'It's very TikTok-able': how Japanese sport of sumo is stamping its mark on UK

It is a centuries-old Japanese tradition, steeped in ceremony, with roots in the ancient faith of Shintoism - and it also happens to be super popular on TikTok.

- Robyn Vinter

Sumo is finding a new audience in the UK and, not only that, many of us are now donning a thong - or mawashi - and taking up the sport ourselves. So much so, in fact, that amateur wrestlers from across the UK and Ireland are gearing up for the first ever British Isles Sumo Championships, due to be held in January.

It comes after the sport's elite professionals captured hearts in October when they visited from Japan for a Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall.

The competition, only the second time it has taken place outside Japan, sold out immediately and fans were treated to bouts from the most famous wrestlers in the sport. This included two grand champions - or yokozuna - Japan’s Ōnosato Daiki and his rival, the Mongolian Hōshōryū Tomokatsu.

"The last time the Grand Sumo [was] in the UK was 30 years ago and the same thing happened, it caused a bit of sumo mania," said Jonathan Templeton, who runs Sumo na hÉireann in Belfast, the first Irish club.