Vision, dedication made Miho ‘Mr. Sumo in Hawaii’

Sumotori Jesse Kuhaulua used to delight in wrapping a bearish arm around Honolulu attorney Katsugo "Kats" Miho, introducing him as his "father" and then watching people’s reaction in Japan.

It was a sight, to be sure, the hulking, mutton-chopped 6-foot, 3-inch, 350-pound sumo star and the 5-foot-6, 160-pound former judge and legislator.

But for all of Kuhaulua’s playfulness, there was a heartfelt sentiment behind the statement even if there was no biological tie. "He was like a father to me," Kuhaulua recalls. "He will always be very close to me."

Miho, who died Sept. 11 at age 89 and will be honored in services Thursday at Hosoi Mortuary, not only helped steer Kuhaulua’s career but was instrumental in building the remarkable ties between Japan’s national sport and Hawaii.

That more than two dozen Hawaii prospects made their way into professional sumo — Chad (Akebono) Rowan and Fiamalu (Musashimaru) Penitani rising to the exalted rank of yokozuna — was testament to the foundation painstakingly laid and nurtured by Miho.

Officially, Miho headed the sumo committee of the 442nd Veterans Club that promoted nine goodwill sumo tournaments in Hawaii. Unofficially, it was the shared vision of Miho and former yokozuna Maedayama a half-century ago that built enduring ties.

Miho, a humble man, worked quietly but energetically behind the scenes. But people in the sport knew him by deed and reputation. Former yokozuna Chiyonofuji called him "Mr. Sumo In Hawaii." The emperor of Japan awarded him the Japan Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays, for international relations.

Maedayama, the first yokozuna of the post-World War II era, and Miho saw sumo as a way to strengthen ties between Japan and Hawaii when few outside the Japanese community knew the sport existed. It was Maedayama who recruited Kuhaulua to Japan in 1964.

"Kats encouraged me to go to Japan and looked after me after I got there," Kuhaulua said. "We were both from Maui and it was because of his help and advice that I was able to do some of the things I did."

Miho came by his interest in sumo from his father, who helped organize the July 4 state amateur tournaments that were popular in pre-World War II years. In the early 1960s, he pressed the 442nd Veterans Club, which had sponsored high school baseball exchanges since the 1950s, to underwrite tournaments featuring Japan’s top pro sumotori.

It was a gutsy call and took considerable salesmanship since the Japan Sumo Kyokai, the ruling body of the sport, wanted financial guarantees up front because nobody knew if there would even be an audience. But promoter Ralph Yempuku, Miho and the 442nd brought sumo to the old Civic Auditorium and made a success of it, eventually moving on to the Blaisdell Center.

As Kuhaulua’s trailblazing career flourished, sumo became a local TV and radio staple, and a new generation of sumo prospects entered the sport.

When Kuhaulua retired from the sport in 1985, one of the people he chose to take an honored, ritual snip of his top knot atop the ring before a crowd of 10,000 and a national TV audience at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan was Miho.

Visitation begins at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Hosoi and the services will commence at 5 p.m.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.