Hawaiian-born sumo wrestler Akebono is lifeless at 54
Hawaiian-born Akebono was the primary foreigner to win the very best rating in Japan’s nationwide sport, sumo wrestling. He died in Tokyo this month, age 54.
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Sumo wrestling followers are mourning a former native of Hawaii who was the primary foreigner to achieve the very best rating in Japan’s nationwide sport. Akebono died of coronary heart failure in a Tokyo hospital this month on the age of 54, and NPR’s Anthony Kuhn has this remembrance.
ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE: The centuries-old roots of sumo are intertwined with fable and the rituals of Japan’s native Shinto faith. No foreigner had ever held the exalted rank of yokozuna, or grand champion, till 1993, when Taro Akebono received it. In a 2008 interview, Akebono defined to me that you do not attain the rank of yokozuna. It is the rank that picks you, and it’s essential to try to be worthy of it.
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TARO AKEBONO: Does that imply, when you make the rank of yokozuna, that be – you grow to be a god? No, that is not the case. You attempt to polish your self as a lot as potential to grow to be nearer to that rank of yokozuna.
KUHN: Akebono was born Chad George Ha’aheo Rowan in Waimanalo, Hawaii. He turned a naturalized citizen of Japan in 1996 and took his Japanese identify. Within the ring, he stood 6’8″ with a preventing weight of over 500 kilos. However Akebono stated changing into a yokozuna was not nearly what number of matches he received or misplaced.
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AKEBONO: That is not what it is purported to be. It is purported to be the way you conduct your self in public. It is the way you – how do individuals understand you? How does the general public have a look at you?
KUHN: Yokozunas are the general public face of sumo wrestling, and Akebono stated public expectations weighed closely on him.
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AKEBONO: The toughest half for me was I might have all these individuals telling me what a yokozuna was purported to be. Everyone you speak to has their very own model, their very own picture, of what a yokozuna is meant to be.
KUHN: Some overseas sumo wrestlers who got here earlier than Akebono claimed that some Japanese couldn’t settle for a foreigner taking their nationwide sport’s highest rating. However veteran sports activities journalist Nobuya Kobayashi says Akebono confronted no such resistance, successful followers over along with his diligent coaching in sumo and Japanese language.
NOBUYA KOBAYASHI: (Talking Japanese).
KUHN: “Akebono’s perspective within the ring was actually like a Japanese sumo wrestler,” he says. “I believe that made individuals love him.”
Akebono held the title of yokozuna for eight years earlier than retiring in 2001 at age 31. He later went into combined martial arts and professional wrestling however was by no means capable of replicate the success he achieved in sumo.
Anthony Kuhn, NPR Information.
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