At the age of eighteen, Chad Rowan left his home in rural Hawaii
for Tokyo with visions of becoming a star athlete in Japan's
national sport, sumo. 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.
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 Hawaii
upbringing to his 2001 retirement ceremony. Along the way it
briefly examines the careers of two Hawaii-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 Hawaii culture.
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