King of the Ring

Hakuho has been a professional sumo wrestler since he debuted in 2001 at the age of 16. That's SIXTEEN. Whoa. He achieved the highest rank (yokozuna/grand champion) in 2007 at the age of 22.

Here's a link to a video (with English translation) to an awards ceremony in March 2007 where he gets the Emperor's Cup--possibly the most enormous trophy (fitting, eh?) in the world. It includes an interview with him after his big yusho (victory.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCTjI2_K4AM

I was wondering about their personal lives, and came across this great picture of Hakuho on his wedding day.

Isn't their wedding attire fantastic? I love it. Here's a link to an article about their 2007 wedding, complete with pictures of their pianist. She's a Japanese girl who was a college student in Tokyo. It's another world.

Finally, I wanted to include a link to a video of Hakuho. Here's one of the man beating his Mongolian rival Asashoryu before Hakuho also became yokozuna. The audience throws their seat cushions (zabuton) at the end of the bout because a non-yokozuna defeated a yokozuna. It's technically against the rules for the audience to toss them, but it's tradition and the rule isn't enforced.

There are a lot of interesting personalities in sumo today--although the most controversial rikishi took his final bow in March. I guess I'm like the Japanese and prefer a tamer champ. Hakuho is awesome. Look at that power.