Taro Akebono, a Hawaii-born sumo wrestler who grew to become the game’s first overseas grand champion and helped to drive a resurgence in the game’s reputation in the 1990s, has died in Tokyo. He was 54.
He died of coronary heart failure in early April whereas receiving care at a Tokyo hospital, based on a press release from his household that was distributed by the United States army in Japan on Thursday.
When he grew to become Japan’s 64th yokozuna, or grand champion sumo wrestler, in 1993, he was the primary foreign-born sumo wrestler to realize the game’s highest title in its 300-year fashionable historical past. He went on to win a complete of 11 grand championships.
Akebono, who was 6-foot-8 and 466 kilos when he was first named yokozuna at 23, towered over his opponents. He was identified for utilizing his height and the attain of his arms to his benefit, conserving his opponents at a distance and shoving them out of the ring.
Akebono’s rivalry with the Japanese brothers Takanohana and Wakanohana, each grand champions, was a serious driver of sumo’s resurgent reputation in the 1990s.
Taro Akebono was born Chad George Ha’aheo Rowan in Waimanalo, Hawaii, in 1969. He moved to Japan in 1988 at the invitation of a fellow Hawaiian wrestler.
In 1992, a yr earlier than he grew to become grand champion, the council that decides which wrestlers are worthy for that honor had denied it to a different Hawaiian, saying no foreigner might possess the dignity befitting the title.
Akebono later stated in interviews that he not often thought-about his nationality in the ring, pondering of himself as a sumo wrestler at first. He grew to become a naturalized Japanese citizen in 1996.
“I wasn’t thinking, ‘I’m an American, I’m going to go out there, plant my flag in the middle of the ring and take on the Japanese,’” he instructed The New York Times in 2013.
He gained acceptance and recognition in the sumo world in half as a result of folks in Japan appreciated his devotion to the game.
“He makes me forget he is a foreigner because of his earnest attitude toward sumo,” Yoshihisa Shimoie, editor of Sumo journal, stated in 1993.
Akebono is survived by his spouse Christine Rowan, daughter Caitlyn, 25, and sons, Cody, 23, and Connor, 20, based on the household.
In 2001, he retired from the game at 31, citing persistent knee issues. He went on to coach youthful wrestlers, and likewise competed in kickboxing, skilled wrestling and combined martial arts.
“I am retiring with a feeling of great gratitude for being given the chance to become a yokozuna and experience something open to only very few people,” he stated at the time of his retirement.
Motoko Rich contributed reporting.
