In addition, at that time, the Sumo Association's accounting was unclear, and the wrestlers had no idea how much income they received or how much money they spent on expenses.

[3] On January 6, 1932, the day after the banzuke was announced, several wrestlers of the Dewanoumi stable — 20 makuuchi, 11 jūryō and one makushita —[5] went out to be treated to Chinese cuisine restaurant Shunjuen in Shinagawa, Tokyo, at the demand of sekiwake Tenryū who invited them.

[4] The JSA, concerned about the worsening situation, sent stablemasters Fujishima (former Tsunenohana) and Kasugano (former Tochigiyama) to the restaurant to urge Tenryū and Ōnosato, the main leaders of the strike, to change their minds.

[7] When news spread that the mediation was unsuccessful, Kagamiiwa and ten non-Dewanoumi stable wrestlers (including Minanogawa), who had been sitting on the sidelines until then, joined in.

[9] Several stablemasters and coaches, including Ryōgoku Kajinosuke [ja] (Dewanoumi), Asashio Tarō II (Takasago) and former gyōji Kimura Soshiro (Irumagawa) resigned in the form of taking responsibility for their apprentices actions and the failure of the negotiations.

The country was in the midst of an economic boom and, in the world of sumo, Futabayama began a 69-match winning streak on the seventh day of the January tournament in 1936.

Tenryū has a reputation as an opportunist and a revolutionary[7] in the sumo world, sometimes being referred to as a fūunji (風雲児), meaning 'an adventurer who takes advantage of troubled times'.

[3] Questionable theories say Tenryū initiated the Shunjuen protest due to his bitterness from being passed over for ōzeki promotion in favor of his rival Musashiyama.

[12] In 1957, an investigation by the National Diet (Committee on Education) into ticket distribution challenged the power of the sumo teahouses system and revealed information about nepotism and arrangements between elders and managers.

Former Shunjuen leader Tenryū appeared as a witness before the committee on the issue of the Sumo Association's overly conservative nature, where he had the opportunity to publicly repeat his claims of the past.

[2] After these events, the wrestlers of the first two divisions belonged for a time to a quasi-syndicate called the Rikishi Kai (力士会), presided over by a yokozuna.

In his memoirs, former sekiwake Takamiyama explained that in the rikishi kai meetings, the sekitori sometimes joked about a collective strike, but the action was hardly, if ever, considered.

In January 2019, the Association gave a salary raise to its employees thanks to the success of Kisenosato, the first Japanese-born yokozuna in 19 years, which boosted the popularity of sumo.