TOKYO -- American sumo wrestler Akebono made sports history Wednesday by becoming the first foreigner to be promoted to the highest and most-coveted rank of yokozuna -- grand champion -- in Japan's ancient national sport.
The Japan Sumo Association executive board and board made Akebono, whose real name is Chad Rowan, the 64th yokozuna or grand champion, shattering the Japanese stranglehold on the top echelon.
In Tokyo, Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa's chief spokesman Yohei Kono said the promotion 'is a very wonderful event.'
'Without question, the strong performances of Akebono have drawn high appreciation from sumo fans and sports lovers,' Kono said.
The elevation from ozeki (champion) was virtually assured when the 12-member Yokozuna Promotion Council, an advisory body to the sumo association, unanimously recommended the promotion Monday after years of acrimonious debate over the presence of non-Japanese in sumo.
'We now have a pillar for other wrestlers to follow,' said board chairman Dewanoumi. 'I hope Akebono will have dignity even in practice bouts.'
Upon approving the promotion, the association dispatched two officials to Azumazeki Stable, where Akebono trains. Clad in formal attire, Akebono said he accepted the promotion 'with humility.' 'I am very happy,' Akebono said. 'I was nervous about forgetting the word for greeting the officials.
'I would like to overcome pressure and do my best to meet expectations,' he added.
Stable master Azumazeki, the Hawaii-born Jesse Kuhaulua who discovered Akebono, said the promotion 'is my dream come true, but I didn't expect it.'
With his proud parents, Randy and Janice Rowan watching, the 23-year- old Akebono humbly accepted the ultimate sumo honor.
Akebono, a 6-foot-9 former high school basketball player from Hawaii, won the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament Sunday with a 13-2 record, his second tourney victory in a row and third out of the last five.
Association officials said the 466-pound Akebono fulfilled the rule that calls for an ozeki to be promoted to yokozuna after winning two consecutive tournaments or attaining an equivalent record. Akebono captured the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament last November with a 14-1 mark and went on to claim the New Year contest.
Akebono set the sumo record for the quickest ascent to yokozuna, with 30 tournaments since his debut in 1988.
'I never dreamed he would become yokozuna at such a young age,' said Akebono's mother, 46-year-old Janice.
Akebono is one of three wrestlers from Hawaii now among the centuries-old sports top luminaries. In the past, purists maintained a foreign grand champion would undermine the essential Japanese spirit of sumo.
Some council members previously opposed the promotion of any non- Japanese to yokozuna. But Education Minister Mayumi Moriyama called the move sportsmanlike and forward-looking.
'There may be some people who take exception, but it is a natural development as sumo changes in response to the times,' she said.
During the latest tournament, Konishiki, the second hailing from Hawaii, relied on his 571-pound bulk to secure ozeki rank. Musashimaru, 10-5, also from Hawaii, demonstrated the same aggressive tactics, underscoring the dominance of the American trio.
Television commentators welcomed Akebono's promotion along with every Japanese newspaper. The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's largest newspaper, cited his 'dignity' and 'competence.'
'There can be no room for objecting to the promotion of Akebono,' the paper said in an editorial.
Sumo is one of the most rigidly defined and hierarchical communities left in Japan. Wrestlers wear topknots and loincloths and perform a series of rituals before each match. The elaborate ceremony for promotion to yokozuna takes three hours.
The issue of a foreign grand champion first came to the fore last March, when Konishiki won his third tournament. Konishiki, whose real name is Salevaa Atisanoe, found himself at the center of a media storm after he said racism was the reason he had been denied promotion.
Sumo officials noted his victories were not successive, and Konishiki was not promoted.
