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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

The two-week Asian Games offer a glimpse at a changing Mongolia, a vast nation sandwiched between China and Russia with only 3.3 million people. And there's also a bronze medal in men’s 3x3 basketball, where Mongolia edged South Korea 21-20. Mongolia has just over 400 athletes at the Asian Games, less than half the size of large delegations from China, Japan or South Korea. She called herself “a novice” breakdancer but has practiced with at least one member of the Mongolian team, Gan-Ulzii Ganbalt. “My generation is trying to change the way Mongolia is seen," she said.

Persons: —, Genghis Khan, “, breakdancing, Myagmarjav, ”, Mongolia’s, Chinzong Baatarsukh, there's, Tugstur Dashzevge, esports, “ There’s, Amarasana Chimeddorj, Majigsuren Organizations: breakdancing, Asian Games, Associated Press, Olympics, Soviet Union, “, Monaco, Mongolian Locations: HANGZHOU, China, Mongolia, Russia, America, Soviet, Ulaanbaatar, Asia, South Korea, Japan, Niger, Mongolian, Gan

[1/7] Nadine, a 43-year-old tourist from the U.S., wearing a sumo wrestler costume, tries to spar against former sumo wrestler Towanoyama on the sumo ring before tourists from abroad, at Yokozuna Tonkatsu Dosukoi Tanaka in Tokyo, Japan June 30, 2023. Beneath its vaulted roof is a sumo ring and 14 tables where patrons pay 11,000 yen ($76) to eat breaded pork cutlets before watching - and joining - the action. Another former sumo wrestler, Yasuhiro Tanaka, started the restaurant after founding a company to give ex-wrestlers a second career as actors in commercials and movies. "But no, it was really, really amazing." "As sumo wrestlers, we couldn't really play around at all," said Tanaka, 47, who admitted he wasn't a particularly strong competitor.

Persons: Nadine, Towanoyama, Yokozuna Tonkatsu Dosukoi Tanaka, Issei Kato, Ohtori, Yasuhiro Tanaka, Jose Aguillar, Jumbo, Aguillar, Fumio Kishida, Tanaka, Rocky Swift, Gerry Doyle Organizations: REUTERS, Netflix, Thomson Locations: U.S, Tokyo, Japan, TOKYO, Koto, Monterrey, Mexico

☆ 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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