but neither were officially listed as foreigners. The first non-Asian to achieve fame and fortune in sumo was Hawaii-born Takamiyama. He reached the top division in 1968 and in 1972 became the first foreigner to win the top division championship. He was followed by a fellow Hawaii-born mega-weight Konishiki, of ethnic Samoan descent, the first foreigner to reach the rank of in 1987; and the Native Hawaiian Akebono, who became the first foreign-born in 1993. Musashimaru, born in Samoa and raised in Hawaii, became the second foreigner to reach sumo's top rank in 1999. Between 2003 and 2014, all four wrestlers reaching the rank were Mongolian: Asashōryū, Hakuhō, Harumafuji and Kakuryū. In 2012, the Mongolian Kyokutenhō became the oldest wrestler in modern history to win a top division championship. Wrestlers from Eastern European countries such as Georgia and Russia have also found success in the upper levels of sumo. In 2005, Kotoōshū from Bulgaria became the first wrestler of European birth to attain the ranking and the first to win a top division championship. In another milestone, Brazilian Ryūkō Gō became the first foreign born wrestler to be given status. Until relatively recently, the Japan Sumo Association had no restrictions at all on the number of foreigners allowed in professional sumo. In May 1992, shortly after the Ōshima stable had recruited six Mongolians at the same time, the Sumo Association's new director Dewanoumi, the former Sadanoyama, announced that he was considering limiting the number of overseas recruits per stable and in sumo overall. There was no official ruling, but no stable recruited any foreigners for the next six years. This unofficial ban was then relaxed, but only two new foreigners per stable were allowed, until the total number reached 40. Then in 2002, a one foreigner per stable policy was officially adopted, though the ban was not retroactive, so foreigners recruited before the changes were unaffected. The move has been met with criticism. John Gunning claims it was introduced not for any racial reasons, but to ensure that foreign assimilate into sumo culture. He explained, there would be ten Hawaiian wrestlers in the same stable living in their own "little clique," not learning Japanese, so the rule "protects the culture of stables." Originally, it was possible for a place in a stable to open up if a foreign born wrestler acquired Japanese citizenship. This occurred when Hisanoumi changed his nationality