大相撲改革 世間の常識が通用する協会に

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Jul. 19, 2010)
Sumo body must shed closed culture
大相撲改革　世間の常識が通用する協会に（7月18日付・読売社説）

Stamping out evil practices that have taken deep root in the Japan Sumo Association is the only way to rebuild the national sport, which has lost public trust due to illegal gambling by sumo wrestlers and officials on pro baseball.
　野球賭博問題で信頼が地に落ちた大相撲を立て直すには、日本相撲協会に染み付いた悪弊を排除するしかない。

We hope the "independent committee concerning improvement of governance," which was inaugurated with 11 third-party members to reform the JSA, will present a road map toward the sumo body's rebirth that can fully satisfy sumo fans.
　相撲協会を改革するため、外部のメンバー１１人で発足した「ガバナンス（統治能力）の整備に関する独立委員会」には、ファンが納得する再生の道筋を示してもらいたい。

The committee, which held its first meeting Friday, is mostly discussing ways to eliminate the involvement of organized crime syndicates, prevent the recurrence of scandals and strengthen the JSA's crisis management methods, before the panel comes up with a reform proposal. These are unavoidable and important tasks for drastically overhauling the JSA.
　１６日に初会合を開いた独立委は今後、暴力団の排除、不祥事の再発防止、危機管理の強化などについて重点的に協議し、改革案をまとめる。いずれも、相撲協会の抜本改革には避けて通れない重要な課題である。

As the committee's name suggests, there is no doubt that the JSA, which is run by former sumo wrestlers, is remarkably incapable of governing its own affairs.
　独立委の名称に表れているように、力士出身者が運営する相撲協会が著しく統治能力を欠いていたことは間違いない。

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JSA's faulty logic at issue

The thinking that "only people in the sumo world can understand sumo" has led to the JSA's closed culture. Logic that does not hold water in the world at large has put a brake on the body's own reform efforts. This is the source of the saying, "Common sense in the sumo world equals thoughtlessness in the wider world."
　「相撲のことは角界の者にしか分からない」という意識が閉鎖的な体質につながり、一般には通用しない論理が改革にブレーキをかけてきた。「角界の常識は世間の非常識」と言われるゆえんだ。

Some stablemasters opposed the appointment of Hiroyoshi Murayama, a former chief of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office, to the post of acting chairman, despite the fact that the gambling scandal led to unprecedented consequences such as the dismissal of the ozeki wrestler Kotomitsuki.
　野球賭博問題では、大関琴光喜の解雇など前例のない事態を招きながらも、外部の村山弘義・元東京高検検事長が理事長代行に就くことに一部の親方は抵抗した。

What first must be eliminated is this inward-looking logic.
　まず排除しなくてはならないのは、この内向きの論理である。

Two of the current JSA directors who decide important matters for the association come from outside sumo. The JSA finally opened its doors to the outside world after the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry requested the body appoint outsiders to its board following the 2007 case in which a teenage sumo wrestler was fatally abused by fellow wrestlers in the Tokitsukaze stable.
　相撲協会の重要事項を決定する１２人の理事のうち、外部のメンバーは２人だ。時津風部屋の暴行死事件を受け、文部科学省に外部からの登用を求められて、ようやく門戸を開いた経緯がある。

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Reform requires outside push

However, such efforts to date have been far from satisfactory. To steadily move forward with reform at the JSA, it is necessary to increase the number of directors from outside sumo. We hope the independent committee will compile a sweeping proposal that includes increasing the number of outside JSA directors to a majority.
　だが、これでは不十分だ。改革を着実に進めるためには、外部の理事はさらに増やす必要があろう。独立委には、外部理事を全体の過半数にまで増員するなど、踏み込んだ改革案を期待したい。

The gambling scandal will not be brought to a close just because stablemasters and sumo wrestlers stopped gambling. It is said that organized crime syndicates run the gambling on pro baseball games. It is crucial and paramount that the sumo world completely cut its ties with mobsters.
　野球賭博問題は、親方や力士が賭博をやめれば一件落着というわけではない。野球賭博を仕切っているのは暴力団だとされる。大切なのは、角界が暴力団とのかかわりを完全に断つことである。

It is essential to apply stern punishment, up to and including dismissal, to stablemasters and sumo wrestlers who had relationships with organized crime syndicates.
　暴力団との付き合いを持った親方や力士には、解雇などの厳罰で臨むことが肝要だ。

The Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament--which is being held under the extraordinary circumstances of NHK declining to broadcast live coverage of the tourney and six wrestlers in the top makuuchi division having been suspended--has entered its middle phase.
　ＮＨＫの中継中止、幕内だけで６人の力士が謹慎休場という異例の状況で開かれている名古屋場所は、中盤戦に入った。

Vacant seats are noticeable at the 15-day tourney and prize money has fallen sharply. These factors indicate the depth of the wound suffered by the JSA as a result of the recent gambling scandal.
　会場では空席が目立ち、懸賞金も激減している。今回の問題で相撲協会が負った傷がいかに深いかを物語っている。

The JSA never will be able to restore the public trust it has lost unless the body is reborn as an open organization and resolutely carries out bold reforms.
　開かれた組織へと生まれ変わり、大胆な改革を断行する――。それができなければ、相撲協会の信頼は回復しない。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, July 18, 2010)
（2010年7月18日01時06分 読売新聞）