(Given Akebono’s passing, the “Finally Spoken ‘Defectors’ on North Korea” will be published tomorrow)
We lost the 64th Yokozuna, Akebono Taro, at the age of 54. His departure was too early.
However, knowing the tough battle with a long-standing illness he had been fighting, one could say he’s been granted relief.
I first met him at the Grand Sumo Hong Kong Tournament in 1993.
At the time, I was working at a European investment bank’s Hong Kong branch. The quickly growing supermarket “Yaohan,” sponsored the Grand Sumo Hong Kong Tournament.
With the handover of Hong Kong, over 80 Japanese financial institutions had established offices there.
Each company, looking to spend time with the popular wrestlers, turned to me due to language barriers and fairness issues. I was asked by Yaohan Hong Kong’s executives to handle Akebono, the Yokozuna. This was our first encounter.
This period was shortly after the “Disengagement of Takano Hana and Rie Miyazawa,” and there was a palpable tension, including the actions of the sumo wrestlers and media countermeasures.
Given these circumstances, I’ll focus on Akebono here.
Since he permitted me to use his first name, I’ll refer to him as Chad (his real name being “Chad Rowan”).
