 The Four Kings were very popular in Cuba , and the Japanese media were proud of the reputation they were bringing to judo and Japan . Consequently , on January 8 , 1912 , the Kodokan promoted Maeda to 5th dan . There was some resistance to this decision because there were those in Japan who did not approve of his involvement in professional wrestling . In 1913 , Tokugoro Ito stayed in Cuba while Maeda and Satake went to El Salvador , Costa Rica , Honduras , Panama , Colombia , Ecuador and Peru . In El Salvador , the president was assassinated while Maeda was there , and in Panama , the Americans tried to pay him to lose ; in response , they kept moving south . In Peru they met Laku , a Japanese <unk> who taught the military , and invited him to join them . They were then joined by Okura in Chile , and by Shimitsu in Argentina . The troupe arrived in Brazil on November 14 , 1914 . 
