Sumo is to stage a tournament in Paris for the first time in more than three decades next year in a push to expand the ancient sport beyond Japan, organizers said yesterday.
Accor Arena, which hosted basketball and gymnastics events at last year’s Paris Olympics, is to stage a two-day competition featuring top wrestlers in the French capital in June next year.
Japan Sumo Association (JSA) officials last month announced that they would also stage a tournament later this year at London’s Royal Albert Hall — the first overseas sumo competition in 20 years.
Photo: AFP
“It’s important for us to show our sport to the world,” JSA chairman Hakkaku told reporters at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan, where the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament is currently taking place. “And for the wrestlers, they’re the best in the world, they should be proud of that and see that they’re admired all over the world.”
Paris hosted sumo tournaments in 1986 and 1995 at the invitation of former French president Jacques Chirac, who was known to be a huge fan of the centuries-old sport.
Hakkaku, who competed at the 1986 Paris event, said he was “grateful for the long and deep relations between sumo and France.”
Photo: AFP
“We feel renewed joy and great responsibility as we prepare for our third performance in Paris in 2026,” he said. “We are committed to fully sharing the charm of sumo ... with the French people.”
French organizers said they would pull out all the stops to recreate the atmosphere of a sumo tournament in Japan.
David Rothschild, promoter and executive producer for events organizers AEG, said the Paris tournament would be part of a “festival” celebrating Japanese culture.
“When you say the word sumo, everyone in France knows it represents traditional Japanese culture,” he said.
“There was a time when it was shown on TV and there are people in France who are very knowledgeable about it,” Rothschild added. “But time flies and we want to introduce the beauty of sumo to a new generation.”
Sumo has staged events in several countries around the world, including the former Soviet Union, Mexico and the US.
The last overseas tournament organized by the JSA was in Las Vegas in 2005.
Hakkaku said the association’s efforts to bring sumo to audiences abroad were meant to “introduce people to the traditional culture of Japan.”
“We thought a lot about how to develop our sport after COVID and I think this was the best idea, but it was already in our plans before that,” he said.
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