{"id":317611,"date":"2020-02-17T06:02:19","date_gmt":"2020-02-16T20:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=317611"},"modified":"2020-02-17T06:02:19","modified_gmt":"2020-02-16T20:02:19","slug":"sumo-at-the-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/sumo-at-the-beach\/","title":{"rendered":"Sumo at the beach"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It was a fun day as professional wrestlers\u00a0Kyokutaisei Takuya, left, and\u00a0Kyokushiuho Koki, center, play with children\u00a0at the sumo wrestling exhibition last Saturday at the beach side of Hyatt Regency Saipan. (BEA CABRERA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The beach side of Hyatt Regency Saipan was transformed into a makeshift dohyu\u00a0last Saturday, with a select group of children enjoying a rare treat\u2014a demonstration of sumo wrestling.<\/p>\n

The highly ritualized and ancient sport of sumo wrestling showed off its lighter and goofier side, with two professional sumo wrestlers from the prestigious Tomozuna stable doing a demonstration that delighted a select group of students and their parents.<\/p>\n

Champion wrestlers from the Tomozuna stable graced the event: Tomozuna owner and shunin, Kyokutenho, and best rank maegashira Kyokutaisei Takuya, Kyokushiuho Koki, and Asahisho Kota. Maehashira is the highest salaried rank of a sumo wrestler.<\/p>\n

Bringing sumo wrestlers to Saipan\u2014as part of Hyatt Regency Saipan\u2019s celebration of its upcoming 40th anniversary this year\u2014was the idea of Kobe Portopia Hotel Corp. president and owner Hitoshi Nakauchi, whose company owns Hyatt Regency Saipan.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026because Hyatt has been here for so many years, Mr. Nakauchi wants the children to see and understand the Japanese culture. He believes that the children are our future and since Japan and Saipan have a rich history together, Mr. Nakauchi wants that connection to stay alive,\u201d said Hyatt general manager Nick Nishikawa.<\/p>\n

\u201cSumo wrestling is a complicated society in Japan as they undergo so much discipline and dedication to the sport. \u2026It is difficult to organize and sponsor any private sumo wrestler appearances, and have them travel outside of Japan. \u2026Now that we have them here on Saipan is a wonderful opportunity for them to meet children and enjoy the beauty of the islands,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

[embedyt] https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=iViWO1HN5Ec&width=500&height=350[\/embedyt]<\/p>\n

Before the sumo wrestling exhibition, families and guests were treated to a freshly cooked \u201cChankonabe,\u201d a Japanese hot pot that is included in a sumo wrestler\u2019s diet. According to Isao Usui, sales manager of the group, Chankonabe is packed with nutritious ingredients that help sumo wrestlers maintain their strength and physique.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is filled with different kinds of vegetables and tons of protein like pork and chicken broth. This well-balanced meal is traditionally eaten by sumo wrestlers but also enjoyed at home or some restaurants,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a good way of introducing the sumo wrestler\u2019s way of life to the people of Saipan. \u2026We have been here four to five times in the past and it was stopped because there were no more flights from Japan. But now we have direct flight again through Skymark Airlines [and] we are happy to be back,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Even with the renewal of Hyatt\u2019s land lease with the CNMI government still up in the air, Nishikawa said that the CNMI can expect more community events from the Hyatt this year. \u201c\u2026Our top responsibilities are to serve our guests and continue to be a community partner. \u2026We only offer 100% service,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTourism is the only industry on this island, so it is upon us to fulfill that important role to support this industry.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The beach side of Hyatt Regency Saipan was transformed into a makeshift dohyu\u00a0last Saturday, with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-317611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317611\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}