"Would you like to go to karaoke with us?"
Perhaps she was his type. The men approached a woman they saw at a restaurant in Tokyo with these words. The assault reportedly took place shortly afterward, inside a private karaoke room.
By July 14, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Shibuya Station had arrested two men on suspicion of rape and robbery, including 41-year-old Nikolai Ivanov, a Russian national living in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. Ivanov is a former top-division sumo wrestler who competed under the ring name Amuuru. He is suspected of raping a woman in her 30s, referred to as Ms. A.
“The incident for which he was arrested occurred on the night of April 5, sometime between 10 and 11 p.m. Ivanov and his friend, a man in his 30s from Uzbekistan, were dining at a restaurant in Tokyo when they saw Ms. A and invited her to join them for karaoke. To gain her trust, Ivanov reportedly searched his ring name online, showed her photos from his wrestling days, and told her something along the lines of, ‘I’m a real former sumo wrestler.’
The group went to a karaoke establishment in Shibuya. According to reports, as soon as they entered the private room, Ivanov and his friend pushed Ms. A down and raped her. They also stole 40,000 yen (approx. $250) in cash from her wallet and fled. Ms. A immediately reported the incident to a nearby police box, prompting an investigation. Police identified the suspects through security camera footage and arrested them, although they have not disclosed whether the suspects admit to the charges,” said a reporter from a national newspaper’s social affairs section.
Weighing nearly 130 kg (approx. 287 lbs)
Ivanov’s highest rank during his sumo career was Maegashira 5. His ring name “Amuuru” comes from the Amur River in eastern Russia, his home region. Though now arrested on suspicion of rape, he had an unexpectedly positive reputation during his active years.
“He used to box in Russia, but reportedly took up sumo on the recommendation of his Japanese brother-in-law. At first, he struggled with Japanese food like rice and sashimi. Due to repeated injuries, he bounced between the lower divisions. His stablemaster once considered his retirement, but Amuuru refused to give up, saying he wanted to make his family back in Russia happy. In January 2012, after 57 tournaments from his debut—a slow rise for a foreign wrestler—he was finally promoted to the Juryo division. His strength lay in his pushing and thrusting sumo, taking advantage of his over 190 cm height and nearly 130 kg frame. He was known for his dedication to training and had a good reputation. I believe he married a Russian woman last fall, so many people were shocked by the news of his arrest,” said a sports journalist specializing in sumo.
Former Kanagawa police detective and crime journalist Taihei Ogawa explains:
“If the allegations are true, the men likely invited the woman to karaoke with the intention of sexually assaulting her from the beginning. Since the attack happened right after entering the private room, it wasn’t a spontaneous act fueled by alcohol, but rather a premeditated crime.
No matter how good his reputation was during his wrestling days, using photos from that time to impress and manipulate a woman completely tarnishes his legacy. If he used his overwhelming strength and size as a former sumo wrestler to violate a woman, it’s an extremely malicious act.”
Since retiring after the May 2018 tournament, Ivanov is said to have drifted between jobs.
by OutcomeCalm7697