Scouting for Hawaiian Titans

The sumo world is saddened by the passing of Larry Loyes Kukahiko Aweau, the man most responsible for the sport’s “Hawaiian invasion.” A judo black belt whose cousin was among the first Americans to wrestle in Japan, Aweau spent decades combing the 50th state in search of sumo talent. His greatest scouting find was an ex-basketball player named Chad Rowan—a man now better known to history as Akebono.

Aweau met the teenage Akebono at a funeral, and was immediately struck by boy’s size and athletic