One day after the January banzuke release, 32 Dewanoumi ichimon (clan) wrestlers gathered at a Chinese restaurant named Shunjuen, located in Tokyo's Oimachi district.

The Association was faced with an unprecedented crisis never before seen in the history of professional sumo and responded quickly to the group's demands, but their responses were considered to be half-hearted and lacking in substance, and eventually, the negotiations collapsed.

[1]Some theories attribute the launch of the strike due to Tenryū's bitterness from being passed over for ōzeki promotion in favor of his rival.

Tenryū did not return to the Japan Sumo Association and worked for a time as secretary and assistant to a Cabinet Minister of then Japanese-occupied Manchuria.

[2] He was invited as an advisor by the Japan Sumo Association and was given a special certificate by the Yoshida family for his sumo-related work in Manchuria.