Friday, December 19, 2008

Oh Happy Day!

Note to child killers: if you want to beat a minor to death over a two-day span, with no prison time, be sure to be wearing a fundoshi with little diddly-doos hanging from it.

3 sumo wrestlers avoid prison after conviction over grappler's fatal beating
Mainichi Daily News

NAGOYA -- Three sumo wrestlers were convicted on Thursday over the death of a young grappler whom they fatally beat last year.

The Nagoya District Court gave suspended sentences to the three grapplers, who had been charged with inflicting bodily injury resulting in the death of Takashi Saito, 17, from the Tokitsukaze Stable in June last year.

Yuichiro Izuka, 26, and Masakazu Kimura, 25, were both sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for five years, while Masanori Fujii, 23, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison, suspended for five years, over the case.

According to the ruling, after getting upset that Saito fled the stable, the three defendants conspired with their former stablemaster, Junichi Yamamoto, 58, and beat Saito after tying him to a practice pole in a dormitory in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, on the night of June 25, 2007.

On the following day, Izuka and Kimura colluded with Yamamoto and beat Saito for about 30 minutes using a metal bat under the disguise of a sparring bout. As a result, Saito suffered traumatic shock and died later the same day...
You see, the elaborate underwear compresses the moral fiber, making it impossible for the individual to know the difference between right and wrong. Sort of a temporary, wardrobe-failure-of-the-imagination, if you will.

Let the judge explain:

Judge Masaharu Ashizawa acknowledged yesterday that the three convicted wrestlers had to unconditionally obey instructions from their trainer, who had absolute power over his men, the broadcaster NHK said. The judge noted violent punishment was considered standard practice at sumo stables.
From one who would turn on Digest every night to watch a bronzed Chiyonofuji lift his leg skyward in the warmups, then lever out yet another pasty non-great on his way to the championship, a permanent kiss-off:

[Expletive deleted] sumō.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

When people talk about how Japan has a 98% conviction rate, they also need to keep in mind how many of those convictions are slaps on the wrist like this one.

Anonymous said...

"Judge Masaharu Ashizawa acknowledged yesterday that the three convicted wrestlers had to unconditionally obey instructions from their trainer, who had absolute power over his men, the broadcaster NHK said. The judge noted violent punishment was considered standard practice at sumo stables."

I am not being glib, I am honestly struck by this-isn't this an argument that's been used to attempt to justify war crimes in some cases?