What Sumo Can Teach Us About Going Gracefully

Kitanoumi Toshimitsu is a big man. As Japan's greatest sumo wrestler in the 1970s, he tipped the scales at over 26st. His strength and durability were legendary. In retirement he was the obvious choice to be chairman of the Japan Sumo Association, a post he relinquished on Monday following a series of drug scandals in a sport that puts a premium on honor, ritual and asceticism.

Kitanoumi's resignation speech showed another aspect of his largeness. "I bear the responsibility," he announced. "I am offering my resignation because I have troubled the Sumo Association and its fans. I must reflect deeply by myself." One hopes he didn't then rush off and commit seppuku, the traditional suicide by disembowelment practiced by samurai to avoid falling into enemy hands. That would be taking self-abasement too far, but Kitanoumi's honesty surely has lessons for a culture - ours to be precise - in which resignations are usually exercises in self-justification.

Take that other biggish man, Brian Barwick, who announced recently that he was quitting as chief executive of the Football Association. "I have always endeavored to do my job with passion, decency and integrity," said Barwick, "and I believe I am leaving a strong legacy." No mention of Steve McClaren, his wretched brolly, or England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008. As for the legacy, let's just say Andorra.

When a slightly smaller man, David Mellor, resigned as heritage secretary in 1992 following exposure of his affair with the actress Antonia de Sancha, he admitted to parliament that he "was the author of my own misfortune", but then rapidly moved on to the main thrust of his speech - an attack on the press.

Reflecting deeply does not come easily to politicians. They are happy to spend more time with their families; less so with their consciences. When Giles Chichester was forced to resign as leader of the Tory MEPs over sleaze allegations, he attempted to laugh it off as a "whoops-a-daisy"; Wendy Alexander blamed her resignation as Scottish labor leader on "a breach of natural justice" by the Scottish parliament's standards committee; and Tony Blair's farewell combined self-justification - "hand on heart, I did what I thought was right" - with vacuity - "This is the greatest nation on earth." Maybe seppuku isn't such a bad idea after all.