In the 1,500-year history of the sport, only once has a five-day Grand Sumo Tournament, or ‘basho’, taken place outside of Japan. The 1991 event will be repeated at London’s Royal Albert Hall next year.
The event will take place on a raised clay ‘dohyo’ or battle stage in the middle of the auditorium, with guests seated on chairs farther back and cushions around it, in keeping with tradition as far as feasible.
The chief executive of the Royal Albert Hall, James Ainscough, declared: “So as well as it being an exciting sporting event, it’s actually going to be a great cultural moment and a time for us to come across something we don’t normally experience and to maybe learn something different from it from a different culture, and be challenged in the way we think as well.”
Wrestlers from Japan’s top sumo division will compete in about 20 fights per night from October 15–19 for the London championship, which is reported to be overseen by past grand champion and 1991 winner Hokutoumi. Now known as Nobuyoshi Hakkaku, he leads the Japan Sumo Association.
Hakkaku said: “Back in 1991, as a performing wrestler, my main aim was to win the tournament. But coming back as chairman, now the most important part is to bring Japanese tradition and Japanese culture to the British public… Sumo itself has not changed throughout the course of history. I have no worries because I am confident people will appreciate or take something back by watching this tournament.”
Source: CNA