In sumo or sushi, he's big

ISSAQUAH

Sumo wrestler, restaurateur, advertising model - Bobby Suetsugu has lived as a Renaissance man. Now 40, he harbors another dream: promoting the first sumo tournament in Seattle.

To bring 200 or so athletes, referees, judges and costumers from Japan would be expensive, but if the NASDAQ rebounds, maybe his tech-wealthy restaurant clientele will bankroll such an event, Suetsugu says.

"I see a lot of interest, a lot of customers saying they'll approach me about that when the time comes," he said. Until then, they can watch sumo matches on television at his Sushiman restaurant, which he runs with his wife.

The sumo influence shows on the wall decor, framed red handprints of sumo champions.

Behind the Issaquah sushi bar, the beefy owner pulls a knife through slabs of salmon and octopus. The strokes are delicate for arms that in his youth slapped 385-pound opponents. But the arts of sumo and sushi require equal doses of reverence for propriety, purity, detail.

"The strictness is always the same, the strictness of the teachings. Doing sumo helped prepare me for the toughness of the business," Suetsugu said.

The journey began in 1975. Suetsugu was a ninth-grader at Seattle Preparatory School and a regional judo champ. The judo master suggested sumo, a sport the boy had seen once or twice. With his parents' blessing, he left home and moved into Tokyo's venerable Tokitsukaze training stable, where he stayed 10 years.

Workouts began at 4 a.m. At first, he felt shy wearing only a mawashi, a tight silk belt around the loins, but the hard workouts made him soon lose his bashfulness. It took Suetsugu four months to be able to do the split and place his chest on the ground. Some boys cried from the intense pain. Some quit after three days.

The workouts lasted all morning. And each day there were challenges in the ring. The winner of a bout would choose the next opponent from among the 40 gathered, until one man remained.

"Mentally, when you say, `I give up,' your body could go another hour," Suetsugu said.

At first, he cursed in English, but the coaches figured out he was violating decorum. Anyone who gave offense was overworked or beaten on the buttocks with wooden swords. After lunch came free time, followed by dinner and cleaning chores. Suetsugu learned he liked to cook.

Peaking at 385 pounds, he rose to 21st place in his category, one class below the grand champions, in 1981.

In the Sushiman restaurant's dining room, where groups from Costco, Microsoft and Siemens gather for lunch, they can see old sumo-tournament programs where Suetsugu's father marked his rank in red.

By 1985, his knees sore from pounding, he retired and took an unpaid apprenticeship in a Tokyo restaurant that one of the sumo stable's sponsors owned. There he met his wife, Bing, a native of the Philippines; they have one daughter.

The couple moved to Seattle and worked in a local restaurant before opening their own place in Issaquah in 1990. Two years ago, they moved to the present location, 670 N.W. Gilman Blvd. Suetsugu has appeared as a sumo wrestler in several advertisements and said he'll soon be in a Gatorade spot with Michael Jordan and soccer star Mia Hamm. (Jordan turned down a challenge to wrestle, he said.)

He's dreamed of a sumo tournament for years and in 1998 visited one in Vancouver, B.C. One of his former instructors said it would take about four years to set one up because the Japanese matches are booked far in advance.

Suetsugu is not deterred by the work. He talks about it as he greets customers by first name and suggests new dishes. Nearby are two televisions. At lunchtime one shows sumo tournaments from Japan. The other has CNBC - the day's financial news, with stock prices streaming across the screen.

He follows the financial markets, mainly to chat with customers. He's no investment guru, yet he shares a timely insight drawn from his sumo years of delaying gratification.

"I tell my customers, be patient! It's going to be up again tomorrow," he said.

Mike Lindblom's phone message number is 206-515-5631. E-mail:mlindblom@seattletimes.com

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