Former sumo grand champion of Hawaiian origin Akebono, who in the 1990s became the first non-Japanese to reach the supreme rank of yokozuna, has died at the age of 54, Japanese media reported Thursday. This 2.03m colossus, whose fierce rivalry with the Japanese champions Takanohana and Wakanohana made the headlines of the sports press and delighted the public, was one of the representatives of the wave of Hawaiian wrestlers who marked sumo until in the early 2000s. He died in early April from heart failure, according to the Kyodo news agency.
Born in Hawaii (United States) in 1969, Chadwick Haheo Rowan was spotted there by another Hawaiian sumo pioneer: Takamiyama, the first non-Japanese to win a sumo tournament, who became his master in this sport. Akebono took his first steps in Japan in 1988 on the dohyo, the clay podium where the fights take place, at the same time as the two brothers Takanohana and Wakanohana, from a long line of sumo wrestlers.
Climbing the rankings at high speed, helped by his size (he weighed 233 kg at the peak of his career) and the powerful thrusts of his long arms, Akebono became in 1993 the first yokozuna of foreign origin in the history of sumo. . He won eleven tournaments in total, and was chosen to perform a sumo demonstration at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, in 1998. In July 2000, he also became the first to receive the “Jacques Chirac Cup”nickname of the trophy awarded from this date to the winners of tournaments in the name of Franco-Japanese friendship, and the passion of the former French president for sumo and Japan in general.
A sporting retirement in 2001
After his retirement from sports in 2001, Akebono quickly turned to the more lucrative martial arts, notably kickboxing and wrestling. Hospitalized for heart disease in 2017, he suffered serious motor aftereffects, also suffering from memory loss. “I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Akebono, a giant of the sumo world, a proud Hawaiian and a bridge between the United States and Japan”reacted on X the American ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel. “Throughout his 35 years in Japan, Akebono strengthened the cultural ties between the United States and his adopted homeland by uniting us all through sport.”he added.
