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Looking back at the career of Hawaii-born sumo champion Akebono

Waimanalo-born Chad Rowan, who made sumo history as Akebono by becoming the first foreigner to achieve the rank of yokozuna, or grand champion, in Japan’s national sport, has died after a long illness. He was 54.

Craig T. Kojima

By Associated Press and Craig T. Kojima

April 10, 2024

Hawaii Photos

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Yokozuna (grand champion) Akebono admires the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament trophy after winning his first grand tournament on July 18, 1993, in Nagoya, Japan, since his promotion in January to sumo's highest rank.
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Wearing a colorful embroidered apron and fresh Yokozuna, a sacred rope worn only by grand champions, Chad Rowan practices a ring-entry ceremony at his stable in downtown Tokyo following his formal promotion to the top rank in Japan's centuries-old sport. Watching Rowan, known here under his Japanese ring name of Akebono, is his fellow Hawaiian junior champion Salevaa Atisanoe, left, better known as Konishiki, on Jan. 28, 1993.
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Chad Rowan, center in rear, is about to be lifted by junior stablemates outside his downtown Tokyo stable in an undated photo. From left front is Takaru of Hawaii, Takamiwaka and Ozora, also of Hawaii.
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Yokozuna (grand champion) Akebono, right, thrusts sekiwake (junior champion) Wakanohana out of the ring to win a playoff in the 15-day Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament in Nagoya, central Japan, on July 18, 1993.
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Konishiki, or Salevaa Fuauli Atisanoe, right, pushes fellow Hawaiian Akebono, or Chad Rowan, out of the ring during their match on Jan. 13, 199y. Konishiki won the second day match in a 15-day New Year Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo.
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Akebono displays a sheet of the new ranking list for the New Year Sumo Tournament in Tokyo on Dec. 22, 1992. For the first time in history, no Japanese holds the second-highest rank of ozeki in the nation's traditional sport. Akebono and fellow Hawaiian Konishiki are the only ozekis in the ranking.
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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Akebono answers questions during a press conference on March 31, 1993.
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Sumo champion Akebono, right, sends fellow Hawaiian Konishiki to the ground with an arm throw during the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo on Jan. 23, 1993.
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Attended by lower-ranked sumo wrestlers, newly promoted grand champion Chad Rowan, center, performs the "unryu" style ring-entering ceremony at the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo on Jan. 28, 1993. The 23-year-old Hawaiian, known in Japan as Akebono, became the first foreign grand champion in the history of Japan's ancient national sport.
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Sumo junior champion Akebono, or Chad Rowan, left, charges his opponent Kyokudozen with powerful hand thrusts at the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo on May 19, 1992. Akebono scored his ninth victory against one loss to remain as a solo leader of the 15-day tourney.
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Chad Rowan, or Akebono, holds two giant lobsters presented to him from his fans at his stable in Tokyo on Jan. 26, 1993. Lobsters are commonly used in Japan to celebrate festive occasions.
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Grand champion Chad Rowan, or Akebono, of Hawaii performs a ring entry ritual during a special tournament dedicated at Yasukuni Shinto Shrine in Tokyo on April 12, 1993.
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Ozeki (champion) Akebono holds his trophy after he won his second championship in Fukuoka, Japan, on Nov. 22, 1992. The 23-year-old Akebono from Hawaii, who won his first tournament in May, finished with a 14-1 record by throwing fellow American Musashimaru out of the ring in the final bout.
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Yokozuna Akebono, left, is about to force ozeki Konishiki out of the ring on Nov. 19, 1993, the 13th day of the 15-day Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament in Fukuoka, Japan.
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Sumo champion Akebono tries to hold tears as he was being interviewed in a dressing room after being defeated by lower-ranking opponent Tachinowaka in the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo on Jan. 20, 1993.
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Ozeki (champion) Konishiki, left, forces lower-ranked Akebono out of the ring in a Hawaiian face-off on the seventh day of the 15-day Grand Sumo Tournament in Nagoya, central Japan. Konishiki notched his sixth victory on July 13, 1991.
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Newly promoted sumo grand champion Chad Rowan performs the "unryu" style ring-entering ceremony at the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo on Jan. 28, 1993.
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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Sumo wrestler Akebono, or Chad Rowan, smiles on Feb. 14, 1995.
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Sumo wrestling champion Akebono, right, speaks to the news media while on crutches as he is accompanied by his doctor, Michael Schreiber, after being released from Century City Hospital and Medical Center in Los Angeles on June 2, 1994. Akebono underwent successful knee surgery on June 1.
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Chad Rowan, left, Japan's first non-Japanese grand champion, appears to have a stranglehold on wrestler Kyokudozan during an exhibition tournament at the Hong Kong Coliseum in February 1993.
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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Sumo wrestler Akebono, or Chad Rowan, flashes one of many smiles during a press conference on March 31, 1993.
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New ozeki or champion Akebono, left, talks with his stable master Azumazeki during workout at Azumazeki Stable in Inazawa in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, on July 2, 1992.
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American sekiwake (junior champion) Akebono of Hawaii, left, thrusts No. 5 Maegashira (senior wrestler) Sakahoko out of the ring during the opening day of the 15-day Grand Summer Sumo Tournament in Tokyo on May 12, 1991.
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Ozeki (champion) Akebono, right, pushes down his fellow American sekiwake (junior champion) Musashimaru on his way to win the Grand Sumo Tournament in Fukuoka, Japan, on Nov. 22, 1992. Akebono, or Chad Rowan, finished with a 14-1 record and captured his second tournament victory while Musashimaru, or Fiamalu Penitani, wound up at 9-6. Both are from Hawaii.
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Akebono waves to fans during a triumphant return parade in Fukuoka, Japan, after winning the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament on Nov. 22, 1992.
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Ozeki (champion) Akebono, left, receives the victory cup from Japan Sumo Association President Dewanoumi after winning the Grand Sumo Tournament with a 14-1 record in Fukuoka, Japan, on Nov. 22, 1992. This was the second tournament victory for Hawaii-born Akebono, or Chad Rowan.

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