Tabloid-style weekly magazine Shukan Gendai began its defense against a defamation suit filed by the Japan Sumo Association over match-fixing allegations as the first trial hearing got under way at the Tokyo district court on Thursday. Citing tape-recorded evidence, Shukan Gendai backed up its claims in an article published earlier this year that JSA head Kitanoumi played a role in rigging a bout between grand champion Asashoryu and then ozeki Hakuho last summer, and insists it was reporting the news in an objective manner, according to a JSA lawyer.
