Sumo wrestling is experiencing a surge in popularity across the UK, with the number of clubs in England rising from just one to 12 within two years. Events have been held regularly across the country, and the Scotland Women's team took bronze for the first time when the UK hosted the European Sumo Championships this year.
Record international participation
Despite receiving no organisation-wide funding, the British Sumo organisation sent its largest team to compete internationally. Dozens of wrestlers attended the 2025 Championships in Thailand.
Sumo is considered the national sport of Japan, with modern versions of the wrestling competitions recorded since the 16th century. The aim is for a wrestler to force their opponent out of a circular ring or to touch any part of the ground with any part of their body other than the soles of their feet, usually by throwing or pushing them down.
London club and Royal Albert Hall event
Images taken at London Sumo Club showed athletes preparing to face one another in the ring. Club founder Sonny Bell was seen assisting one of the wrestlers with a mawashi loincloth, the traditional item of clothing competitors wear.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan discussed the popularity and success of sumo wrestling in the capital earlier this summer. He met with Hakkaki Rijicho, chairman of the Japan Sumo Association, following sold-out crowds for all five days of sumo wrestling at the Royal Albert Hall last October.
Huge audience figures
More than 25,000 attended the event, with another 1.2 million watching the matches on the BBC. There was also a huge online audience, with 55.7 million views on Instagram and TikTok across the duration of the event.
"The magnificence of London's Royal Albert Hall and the splendour of Japan's finest Sumo Wrestlers was a recipe for success," British Sumo Federation President Steve Pateman said in June. "It has led to an enormous increase in the interest of Sumo and everything Japanese in the UK and we would love to see it return to London again soon."
