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What do Tokyo and London have in common? As well as both being sprawling metropolises, and world class centres for fashion, food and technology, they’ve also both hosted the Grand Sumo Tournament. In fact, the UK, and London, is the only place outside of Japan to ever host a professional sumo wrestling competition.
Excitingly, the Royal Albert Hall in London is to host the second-ever overseas Grand Sumo Tournament in October next year. The first international sumo comp took place in 1991, also at the 153-year-old venue in London.
‘Good things come to those who wait,’ said the Royal Albert Hall’s chief executive, James Ainscough. ‘We’ve tried a number of times but various things have got in the way, not least Covid.
‘We have our own timetable of shows here, sumo tournaments in Japan have their own rhythm, so finding a moment for our timetable and their rhythm to coincide has taken this long. But we’re absolutely thrilled to be bringing it back in 2025.’
When London hosted the competition 34 years ago a strengthened stage had to be built to hold the wrestlers’ weight, and specialist soil had to be imported to the UK – wheelbarrows were used to transport the soil from Heathrow to Kensington.
From October 15-19 2025, 40 of Japan’s top sumo wrestlers will compete in the London arena.
‘The fact they’ve chosen to come back when they could have gone to any capital city around the world is an honour, particularly for us here at the Royal Albert Hall,’ Ainscough added.
‘Sumo isn’t just a sport but is a cultural moment, has a great tradition and ritual attached to it, which makes it even more interesting. We’ve had wrestling and boxing here at the Royal Albert Hall for well over 100 years, but sumo is a completely different level and nature of sport and that’s why it’s such a fascinating thing to bring here.’
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