OSAKA (UPI) - Asashio, a 6-2 286-pound bearcat from the Amami Oshima Islands, was Wednesday unanimously voted the 46th grand champion (yokozuna) in Japan's sumo history.
    The executive board of the Sumo Federation unanimously voted to give the handsome, hairy-chested giant the right to wear the grand champion's belt after the board of judges, unable to agree, passed the difficult decision on to the federation officers.
    Asashio, 29, whose real name is Fumitoshi Yonekawa, had been regarded as potentially the best of the sumo wrestlers in Japan today.
    Where grand champions Wakanohana and Tochinishiki are relatively small and depend heavily upon skill and speed for their victories, Asashio is big and strong as well.