Penitani ponders future after ceremonial finish
By Mina Hall
Special to The Advertiser
TOKYO — Fiamalu Penitani is exhausted. The former yokozuna Musashimaru had a non-stop 12-hour day yesterday.
Katsumi Kasahara • Associated Press
First was the traditional top knot cutting ceremony in Ryogoku. Then it was straight to Odaiba, at the Meredian Hotel for a grand party. There were countless interviews to give, photographs to take, guests to greet, and hands to shake. More than anything, though, there was a lot of bowing.
Former yokozuna Musashimaru, or Wai'anae's Fiamalu Penitani, performed his last ring entrance ceremony, followed by stablemate Musoyama, left, during a retirement ceremony yesterday in Tokyo.
Penitani was grateful to all who helped with his long career and who came to celebrate with him and his family yesterday.
Kumu hula Sonny Ching, whose halau was selected to perform at the festivities, found himself caught up in the historic moment. Even though he is a seasoned performer and has had many shows in Japan, Ching confessed that he was nervous.
"Just the magnitude of the event," he explained. "We were all so honored to be part of it."
Initially, six of Ching's men were scheduled to be the first ever to perform on the sacred sumo ring. However, hours before the ceremony, Penitani had doubts and decided against it. He made a late night call to Salevaa Atisanoe, better known as Konishiki, whose company was producing the ceremony.
"He said that he wasn't comfortable with it," Konishiki explained. "He thought that the place where you fight shouldn't be the place to dance ... that's how much he loves and respects sumo."
In the end, only Ching climbed upon the dohyo to chant while four of his dancers performed in the aisles.
Penitani may not have been the most popular or the most outgoing wrestler, but he is certainly the most successful foreigner in the history of the sport. He had a record 55 consecutive tournaments with a winning record, and had an amazing career record of 779-294-115. He is also sixth on the championship list with 12 titles.
"If it wasn't for his wrist (injury), he'd still be going," said Eric Gaspar, or former wrestler Koryu, who made the trip from Hawai'i.
Although many thought Penitani would return to Wai'anae right away, he's not ready to leave yet. "I'm going to stay here," he says.
The usually animated Penitani turns serious and with a straight face explains, "I really like sumo. You can't do it back home." Patting his belly, he continued, "I get up early in the morning and put the mawashi on. I can still rough up the boys a bit."
After 15 years, doesn't he want to rest? Maybe take a vacation? "No, if it wasn't for this," he says, pointing to the scar on his left wrist, a result of surgery last year, "I'd still be wrestling (competitively) ... now I have screws in there."
Although he has not purchased a toshiyori kabu (elder stock) necessary to stay in the Sumo Association, as a former yokozuna, he is allowed to remain for up to five years while drawing a salary. It's a privilege given only to those who have reached the top rank.
"I didn't want to buy the stock because I don't know what I'm going to do in the future," Penitani explained. "But I'm not leaving yet."
One thing for sure, he won't be following former wrestlers Konishiki and Akebono. He admits that he's too shy to keep up with the outgoing television personality of Konishiki. "I don't even sing karaoke," he said.
And as far as joining professional wrestling or K-1, that's definitely not for him. "I only watched two of Akebono's fights (out of five)," Penitani said.
Making a face as if wincing in pain, he said, "I don't want to get kicked in the head."
Mina Hall, who wrote "The Big Book of Sumo", played tennis for the University of Hawai'i from 1987 to 1992.
