Sumo Connection Hawaii

["Bob Reimer" <Bob Reimer@nic.wat.hookup.net>]

Last weekend I had the good fortune to visit Hawaii on my way home 
from Fiji.  We discovered that the Sumo Connection was an easy walk 
from our hotel at the Diamond Head end of Waikiki.  When we arrived 
my wife immediately recognized Mrs. Rowan from pictures in the 
Japanese press (my wife teaches English in Japan).  It would have 
been hard to mistake Mrs. Rowan though since Chad (Akebono) resembles 
her facial, and he comes by his size honestly.  

We had a nice chat with her for quite a while and she gave us the 
inside scoop on a number of items.

-At this point Chad isn't sure what he's going to do after Sumo.  He 
is preparing to stay in the sport to keep his options open, but at 
this moment views Sumo as a job.  

-Apparently he was interested in a very nice young lady in Japan, but 
she is half Korean, so the Sumo Kyokai wasn't happy about that.

-Generally at least one member of his family is with him in Japan for 
bashos.  His brother went over for Nagoya and his aunt has been to 
many basho's.  Mrs. Rowan has gone about once a year, but isn't sure 
if she'll go this year.  Given her size it must be difficult to 
travel.

-The Sumo Kyokia won't allow Mrs. Rowan to use Akebono's likeness at 
the Sumo Connection.  Apparently they can't really do anything to 
her, but they could make Chad's life more difficult, so she doesn't 
have any Sumo photos or tegata (sp? handprints) for sale.

-If you see Akebono about in Japan, don't call him that, he'll ignore 
you.  If you call "Chad" he'll likely stop for a chat.  

Mrs. Rowan was kind enough to have her picture taken with my family.  
I wouldn't be surprised if she massed as much as the three of us.

I picked up a book called _Dynamic Sumo_ by Clyde Newton (photos by 
Gerald J. Toff) that looks like an excellent introductory book on the 
sport.  Published in 1994 (ISBN 4-7700-1963-7), it has lots of colour 
photos and profiles of current stars.  I also purchased a set of 
postcards with paintings by Lynn Matsuoka.  She had another book 
available which was called _The Essentials of Sumo_ (if I remember 
right).  It was more in an encyclopedia/dictionary format, which I 
thought would be less useful to me.  She also had a variety of 
generic sumo dolls and t-shirts available.  

Mrs. Rowan gave me a copy of the Nagoya Basho Grand Sumo Guide 
put out by Jim Switzer (PSC 472, DMS Box 388, FPO AP 96348-2900 or 
518 Skyline Drive, Beigun Jutaku, Negishi-dai, Naku-ku, Yokohama-shi 
231, Japan)  It's about 12 pages long and includes the Banzuke in 
Japanese with translation and commentary, some articles about 
obtaining tickets and visiting a basho, a chapter translated from 
Chiyonofuji's autobiography (apparently this is appearing 
serialized), a glossary of sumo terms and winning techniques, and a 
guide to watching Sumo on NHK-TV.  Looked like a very worthwhile 
guide for the gaijin Sumo enthusiast. 

A variety of Akebono's trophies and some autographed photos were on 
display in the shop.  It was quite an interesting place to visit if 
you like Sumo and are in Hawaii.

I'm not sure if it was because of the Sumo Kyokia's insistence that
Mrs. Rowan not use Akebono's likeness, but Hilo Hatties (a Honolulu
clothing manufacturer) had a lot of Sumo Connection logoed clothing
available for 1/2 price.  The logo shows a yokozuna (pretty clearly
Akebono to the informed eye) performing the dohyo-iri surrounded by
the shape of the dohyo.  Many of the articles are very nicely
embroidered.  I got myself a nice t-shirt.  I didn't see any of
these articles at the Sumo Connection.  They did have some of the
logoed golf equipment though that was also on sale at Hilo Hatties. 

That's the closest I've gotten to someone in Sumo, other than the 
rikishi that walked by on the train platform in Kyoto.  Hopefully 
next year I'll be able to get to the Tokyo basho in May.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Reimer                                It's  hard to re-evaluate your
reimerb@hookup.net                        priorities when the  only ones
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada                 you have are beer and baseball
------------------------------------------------------------------------