THE words chanko nabe, chanko nabe kept cropping up throughout the day. First over breakfast when my Japanese host uttered them to the accompaniment of an anticipatory rub of the stomach and a knowing wink.
They were repeated as I paid an early morning visit to a sumo training session, lunched lightly on soba noodles and then sat awestruck through the final bouts in that day's action at the Kyushu-basho, or sumo tournament.
No sooner had the giant Hawaiian-born Akebono sent challenger Takahanada crashing out of the clay ring to win the tournament than our hosts were at it again: ''Chanko nabe, chanko nabe.'' Wink, rub. Wink, rub.
An hour later, the secret of the chanko nabe was revealed. Simply put, it is the lifeblood of sumo wrestlers; the glue that binds the disparate practitioners of this centuries-old sport.
It's their grub.
Chanko nabe is a stick-to-your-ribs casserole peculiar to the ranks of rikishi or sumo wrestlers who eat it morning, noon and night. The invitation to dinner at a local sumo stable meant we were being invited to sample the food of the gods.