Akebono

▪ 1994

      In the ancient Japanese sport of sumo, no foreigner had ever been elevated to yokozuna (grand champion) until Hawaiian-born Chadwick Haheo Rowan, known professionally as Akebono, was promoted to that rank in January 1993. Rowan was born near Honolulu on May 8, 1969, and entered college on a basketball scholarship. In less than a year he had dropped out of school because he had arguments with his coach and found his classes boring. Setting aside a natural interest in language and culture, he finally took his father's advice and agreed to meet fellow Hawaiian Jesse Kuhaulua, who had become a sumo stablemaster in Japan. Before retiring in 1984, he was known as Takamiyama and had set a series of virtually unbeatable records as a junior champion. He persuaded Rowan to join his stable.

      During his first six months in Japan, Rowan was so homesick that he cried almost every night. His Japanese was so poor he could not mix easily with his stablemates. During practice, however, Rowan showed amazing strength, but he had difficulty maintaining his balance because of his towering height (204 cm [6 ft 8 in]) and incredible weight (211 kg [466 lb]). With persistence he gradually developed the techniques and skills required for his professional debut as Akebono in March 1988. He breezed through sumo's lower ranks and junior division, setting all-time records along the way. As he worked his way up in the senior division, successes were mixed with failures. In May 1992 Akebono won his first tournament championship, a feat no one before him had ever accomplished in just 30 competitions. In time, Akebono was awarded five Emperor's Cups, four Outstanding Performance prizes, two Fighting Spirit prizes, and 487 special monetary prizes. He ended the season by winning his third consecutive, and sixth over-all, championship in the November tournament. And somewhere along the road that leads to eventual retirement, Akebono hoped to capture the elusive zenski-yusho, a perfect record of 15 victories in a single tournament.

      Fame did not significantly alter Akebono's lifestyle. He continued to like popular and classical music, watch samurai movies, and shy away from crowds whenever possible. He knew, however, that he had to maintain the dignity and decorum expected of a yokozuna. Akebono still expressed pride in being an American, but he expected to reside in Japan when his career came to an end. Meanwhile, especially after the death of his father in July, he took good care of his mother and other family members in Hawaii. As he looked back on the years of rigorous training and the success that followed, Akebono knew he made the right decision. If he had stayed home, he said, he would now probably be "a bum on a beach somewhere in Hawaii."

      (KAY K. TATEISHI)

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