Is sumo still fit to be Japan's national sport?

It’s almost been a week since the match-fixing scandal committed by sumo wrestlers ran rampant across Japan's newspapers and blogs. 

There was no way Japan Sumo Association could have explained it away, because this time the accusations came with irrefutable evidence -- “text messages” from the phones of professional wrestlers.

Police hit the unexpected scoop during their investigation into sumo wrestlers’ illicit gambling, when they discovered the texts -- which allegedly included what wrestling moves the wrestlers were planning to use to fix their matches -- from their confiscated cell phones. 

That was it. The JSA had over the years denied any match fixing, despite evidence from unlikely sources -- such as American economist Steven Levitt's 2005 book "Freakonomics" -- in its attempt to preserve the clean image of the sumo world. But there was no wriggle-room anymore.

The sumo 'dohyo' is covered with a large sheet at the Kokugikan sumo gymnasium in Tokyo with the Spring tournament canceled.

Losing trust

Clean image, huh? Some Japanese, however, had already abandoned their trust in the sumo world, due to the series of ignominious scandals that had debased its dignity, including the Tokitsukaze stable hazing scandal in 2007 and yokozuna Asashoryu's drunken rampage last year.

Soon after that, more than 10 sumo players and stablemasters have been accused of illicit gambling on baseball.

Enough is enough. It seems that the JSA has finally overshot its ability to serve as justice for the sport, as proven by its announcement on February 7 to cancel the Spring Tournament, the first cancellation since 1946 when the Ryogoku Kokugikan needed repair from damage from World War II. 

At no time in the past 400 years of sumo history from its initiation in the Edo period has the sport come under such scrutiny and the expected damages by this cancellation will reach more than ¥2 billion, striking a huge financial blow for the JSA.

More on CNNGo: Video: From scrawny teenager to yokozuna -- the rise of Hakuho

Local reaction

But apparently the move hasn’t helped the JSA regain any public trust at all –- local responses have flared up over the match-fixing scandal, including some that imply that sumo doesn’t deserve to be called Japan’s national sport anymore.

Their suggestion is given strength with the ironic fact that most Japanese wrestlers have failed to grab the public attention in recent years, with their spotlight stolen by foreign wrestlers from Hawaii, Mongolia and Bulgaria.

The responses to the news by Japanese bloggers have nevertheless shown that their concern apparently has more to do with nature's fury than their own.

“Make the wrestlers help the clean up of volcano ash in Miyazaki prefecture as a punishment.”

“Let’s change our national sport to soccer, now!”

“All right listen up wrestlers! Go volunteer to remove the snow off the roofs in northern Japan!”

More on CNNGo: Volcano cam: Japanese eruption caught on film