Former Grand Champion Futabayama, idol of millions of ardent sumo fans throughout the country, lately has been acting extremely queerly, leading his close associates to entertain serious anxiety over his mental and spiritual state of mind.
    Asahi's "Blue Pencil" columnist said that ever since Futabayama's retirement from the ring last year following an unprecedented record of victories the former Grand Champion has become a fanatical devotee of "Jiko-sama", sun goddess diety.
    A few days ago, Futaba was reported to have appeared suddenly in Tokyo from Kanazawa, where he has been closely attached to a Jiko-sama temple there, and to have startled his close friends with strange mystical prophecies.
    Announcing himself as an emissary of Jiko-sama, Futaba said that he had rushed to Tokyo on a mission to save humanity. To astonished associates, he blurted out that the time for materialization of the goddess' divine mission of reforming the souls of humanity and the heavenly and earthly order had already arrived.
    The former Grand Champion, who since accepting the worship of the sun goddess diety has assumed the name of Motohiro Futaba, furthermore, declared that the spirit of Lenin recently had entered into his being.
    When his friends refused to believe his prophecies, Futaba is reported to have angrily declared that those who could not understand him were "hopeless creatures".
    After hurriedly spreading his gospel and warning, Futaba rushed back again to Kanazawa to continue his communion with his saint, the columnist said.