|
|
Article: At sumo's summit, an American It's official: Highest rank in Japan's sacred sport is conferred on a foreigner
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- January 28, 1993
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1993 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
|
TOKYO -- As Japanese watched on with emotions ranging from
astonishment to horror, Chad Rowan -- a towering, 23-year-old
American known here by his fighting name, Akebono -- yesterday became
the first foreigner ever to be elevated to the sumo wrestling rank of
"Yokozuna," or grand champion.
The ceremony was brief: Akebono, 6 feet, 8 inches tall, weighing
in at 466 pounds, knelt on the red carpet spread across the rice
straw tatami mat in the communal sumo "stable" where he has lived and
trained with fellow wrestlers since 1988. He was dressed in black
kimono with his oiled hair done up in a gingko-leaf topknot in the
style of feudal Japan.
A hundred press cameras flashed, the white light ...