One of the great pleasures of following sumo outside Japan is discovering just how many fans are quietly scattered around the world. Only recently, when having work done on my home, I met two fellow sumo fans in small Calvert County (a exurb of Washington DC). They saw my sumo-themed home izakaya and immediately knew they found a kindred spirit.
Just like any other sumo fan, we avidly follow each basho, celebrate the kachi-koshi of our favorite wrestlers, agonize over a mono-ii decision, and spend far too much time debating whether a promising recruit is really the next big thing. Yet most foreign fans experience the sport alone, behind a screen. We have to consume it via a stream, youtube videos, or other media that typically does not lend itself to a public gathering – particularly when most of the basho happens overnight in your time zone.
To combat this “isolationism” two Tachiai writers met at a local DC-area izakaya during the Aki 2026 basho on nakabi (middle day). We had no formal agenda, no drafts to discuss, no “official business”. Just good food, a few drinks, and several hours of uninterrupted sumo conversation.
There is something refreshing about sitting across from someone who already understands the sport and shares the same level of passion. The discussion drifted naturally across various sumo news and events as well as my recent experiences in Japan.
The afternoon served as a reminder that one of the best aspects of sumo is the community surrounding it.
Reviewing the tachiai statistics, I was surprised to see so many people viewing the site are from the greater Washington DC region. Between diplomats, government staff, academics, journalists, martial arts enthusiasts, Japanese expatriates, and sports fans looking for something different from the mainstream American sports calendar, there are undoubtedly far more sumo followers here than most of us realize.
So perhaps it is time to find them.
As the next tournament approaches, we’d love to gauge interest in an informal DC-area sumo gathering. Nothing elaborate. Just a friendly get-together at a Japanese restaurant or izakaya where fans can watch highlights, discuss the basho, argue about promotion cases, speculate about future sekitori, and perhaps meet fellow supporters for the first time.
Whether you’ve been following ozumo for thirty years or discovered it through YouTube six months ago, you’d be welcome. Some of the best sumo conversations happen when veteran fans and newcomers share a table.
Sumo has a way of creating connections across countries, languages, and backgrounds. The sport may be centered in Tokyo, but its community stretches much farther than that.
If you’re in the greater Washington area and think this sounds like fun, let us know in the comments. A mid-basho lunch between two sumo enthusiasts proved that the appetite is certainly there. Perhaps next basho, we’ll need a bigger table.
