Sumo elder Takanohana attended a training session Thursday at his stable for the first time since the death of his father Futagoyama and reiterated the difficulty of mending the much-publicized rift with his older brother.
Takanohana, who helped boost the popularity of sumo with his brother and fellow former grand champion Wakanohana, passionately coached junior-division wrestlers at his stable as he resumed work 10 days after Futagoyama's passing.
"Everything starts here and this is the best place for me," Takanohana said, adding that he has put pictures of his late father and mentor on every floor of the stable in Tokyo.
Futagoyama, a much revered former ozeki and stablemaster of his sons, died late last month at 55 after a lengthy battle with cancer. His death led to the exposure of a rift between Takanohana and Wakanohana, who has severed his ties with professional sumo and is currently known as sports commentator Masaru Hanada.
"Many people used to talk good about us as the Waka-Taka brothers ever since we started our careers, and it made me feel good but it turned out that they just glossed over a lot of things," Takanohana said.
"It's difficult to narrow our differences under the circumstances and I knew days like this would come," he added as he was surrounded by a horde of television reporters.
Various reports and magazine articles have said the brothers differ over a wide range of issues, from sumo philosophy to cancer treatment for Futagoyama and how to arrange his funeral.
Some speculate that there are inheritance issues behind the family rift, which also involves Futagoyama's ex-wife.