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☆ Akebono: Pioneering US-born sumo wrestling champion dies aged 54
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Andrew Mcnicol | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Tokyo CNN —Pioneering US-born former sumo wrestling champion Akebono has died, his family announced in a statement Thursday. Widely considered to have blazed a trail for other foreign sumo wrestlers, the 54-year-old died of heart failure at a hospital in Japan. Born Chad George Ha’aheo Rowan in Hawaii, Akebono became the first non-Japanese yokozuna – a sumo grand champion, the highest rank in the sport. According to the Japan Sumo Association, Akebono was rushed to hospital after a wrestling match in 2017 and had been unwell ever since. I was talking with him about meeting under a tree in Hawaii with all our fellow sumo wrestlers when we grew older.

Persons: Akebono, Chad George Ha’aheo Rowan, –, Akebono Taro, “, Akebono “, Rahm Emanuel, Joe Biden, Fumio Kishida, Masaru Hanada, ” Hanada, I’m, ” Organizations: Tokyo CNN —, Yokozuna, Japan Sumo Association, Twitter, Japanese Olympic Committee, Nagano, Japan’s Locations: Japan, Hawaii, Tokyo, United States, ”, Washington, I’ll

Taro Akebono, a Hawaii-born sumo wrestler who became the sport’s first foreign grand champion and helped to fuel a resurgence in the sport’s popularity in the 1990s, has died in Tokyo. When he became Japan’s 64th yokozuna, or grand champion sumo wrestler, in 1993, he was the first foreign-born wrestler to achieve the sport’s highest title in its 300-year modern history. He went on to win a total of 11 grand championships, and his success set the stage for an era during which foreign-born wrestlers dominated the top levels of Japan’s national sport. Akebono, who was 6-foot-8 and 466 pounds when he was first named yokozuna at 23, towered over his Japanese opponents. Painfully shy outside the dohyo, as the sumo ring is known, he was known for using his height and reach to keep opponents at a distance.

Persons: Taro Akebono Organizations: United States Locations: Hawaii, Tokyo, Japan

Taro Akebono, a Hawaii-born sumo wrestler who became the sport’s first foreign grand champion, has died. He died of heart failure in early April while receiving care at a hospital in Tokyo, according to a statement from his family that was distributed by the United States Forces in Japan. Born Chad George Ha’aheo Rowan in Hawaii, Akebono became Japan’s 64th yokozuna, or grand champion sumo wrestler, in 1993, the first foreign-born sumo wrestler to win the sport’s highest title. He went on to win a total of 11 grand championships. He is survived by his wife, a daughter and two sons, according to the U.S.

Persons: Taro Akebono, Chad George Ha’aheo Rowan, Akebono, Motoko Rich Organizations: United States Forces, U.S . Forces Locations: Hawaii, Tokyo, Japan

☆ China concerns bring new unity to once-turbulent US-Japan-Philippines relationship ahead of major White House summit
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Both the Philippines and Japan are US defense treaty allies, and the US military retains permanent bases in Japan and has base rights in the Philippines. That threat is manifested in three key areas – Taiwan, the South China Sea and the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, analysts say. Here's why 03:27 - Source: CNNJapan and Philippines both have separate territorial disputes with China, in the former’s case the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea and in the latter’s areas of the South China Sea. Meanwhile, China claims the shoal, which is in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, as its sovereign territory, as it does much of the South China Sea, in defiance of an international arbitration ruling. “Alliance building is the most practical way to deal with China’s moves” in the South China Sea, he said.

Persons: ”, James D.J, Brown, Joe Biden, Fumio Kishida, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Xi Jinping, Biden, Micah Jeiel Perez, Marcos, Kishida, ” Marcos, Shinzo Abe, Ricardo Jose, ” Jose, Thomas, CNN Marcos, Shoal, China –, Masaharu Homma, –, Perez, Rodrigo Duterte, Marcos Jr’s, Duterte, Thomas Shoal, Veejay Villafranca, Robert Ward, BRP Antonio Luna, you’ve, Donald, Trump, ” Brown, “, Ward Organizations: South Korea CNN, White, Temple University, Japanese, Taiwan –, Communist Party, Taiwan Relations, University of, Nikkei Asia, University of the, “, CNN, East China, Philippine, China Coast Guard, US, US State Department, Gen, “ Alliance, Clark Air Base, Naval, Bloomberg, Getty, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Cooperative, Philippine Navy, BRP, Royal Australian Navy, Self, Defense Forces, JS Akebono, US Navy, USS, Multilateral Maritime Cooperative, Armed Forces, AP Analysts Locations: Seoul, South Korea, United States, Japan, Philippines, China, Tokyo, Philippine, Taiwan, Washington, South, Senkaku, East China, University of the Philippines, CNN Japan, East, South China, Palawan, China – Washington, Beijing, Spain, Spanish, Imperial Japan, New Orleans, Bataan, Subic, Manila, US, Australia, India, Vietnam, Warramunga, IISS

☆ Tokyo Journal; Sumo Bows and Opens Sacred Door to U.S. Star
▼ + stars: | 1993-01-26 | by ( Andrew Pollack | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Legend has it that 3,000 years ago, two gods took their fight for control of the Japanese islands to the sumo ring. With such a heritage, it is no wonder that sumo wrestling has remained the quintessential Japanese sport. Today, a towering 23-year-old American shattered an almost sacred barrier in a sport that is as much ritual as wrestling. Chad Rowan, known professionally as Akebono, was recommended for elevation to the sumo's exalted rank of yokozuna, or grand champion. Konishiki's complaints that racism had been a factor provoked an embarrassing controversy that reinforced Japan's image abroad as a closed society.

Persons: Chad Rowan

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