Ancient rituals and online fans

There aren’t many sports that can keep an audience enthralled through a 45-minute ceremony before the first point is even contested.

Yet the complex traditions unfolding in a small clay ring—virtually unchanged for hundreds of years—managed to do just that.

Welcome then to the Grand Sumo Tournament – a five-day event at the Royal Albert Hall featuring 40 of the best sumo wrestlers representing a sport whose first mention dates back to 23 BC.

London’s Victorian concert hall has been completely transformed, complete with a six-ton ​​Japanese temple roof suspended over the ring.

It is here that wrestlers, known as rikishis, will perform foot-stomping to ward off evil spirits, and where they will clap to attract the attention of the gods.

And above all that ancient ceremony, a giant, rotating LED screen that wouldn’t look out of place at an American basketball game, offering the crowd all the stats and replays they could want.

Sumo may be ancient and may have strict rules governing every aspect of rikishi behavior, but it still exists in the modern world.

And this modern world is helping to spread sumo far beyond the borders of Japan.

It was a “random video” that first caught Sian Spencer’s attention a few years ago.

This was quickly followed by the opening of dedicated YouTube channels for several sumo stables, where rikishi live and train, waking up early to train, followed by a high-protein stew called chankonabe, and then an afternoon nap, all in the service of bulking up.

Then she discovered the bimonthly 15-day championships known as basho, and from there she was hooked.

The London tournament was simply a “once in a lifetime” opportunity, not to be missed, to see it all in real life, says the 35-year-old.

Julia and her partner Cesar, who live in Edinburgh, discovered sumo through a more traditional route: a trip to Japan six years ago.

“We saw it as a very touristy activity, but we actually ended up loving the sport,” says Julia, 34.

“From there we tried to find communities, information, just to learn more and more about it,” adds Cezar, 36.

They find that colleagues, friends and family can be quite surprised by their new passion.

“It’s the only sport we watch,” Julia explains – so they found like-minded people on messaging apps like Telegram.

“We found Italian bands, English bands,” says Julia.

“Outside of Japan, online is the only way to interact with the sport,” adds Cesar.

Going to Japan is pretty much the only way to see a top-class sumo tournament.

This week’s event in London is only the second time the tournament has visited the city – the first time was in 1991 – while the last overseas trip was in Jakarta in 2013.

But even going to Japan is no guarantee of getting a place. Last year was the first time in 24 years that all six of the two-month, 15-day events sold out in 28 years, Kyodo News reported – fueled by interest at home and a tourism boom that saw more than 36 million foreigners visit in 2024.

So for many, the London tournament is the first time they’ve seen sumo in person – and it didn’t disappoint.

“Seeing it up close, you feel the speed and power that you don’t get on TV. It was incredible,” said Caspar Elliott, a 36-year-old fan from London. “They’re so big.”

To win, one person must push another out of the ring or take them to the ground using brute force. Most use one of two styles to achieve this, often in split seconds – pushing or grappling.

Either way, the sound of the collision of the two rickshaws in the first moment of the match echoes around the hall.

Kaspar and his wife Mega Ohai were among the lucky ones who got tickets when they visited Japan last year – only for them not to arrive at the post office in time.

That didn’t stop them from falling head over heels, though, and they’ve watched every bash this year. So when it came to the Grand Sumo Tournament in London, they weren’t taking any chances.

“I think we had four devices trying to book tickets,” Kaspar told the BBC ahead of the event, proudly displaying his sumi towels – a must for die-hard fans. “We have front row seats, on the cushions.”

Pillows right next to the ring are, of course, highly prized – but also a bit risky.

On Thursday, all 181kg, 191cm Shonanoomi collapsed into the crowd – perhaps giving those in the slightly cheaper seats a sigh of relief.

Of course, the size of the rikishi is one of the first things most people think of when they think of sumo. Albert Hall’s program director revealed to The Guardian earlier this week that “they had to find and buy new chairs that could take up to 200kg of weight”.

But sumo – for all its sold-out events – is not without problems behind the scenes. A series of scandals over the past few decades surrounding harassment, match-fixing and sexism have tarnished his image.

Then there’s the fact that last year – despite being great for ticket sales – saw the lowest number of recruits joining the stables.

Perhaps the austere life of a rikishi doesn’t seem as appealing as it once did. Its popularity among young Japanese is also threatened by other sports, such as baseball. As Thomas Fabry, a regular BBC sumo fan, said: “My Japanese friends think I’m crazy because they see it as an old man’s sport.”

Japan’s declining birthrate won’t help either – nor will the Japan Sumo Association’s rule limiting each stable to just one foreign rikishi. However, the Mongolians have dominated the past few years – and one of the most exciting rising stars comes from Ukraine.

Not that any of that worried the fans in London.

“Seeing all this ritual and ceremony that goes with sumo is pretty special,” says fan Xian. “Now when you see it in person, you feel like you’re a part of it.”

Julia and Cesar make up in a message the next day.

“It’s a Japanese sport, but we didn’t feel out of place, so many people from all over the world around us.”

For Mega, the drama “made it so amazing” – as did meeting the other fans.

“Coming out of a very niche Reddit community and being able to see all these sumo fans in person and being able to talk to other people who are just as passionate about it as we are – it was worth every sumo gold penny.”

Additional reporting by Thomas Fabry

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