Breaking news has surfaced today from Inside Sport: Japan by way of a flurry of social media posts announcing that the Sumo Association will be resuming its international tours in 2025.
Among others, ISJ has dropped a couple of posts on Facebook referencing a much larger announcement on December 4 where full details will be revealed of a Kyokai exhibition trip to London next October.
The trip will apparently be the Kyokai’s first official tour of any kind since 2013, according to ISJ, when the organisation took a lot of heavy cargo to Jakarta, and the first ‘koen’ cultural exhibition since its last trip to Last Vegas in 2005. This will mark its second such trip to the UK’s capital overall.
We’ll be looking forward to the revelation of further details on the 4th.
The resumption obviously marks a much debated talking point among international sumo fans: namely, in light of the success or at least the interest in recent unofficial international promotional tours such as Sumo & Sushi and others, whether the NSK would strike out again and make an official super-jumbo journey to international markets in order to spread the culture around sumo and promote the sport.
Obviously, we’ve seen the growing interest from international markets here on Tachiai in recent years, and will be watching to see whether this is a one-off or the first step towards a more consistent run of events, should the Kyokai be successful.
Thank you to ISJ for breaking this news, and feel free to sound off in the comments: is London the right destination? Could we see the Kyokai coming back to an American destination in Hawaii or the mainland in the future, or other east Asian markets?
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This is great news. It’s a great sign that the Kyokai is actively doing such massive outreach to international fans.
Appreciate this hasn’t happened in years but any idea how this works, tickets booked through local websites or from the JSA?
Presumably the December 4 update will come with more details on this, as ISJ have replied already to a few commenters (including myself) on their social media. When we have more details we will share them for sure. Hopefully whatever solution they use for the UK will be less like TicketPIA and more like BuySumoTickets, but that’s just my personal opinion.
Grand news! Of all possible choices worldwide, London is really fine for me. Calendar is waiting for more information!
Always great to see you post, Josh! I nominate Los Angeles—US Sumo Open is in Long Beach…
I got a few more in the chamber and some other interesting stuff (well I think so) to contribute soon, but wanted to get this out when I saw the news break. And ISJ corrected me on a couple of the details! :)
I have some mixed feelings on this: on one hand it is a great way to promote the sport, but on the other hand, I dislike the way rikishi will be treated: somewhere in between à mix of circus show, circus freak, funny fat guy joke and a clown
A great deal of people nowadays is capable of respectful thinking. Be positive and add their view to the ‚mix‘! Besides, there are more sports known where heavy guys perform, think of weightlifting, discus throw and so on. Rikishi will be treated as great athletes and cultural ambassadors as well!
Do you think so? I don’t agree, as I think there’s an appreciation of Japwnese culture. Mind you, there are ###-holes and the tabloid press everywhere.
That’s why Tachiai and others are here to educate. My own aunt was in the, “fat guys in diapers” camp.
The first time I showed sumo to my family they laughed. It didn’t help it was an Aioyama’s fight, and his man boobs were the pun of many jokes.
I hope they avoid “morning shows” or only send fully clothed rikishi, specially if they are Sanyaku
Ah well, you can’t choose your relatives Andy. I have a second cousin who, were he even aware of sumo’s existence, would without doubt also be in that camp.
Can’t wait if this is true!
‘If’?
It’s been announced by the JSA
Oh, I am happy to read this. London is a hop and a skip across the Channel, and a place I know well. At the risk of sounding rude, and having a foot in both nations, I haven’t come across Brits being dismissive of sumo in the same way as Americans. There’s a different cultural milieu in the UK, from the USA, obvs, and if the word mawashi isn’t known, the word loincloth is used, in my experience only of course !!
Personally I think it’s a great destination, a big, truly multicultural city, with great venues, transport, and food.
Oh that’s cheered me up no end, as I am sitting here with a dental abscess throbbing away and no basho to distract me.
I wonder where it will be held….? Some of the arenas and stadia are too big really…..
Great that they have chosen London yet a surprise given how the broadcasts over here are so rubbish. The NHK online version of Grand Sumo Highlights is shown 24 hours late, except on the last Sunday when they want people to watch the live broadcast and they release the Day 14 highlights just before the Day 15 live broadcast (which is then not released online until the next day if you miss it live). It is really frustrating and not a great way to get people to follow the sport.
That’s just online though. I don’t know whether you realise, but the highlights program/programme is on television on the NHK World channel every day during the basho at 1630 or 1730 (depending if it’s summer or winter) and repeated much later in the evening. Have a look up the television channels, 200 range on Freeview I believe. There are live broadcasts on the first Sunday, the middle weekend, and the last Sunday (as you mentioned), but those broadcasts are truncated, usually catching just the last half or thereabouts of the makuuchi division.
I had read about that Freeview option and was curious whether it would work for many people and whether there was an extra charge for a subscription.
Morning! Freeview is the UK version of digital terrestrial tv, which is free to view (except for the cost of a TV licence in whichever country you live). I can personally attest that it (or one of its national iterations e.g Freesat, Saoirview etc. ) works in France, the U.K., Republic of Ireland, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Oh, sounds like broadcast TV here in the States. If you have an antenna, you can watch? That’s a pretty awesome system.
As Betty said, if you pay the annual TV Licence fee or attempt to dodge it’s enforcement, then yes.
NHK World is available on FreeSat. Much better than the online offerings.
How can I subscribe to Tachiai.org so that every time a new post is published on your blog I can receive an automatic email with the post content?
I used to have that option available but with low click-through rates, I felt bad for spamming people. I may restart it. Are you on social media (Twitter, Facebook, Blue Sky)?
Hi Andy, Understood. No problem. I actually loved having the automatic emails every time a new post would get published but I understand. I’m not on any social media except for LinkedIn. But, I’ll simply keep accessing the blog online to read the news. I absolutely love sumo and Tachiai.org has become an invaluable resource for me and I’m sure for countless others too. Thanks for everything you and your team do!
Thank you! I might revive those emails. I don’t want to kill off something that people like. And you also point out that I need to reconnect my LinkedIn. Thank you for your feedback! Sometimes I get it wrong. I’ll turn those emails back on.
Thanks so much Andy! I see that you just turned the emails back on. Yay! I just resubscribed and turned everything on so that I can get emails of new posts and comments instantly. You’re the best. Thanks so much!
Thank you!
Does anyone know where we can watch this announcement by Hakkaku in London online?
I spotted something online this morning that said it would be held in the Royal Albert Hall and there would be 5 ‘performances’ (their word, not mine). Nothing else yet, I guess it’s too early for press conferences.
For me, an odd venue, but if it works for the Japan Sumo Association, what do I know?!
Oh, nice work on the ’email me new posts and comments’ Andy 😁
I spotted something online this morning that said it would be held in the Royal Albert Hall and there would be 5 ‘performances’ (their word, not mine). Nothing else yet, I guess it’s too early for press conferences.
For me, an odd venue, but if it works for the Japan Sumo Association, what do I know?!
Oh, nice work on the ’email me new posts and comments’ Andy 😁
Addendum….there’s a gap in events showing on the Albert Hall’s between 9th and 22nd October next year, so I’m guessing a distinct possibility sometime around those dates?
Me? Excited by this? Whatever gives you that idea….😉
https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2025/the-grand-sumo-tournament/
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https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2025/the-grand-sumo-tournament/
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