For two months sumo has been rocked to its core by evidence of illegal gambling on baseball games, involvement with the Japanese underworld, and more recently claims by the man on the street that those in positions of power within the sumo association did precious little to stop this.

Documented in recent weeks in media around the world, sumo's long standing links to those involved in organized crime did, at first, look like they could derail the sport permanently. At the very least it appeared as if the tournament scheduled to begin on July 11 would be cancelled.

Dismissals of one ozeki and one stable master, house arrest for some, forced absence from the basho for others, and a huge helping of humble pie for all connected to sumo has pacified many and the latest is that the basho will still go ahead, though, in a huge blow to fans, NHK will not broadcasting the event live.