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Gaijin Yokozuna: A Biography of Chad Rowan
At the age of eighteen, Chad Rowan left his home in rural Hawai'i for Tokyo with visions of becoming a star athlete in Japan's national sport, sumo. But upon his arrival he was shocked less by the city crowds and the winter cold than by having to scrub toilets and answer to fifteen-year-olds who had preceded him at the sumo beya. Rowan spoke no Japanese. Of Japanese culture, he knew only what little his father, a former tour bus driver in Hawai'i, had been able to tell him as they drove to the airport. And he had never before set foot in a sumo ring.
Five years later, against the backdrop of rising U.S.–Japan economic tension, Rowan became the first gaijin (non-Japanese) to advance to sumo's top rank, yokozuna. His historic promotion was more a cultural accomplishment than an athletic one, since yokozuna are expected to embody highly prized Japanese values such as hard work, patience, strength, and hinkaku, a special kind of dignity thought to be available only to Japanese. He was promoted ahead of his two main rivals, the brothers Koji and Masaru Hanada, who had been raised in the sumo beya run by their father, the former sumo great Takanohana I. Perhaps the defining moment of the gaijin' s unique success occurred at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, when Rowan, chosen to personify "Japanese" to one of the largest television audiences in history, performed a sacred sumo ritual at the opening ceremony.
Gaijin Yokozuna chronicles the events leading to that improbable scene at Nagano and beyond, tracing Rowan's life from his Hawai'i upbringing to his 2001 retirement ceremony. Along the way it briefly examines the careers of two Hawai'i-born sumotori who paved the way for Rowan, Jesse Kuhaulua (Takamiyama) and Salevaa Atisanoe (Konishiki). The author shares stories from family members, coaches, friends, fellow sumo competitors, and of course Rowan himself, whom he accompanied on three Japan-wide exhibition tours. The work is further informed by volumes of secondary source material on sumo, Japanese culture, and local Hawai'i culture.
Five years later, against the backdrop of rising U.S.–Japan economic tension, Rowan became the first gaijin (non-Japanese) to advance to sumo's top rank, yokozuna. His historic promotion was more a cultural accomplishment than an athletic one, since yokozuna are expected to embody highly prized Japanese values such as hard work, patience, strength, and hinkaku, a special kind of dignity thought to be available only to Japanese. He was promoted ahead of his two main rivals, the brothers Koji and Masaru Hanada, who had been raised in the sumo beya run by their father, the former sumo great Takanohana I. Perhaps the defining moment of the gaijin' s unique success occurred at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, when Rowan, chosen to personify "Japanese" to one of the largest television audiences in history, performed a sacred sumo ritual at the opening ceremony.
Gaijin Yokozuna chronicles the events leading to that improbable scene at Nagano and beyond, tracing Rowan's life from his Hawai'i upbringing to his 2001 retirement ceremony. Along the way it briefly examines the careers of two Hawai'i-born sumotori who paved the way for Rowan, Jesse Kuhaulua (Takamiyama) and Salevaa Atisanoe (Konishiki). The author shares stories from family members, coaches, friends, fellow sumo competitors, and of course Rowan himself, whom he accompanied on three Japan-wide exhibition tours. The work is further informed by volumes of secondary source material on sumo, Japanese culture, and local Hawai'i culture.
- GenresBiographyNonfiction
316 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2006
About the author
Mark Panek
5 books13 followersAfter graduating from Colby College over twenty years ago, Mark Panek arrived in Hawai'i on a one-way ticket with $500 and a surfboard. A year later he stepped off the plane in Tokyo similarly underfunded in search of fame, fortune, and fluency in Japanese. Letters home depicting his subsequent adventures on an around-the-world trip eventually led him into a graduate program in creative writing, where he produced his first book: a biography of Hawaiian sumo champion Akebono, which the Japan Times has called "the best sumo biography in English." His second book, "Big Happiness: The Life and Death of a Modern Hawaiian Warrior," won the 2012 Hawai'i Book Publisher's Association's award for excellence in nonfiction. His debut novel, "Hawai'i," which takes on the legacy of James A. Michener in no-holds-barred Tom-Wolfe-ian fashion, has been called "our Bonfire of the Vanities" by the Honolulu Weekly. Panek was recently honored with the Elliot Cades Award for Literature.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 24, 2012
Chad Rowan, aka Akebono, is the first foreign yokozuna. Sumo is not only a sport; it is a way of life. This book explains that way of life and how Akebono was able to adjust to it. It is an easy and interesting read.
July 17, 2012
This was a good book, mostly due to the subject matter. Sumo is something that most Americans know little or nothing about, so there is a lot of new and interesting information to absorb. Everything from the cultural aspect of the sport to the styles of individual athletes was discussed in a way that allows even the most uninformed reader feel like they have some handle on how Sumo works.
This is not a sports book. The actual athletic component tends to take a back seat to discussions about how hard it is for an American to adjust to life in Japan, not surprising since the author admits having gone through that same adjustment just before writing his manuscript. At times I felt myself wishing that I had gotten more explanation about individual bouts or about techniques and styles. Reading was also a little difficult due to the heavy use of Japanese words, only about half of which appear in the Japanese glossary at the back of the book. Readers unfamiliar with Hawaii's pidgin English might also have some trouble with the dialogue.
Overall a very interesting read and a great introduction to Japan's national sport.
This is not a sports book. The actual athletic component tends to take a back seat to discussions about how hard it is for an American to adjust to life in Japan, not surprising since the author admits having gone through that same adjustment just before writing his manuscript. At times I felt myself wishing that I had gotten more explanation about individual bouts or about techniques and styles. Reading was also a little difficult due to the heavy use of Japanese words, only about half of which appear in the Japanese glossary at the back of the book. Readers unfamiliar with Hawaii's pidgin English might also have some trouble with the dialogue.
Overall a very interesting read and a great introduction to Japan's national sport.
April 6, 2008
Amazing book by a great author. Everything you need to know about Japanese culture as told through sumo. It's the literary sports equivalent of Tampopo.
August 12, 2026
"Even if you can't take the tournament, we still love you. You just rememba one Hawaiian word: imua... 'Imua' means 'forward,', not reverse, okay? You rememba that. Just think like it's another match, you know? You take one at a time."
You know me, I stumble into something and I start fixating on it. One day late last year, my husband was flipping through YouTube channels, and we stumbled on an NHK Japan broadcast about a sumo wrestling tournament going on at the time. We proceeded to watch all the videos they had of that tournament, and then went on to follow future sumo wrestling tournaments. I'm a proud member of the Takayasu/Papayasu fanclub now, and am dipping my toes in learning about its history, the culture, and how things work. So if you see a series of books about sumo wrestling in my reading pile, that's where this comes from.
Chad Rowan left his home in Hawai'i looking for something better. When he left with basically the clothes on his back, not knowing a bit of Japanese, or really what he was getting into, he had no way of knowing that he'd end up Akebono, the first non-Japanese yokozuna. This book is his biography, where we're with him in his early life growing up in Hawai'i, struggling to find his place after high school, and then the problems he has after being scouted for a sumo stable and moving to Japan. As insular as Japan is, his fight as a rikishi didn't end once he exited the ring, having instead to work twice as hard as the rest just to be seen as almost one of them.
I thought this was a really great book that was a bit hard to read. The author went with the decision to keep Hawaiian spelling for much of the relevant dialog, which for an outsider made the meanings a bit muddled. The author was also kind enough to include an index in the back of common sumo terms, but several times in the book I found Japanese words that weren't included in the back. Not a deal breaker, but also kind of flow-breaking when you're reading.
But the story itself was really interesting, for someone who's just getting into wanting to learn about sumo history and culture. Chad seemed like a really great guy. In writing this review I discovered he passed in 2024, I hope he was satisfied with the life he lived, and wish the best for his family.
You know me, I stumble into something and I start fixating on it. One day late last year, my husband was flipping through YouTube channels, and we stumbled on an NHK Japan broadcast about a sumo wrestling tournament going on at the time. We proceeded to watch all the videos they had of that tournament, and then went on to follow future sumo wrestling tournaments. I'm a proud member of the Takayasu/Papayasu fanclub now, and am dipping my toes in learning about its history, the culture, and how things work. So if you see a series of books about sumo wrestling in my reading pile, that's where this comes from.
Chad Rowan left his home in Hawai'i looking for something better. When he left with basically the clothes on his back, not knowing a bit of Japanese, or really what he was getting into, he had no way of knowing that he'd end up Akebono, the first non-Japanese yokozuna. This book is his biography, where we're with him in his early life growing up in Hawai'i, struggling to find his place after high school, and then the problems he has after being scouted for a sumo stable and moving to Japan. As insular as Japan is, his fight as a rikishi didn't end once he exited the ring, having instead to work twice as hard as the rest just to be seen as almost one of them.
I thought this was a really great book that was a bit hard to read. The author went with the decision to keep Hawaiian spelling for much of the relevant dialog, which for an outsider made the meanings a bit muddled. The author was also kind enough to include an index in the back of common sumo terms, but several times in the book I found Japanese words that weren't included in the back. Not a deal breaker, but also kind of flow-breaking when you're reading.
But the story itself was really interesting, for someone who's just getting into wanting to learn about sumo history and culture. Chad seemed like a really great guy. In writing this review I discovered he passed in 2024, I hope he was satisfied with the life he lived, and wish the best for his family.
October 14, 2019
As a sumo fan I was a bit disappointed by this book. Mr. Panek is more interested in the cultural integration that Chad Rowan aka Akebono faced in becoming the first non-Japanese yokozuna. As such he focuses more on the social incidents which informed Rowan's time in Japan as opposed to the actual sumo--the emotional support Rowan received from fellow Hawaiian Konishiki is explored but not the first time they fought. What was it like the first time Rowan defeated his elder? Rowan's time in juryo and as ozeki are summarily glossed over. Panek achieved what he wanted and it's interesting but ultimately unsatisfying to the sumo fan.
April 13, 2023
This book is a gem for Sumo lovers! Unlike many sports biographies, it goes beyond simply chronicling an athlete's career. As the author himself says: "The result is as much a study of local Hawai'ian and Japanese cultures as a biography of Chad Rowan." Great read!
June 26, 2024
This was a great book with a subject matter, sumo, I love. Chad Rowan was the reason I began to watch the sport and his recent passing made we want to read the book asap. The story is compelling and more than a sport’s novel. It is a story of family, values, tradition, and the breaking of v
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews