Sumo wrestler Wakakirin pleads guilty over Roppongi cannabis arrest
Police arrested second-division sumo wrestler Wakakirin and a musician at a Tokyo CD shop office on 30 January 2009, finding 16 grams of marijuana. The Japan Sumo Association dismissed him three days later, and he pleaded guilty in a Yokohama court in April.
Kanagawa police arrested second-division sumo wrestler Wakakirin, 25, together with
30-year-old musician Tsutomu Hirano, at the office of a CD shop in Tokyo’s Roppongi
district on 30 January 2009.[1][2]Officers found 16 grams of marijuana there while
investigating a separate drug case, and sent both men to prosecutors two days
later.[2]Wakakirin, whose real name is Shinichi Suzukawa, admitted to police that
he had smoked marijuana.[1]He first said he had smoked it for some time, then
changed his account to having smoked only twice, both times at that shop; police
noted he had twice tested positive in the association’s urine tests the previous
September.[2]
Dismissal and guilty plea
On 2 February the Japan Sumo Association dismissed Wakakirin, the first Japanese
wrestler arrested in a cannabis case, stopping short of the harsher penalty of
expulsion.[1][3]In April 2009 he pleaded guilty to cannabis possession in the
Yokohama court.[4]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
A 43-year-old Turkish man was arrested in Gifu on suspicion of using cannabis after a fire in his apartment building sent 12 residents to hospital with minor injuries. Police found cannabis components in his urine during the fire investigation and are examining any link between the drug use and the blaze.
The Maebashi District Public Prosecutors Office indicted a 33-year-old Vietnamese man on 7 November 2026 for growing 207 cannabis plants at his Ashikaga home between about 16 March and 1 July and possessing about 2,900 grams of dried cannabis for profit. He was also accused of remaining in Japan illegally after his residence status was revoked.
Arrested 1Charged 1Plants destroyed 207Cannabis 2.9 kg
Two visitors arrested with about 2.9 grams of dried cannabis in Goto City in August were additionally referred to prosecutors by 2 November 2026. Police cite five counts in total covering further cannabis and cocaine possession and use for personal smoking.
Nagoya Customs denounced a 21-year-old Vietnamese man and a 16-year-old boy living in Iwata, Shizuoka, on 29 September 2026 over the import of about 11.4 kg of THC liquid from Vietnam by international post. Police had arrested the pair on 14 September as suspected ringleaders; customs says more than 20 kg of liquid cannabis was seized in the case.
