In February 1992, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, 17-year-old Tsevegnyam Nyamjav boarded a plane for the first time. Carrying only a small bag, the vocational school student was coming to Japan with dreams of being a sumo star.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='250' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2007/nn20070502f2a.jpg' WIDTH='250' HEIGHT='194'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Sumo wrestler Kyokutenho, 32, and his bride, Keiko, 33, pose for a picture after their wedding Feb. 17 at a Tokyo hotel. </B> KYODO PHOTO</FONT></TD> </TR> <TABLE> </PHOTO> <PARAGRAPH>Standing 191 cm tall and weighing 154 kg, Mongolian sumo wrestler Kyokutenho currently holds the rank of maegashira in the makuuchi division of pro sumo. Back in 1992 he was just one of six Mongolian youths recruited by sumo stable master Oshima, 60, whose real name is Takeo Ota, from some 200 applicants.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>'High-rise buildings and glittering neon billboards &#8212; none of this was found in Mongolia. To tell the truth, becoming a sumo wrestler was a trivial matter. I simply wanted to make a trip to Japan,' he recalls.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>But his love for his new surroundings soon turned to despair. The wrestlers at the Oshima stable in Tokyo's Ryogoku district grappled in the dohyo ring for four hours before dawn.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>'Whispering to each other was banned and each –

dashed himself against the other without a word. The hierarchy was too severe. I hit out against a younger wrestler, who made much of his seniority only because of his advanced initiation," Kyokutenho said.

The communal living with some 25 Japanese wrestlers, and the sumo wrestler's stew, with unpalatable fish and vegetables, frustrated him and his Mongolian colleagues.

Yoshiko Ota, 52, the stable master's wife, said, "The Japanese wrestlers were also frustrated by the Mongolians, who chewed gum before their matches and had poor communication skills due to the language barrier." She held a Japanese-language class before bedtime every night for the Mongolians.

On Aug. 19, 1992, five of the Mongolian wrestlers, including Kyokutenho, deserted the stable. They went straight to the Mongolian Embassy in central Tokyo by train and taxi. Two of the five accepted Yoshiko's tearful entreaties and returned to the stable on Aug. 21. But Kyokutenho and the two others returned to Mongolia a few days later.