A street-fighting social media star who has been drawing crowds in Melbourne’s CBD found himself locked in a wrestle with the city’s hefty bureaucracy.
The Japanese ex-sumo known as Gocchanko – real name Kodai Ota, whose schtick is wrestling passersby on the street – has been performing his busking feats before growing crowds.
Gocchanko, an ex-sumo wrestler who now wrestles passersby for busking money. Here he lifts Monty Callan.Credit: Justin McManus
“Things got too exciting and too many people gathered,” he said of the show he put on outside the State Library of Victoria at the start of this month.
It’s not the first time he’s grappled with authorities since arriving in Melbourne in mid-February.
“[The first weekend] the police came and told me to stop busking on the street in about 20 minutes, which I did,” he said.
“Then on the second weekend things got even more exciting. At that point, a person from [the City of] Melbourne council came along with the police and said they were in charge of busking and told me to move to a bigger place because there were too many people.”
Gocchanko said he then got an email from the City of Melbourne, telling him to stop busking because his act was dangerous.
“They said we should discuss changing the content of the busking so it can continue, but I still want to do sumo, so I’ll go somewhere else,” he said.
The City of Melbourne confirmed it cancelled Gocchanko’s busking permit “due to non-compliance with the relevant busking permit conditions”.
Gocchanko’s sumo journey began when he was six years old, with his father’s support, and he turned pro at 22 after graduating from university. He retired from pro sumo at 25.
Gocchanko began busking by singing in his outfit, before he found a market wrestling strangers.Credit: Justin McManus
He began busking by singing while in his sumo outfit, wearing his mawashi – a traditional sumo loincloth – and using it as percussion while singing and rapping.
“It was a very popular performance, and I felt I could make a living from busking donations,” he said.
“After that I started doing sumo fights in the street … I found I enjoyed it more than singing, and I was able to continue doing it without getting bored.
“Once I started putting on my sumo belt and stood on the street and put up a sign saying, ‘Anyone can try out sumo’, the crowd immediately got excited.”
Gocchanko, now 32, said he had given thousands of people around the world their first direct experience with Japan’s national sport.
He’s back for his second stint in Melbourne, which he says is a special place for him. During his first time here in 2020, he was able to sustain himself busking on the city’s street for two months.
This time around, he’s attracted even more excitement.
“Maybe because there are many university and working holiday students here, and young men?” he said. “And [there’s a big] art culture.”
Monty Callan is one of the many Melburnians to have wrestled Gocchanko, and described him as a “patient teacher”.
“Then all of a sudden we started the match and it was over before I knew it,” Callan said. “At first he was gentle and I thought I had a chance – but before I knew it both my feet were off the ground.
“That was something I’ll tell my grandkids about.”
A condition of obtaining a busking permit in the City of Melbourne is that the performer doesn’t obstruct pedestrian flow or allow their audience to.
This has certainly been the case for Gocchanko’s shows, which prompted another relocation this weekend, to Flagstaff Gardens.
And he’s got some handy advice for anyone who wants to take him on.
“It’s important to have respect,” he said. “But the most important thing is to have fun and do it safely. You have to be careful not to push yourself, and have a kind heart.”
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