sincerity to help that opponent.”
The supporter mentioned by Takanohana was indeed wrapped around Hakuho’s right elbow during this tournament as well.
Details of that supporter and the “suspicions” surrounding it will be discussed later, but first it is necessary to address the “forearm strike” that Hakuho was forced to seal off during this tournament.
“The forearm strike is a technique used in sumo. With the arm bent like a hook, the wrestler thrusts upward toward the opponent’s chest. However, Hakuho strikes above the opponent’s jaw with his elbow. That is not a forearm strike but an elbow smash,” said a sumo reporter.
Sports commentator Masayuki Tamaki also stated, “That is an elbow smash, an elbow strike, so it should not be described as a ‘forearm strike.’ Hakuho aims at the opponent’s face or jaw with his elbow in a hook-like motion, and sometimes swings it down diagonally from above. It is clearly a foul. Even before questions of what is appropriate for a yokozuna, he should recognize that he has been winning with illegal techniques.”
This manuscript will continue.