FILE - Accompanied by a sword-bearer, grand champion Akebono performs the ring-entrance ritual during the annual New Year's dedication at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, on Jan. 8, 1997. Hawaii-born Akebono, one of the greats of sumo wresting and a former grand champion, is reported to have died earlier this month of heart failure while receiving care at a hospital in Tokyo, the United States Forces in Japan said in a statement on Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)
FILE - Former NBA basketball player Dennis Rodman, right, former sumo grand champion Akebono, left, and Japanese actress Maomi Yuki pose for photographers during a news conference to promote a TV program in Tokyo, on Oct. 25, 2013. Hawaii-born Akebono, one of the greats of sumo wresting and a former grand champion, is reported to have died earlier this month of heart failure while receiving care at a hospital in Tokyo, the United States Forces in Japan said in a statement on Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, File)
FILE - Akebono poses for a photo during a news conference at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Tuesday, July 26, 2005. Hawaii-born Akebono, one of the greats of sumo wresting and a former grand champion, is reported to have died earlier this month of heart failure while receiving care at a hospital in Tokyo, the United States Forces in Japan said in a statement on Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AP Photo /Lucy Pemoni, File)
FILE - Hawaiian-born Taro Akebono, Japan's top Sumo wrestler, takes part in a ceremony in the ring prior to competition in Vancouver, British Columbia, on June 6, 1998. Hawaii-born Akebono, one of the greats of sumo wresting and a former grand champion, is reported to have died earlier this month of heart failure while receiving care at a hospital in Tokyo, the United States Forces in Japan said in a statement on Thursday, April 11, 2024. (Chuck Stoody/The Canadian Press via AP, File)