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Sumo: London tournament

Japan Sumo Association head Hakkaku meets the press in London on Oct. 13, 2025, as about 120 sumo wrestlers are scheduled to take part in a five-day tournament from Oct. 15, the JSA's first overseas exhibition tour in 20 years, with the Royal Albert Hall hosting the event.

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Sumo: London tournament

Japan Sumo Association head Hakkaku arrive at Heathrow Airport in London on Oct. 11, 2025, for a five-day tournament from Oct. 15. About 120 sumo wrestlers will take part in the JSA's first overseas exhibition tour in 20 years, with the Royal Albert Hall hosting the event as it did in 1991.

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Sumo association to show off sport in London next Oct.

Japan Sumo Association head Hakkaku announces the JSA's first tour to London in 34 years in October 2025 during a press conference at Royal Albert Hall in the city on Dec. 4, 2024.

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Sumo association to show off sport in London next Oct.

Sumo wrestler Kitanowaka performs leg raising and stomping at Royal Albert Hall in London on Dec. 4, 2024. Japan Sumo Association head Hakkaku announced the JSA's first tour to the city in 34 years in October 2025 during a press conference at the hall.

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JSA head Hakkaku's ring-entering ceremony for 60th birthday celebration

Japan Sumo Association head Hakkaku (C) performs a ring-entering ceremony at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan hall on Sept. 2, 2023, wearing a red "tsuna" rope belt made for the former yokozuna's 60th birthday celebration. (Pool photo)

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JSA head Hakkaku's ring-entering ceremony for 60th birthday celebration

Japan Sumo Association head Hakkaku performs a ring-entering ceremony at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan hall on Sept. 2, 2023, wearing a red "tsuna" rope belt made for the former yokozuna's 60th birthday celebration. (Pool photo)

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JSA head Hakkaku's ring-entering ceremony for 60th birthday celebration

Japan Sumo Association head Hakkaku (C) performs a ring-entering ceremony at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan hall on Sept. 2, 2023, wearing a red "tsuna" rope belt made for the former yokozuna's 60th birthday celebration. (Pool photo)

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Sumo: JSA head Hakkaku's 60th birthday celebration

Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hakkaku tries on a red "tsuna" rope belt in Tokyo on Aug. 23, 2023, which was made for his 60th birthday ring-entering ceremony next month.

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Asashoryu suspended from autumn, Kyushu sumo tourneys

TOKYO, Japan - Isenoumi (R) and Musashigawa, both directors of the Japan Sumo Association, speak at a news conference in Tokyo on Aug. 1 about the JSA's decision to suspend yokozuna (grand champion) Asashoryu of Mongolia from the next two grand sumo tournaments as punishment for playing in a soccer charity event in his home country after opting to sit out the summer regional tour citing injuries.

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Asashoryu suspended from autumn, Kyushu sumo tourneys

TOKYO, Japan - Japan Sumo Association Chairman Toshimitsu Kitanoumi walks into a room to attend an emergency meeting of the board of directors at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan on Aug. 1. The meeting decided later to suspend Mongolian yokozuna Asashoryu from the next two grand sumo tournaments in September and November for playing in a charity soccer event in his home country after opting to sit out the summer regional training tour citing injuries. The JSA also decided to slap a 30 percent cut in the 26-year-old grand champion's pay for four months.

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Asashoryu suspended from autumn, Kyushu sumo tourneys

TOKYO, Japan - Takasago Stable elder Takasago looks nervous as he waits for a decision to be taken by the Japan Sumo Association on yokouzna Asashoryu on Aug. 1. The JSA decided later to suspend the Mongolian grand champion from the next two grand sumo tournaments in September and November for playing in a charity soccer event in his home country after opting to sit out the summer regional training tour citing injuries.

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Yokozuna Asashoryu to return to Mongolia for treatment

TOKYO, Japan - Takasago (R), stable master of Mongolian yokozuna (grand champion) Asashoryu, and Isenoumi, an executive of the Japan Sumo Association, apologize during a conference at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan on Aug. 28. An emergency meeting of JSA executives approved Ashashoryu's return to his homeland for treatment of a mental disorder.

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Yokozuna Asashoryu to return to Mongolia for treatment

TOKYO, Japan - Kitanoumi, chairman of the Japan Sumo Association, heads for an emergency meeting of JSA executives at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan on Aug. 28. The meeting approved Ashashoryu's return to his homeland for treatment of a mental disorder.

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Kotomitsuki set for ozeki debut as JSA releases autumn rankings

TOKYO, Japan - Newly promoted ozeki Kotomitsuki (R) and his stable master Sadogatake pose for photographers at the Sadogatake stable in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture on Aug. 27, holding up the rankings list for the Sept. 9-23 Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo released by the Japan Sumo Association earlier in the day.

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Disgraced former sumo coach dies

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken in September 2007 shows Junichi Yamamoto, a former sumo wrestler and coach. Yamamoto, who was fired by the Japan Sumo Association for his involvement in the death of a junior wrestler, has died at the age of 64 after suffering from lung cancer, a JSA source said Aug. 12, 2014. Known as the head stablemaster of Tokitsukaze, he was given a five-year prison sentence in the manslaughter case.

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Disgraced former sumo coach dies

TOKYO, Japan - File photo taken in October 2007 shows head sumo stablemaster Tokitsukaze (L) surrounded by the press when an urgent board meeting of the Japan Sumo Association was convened at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan following the death of a junior wrester. Tokitsukaze, whose real name was Junichi Yamamoto, has died at the age of 64 after suffering from lung cancer, a JSA source said Aug. 12, 2014. He was fired by the JSA for his involvement in the death and was given a five-year prison sentence in the manslaughter case.

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Kitanoumi reelected as JSA chairman

TOKYO, Japan - Sumo elder Kitanoumi gives a press conference at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo after being reelected as chairman of the Japan Sumo Association on March 24, 2014.

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JSA forgoes appeal, Sokokurai to return in July

TOKYO, Japan - Sumo wrestler Sokokurai (L) shakes hands with his stablemaster Arashio in Tokyo on April 3, 2013, after the Japan Sumo Association decided not to appeal a court ruling that orders the body to reinstate Sokokurai, whom the body had expelled in 2011 over match fixing. Sokokurai will make his comeback at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament in July as a No. 15 maegashira.

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JSA forgoes appeal, Sokokurai to return in July

TOKYO, Japan - Sumo wrestler Sokokurai holds a press conference in Tokyo on April 3, 2013, after the Japan Sumo Association decided not to appeal a court ruling that orders the body to reinstate Sokokurai, whom the body had expelled in 2011 over match fixing. Sokokurai will make his comeback at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament in July as a No. 15 maegashira.

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Court nullifies sumo body's dismissal of ex-wrestler

TOKYO, Japan - Former sumo wrestler Sokokurai (front) is surrounded by fans in front of the Tokyo District Court on March 25, 2013, after the court ruled earlier in the day that the Japan Sumo Association's dismissal of Sokokurai of the top-tier makuuchi division in 2011 over match fixing was invalid. The 29-year-old Chinese-born former maegashira, whose real name is Enhetubuxin, had demanded to be reinstated as a wrestler after he was sacked by the JSA in April 2011 for refusing to retire over his alleged involvement in the match-fixing scandal.

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Sumo match fixing

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken April 1, 2011, shows stablemaster Tanigawa in Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan sumo arena. Tanigawa and 19 wrestlers were asked to quit by the Japan Sumo Association the same day for their alleged involvement in match fixing. Tanigawa said he would take the JSA to court to challenge the punishment.

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Request not to cancel another sumo meet

TOKYO, Japan - Head of the yokozuna deliberation council Takuhiko Tsuruta (C) and members of the council head to an extraordinary board meeting at Ryogoku Kokugikan sumo arena in Tokyo on March 10, 2011. The council said the same day that it had asked the Japan Sumo Association to hold the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament as scheduled in Tokyo in May as the spring tournament scheduled for March was scrapped in the wake of a bout-rigging scandal. The council considers candidates for promotion to sumo's top rank of yokozuna, or grand champion, before passing its recommendations to the JSA.

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Spring sumo meet canceled over match-fixing scandal

TOKYO, Japan - Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hanaregoma heads to a JSA council meeting in Tokyo on Feb. 6, 2011. The association decided to cancel the upcoming Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in March over a match-fixing scandal.

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Spring sumo tournament on verge of cancellation

TOKYO, Japan - Shigeru Ito (C), leader of the Japan Sumo Association's special board of investigation committee on a match-fixing allegation, attends a meeting in Tokyo on Feb. 5, 2011. The JSA has reportedly decided to cancel the upcoming Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka over the scandal.

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March sumo tourney might be canceled

TOKYO, Japan - Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hanaregoma speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Feb. 4, 2011. He suggested that the JSA may cancel the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament slated for March 13-27 in Osaka due to a match-fixing scandal that has rocked the ancient sport to its core and sparked public outrage.

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JSA Chair Hanaregoma at press conference

TOKYO, Japan - Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hanaregoma (R) describes alleged match fixing at a press conference in Tokyo on Feb. 2, 2011. The chairman apologized for yet another scandal involving the national sport but said he was not able to confirm the truth of the allegation after summoning about 10 people the same day for questioning over cellphone text messages implying rigged bouts.

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JSA Chair Hanaregoma at press conference

TOKYO, Japan - Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hanaregoma bows in apology for yet another scandal involving the national sport at a press conference in Tokyo on Feb. 2, 2011. The chairman said, however, he was not able to confirm the truth of the allegation after summoning about 10 people the same day for questioning over cellphone text messages implying rigged bouts.

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'Devil of the Dohyo' Wakanohana dies at 82

Tokyo, Japan - File photo taken in March 1992 shows the original former grand champion Wakanohana, whose real name was Katsuji Hanada, who died of kidney cancer at a Tokyo hospital on Sept. 1, 2010, at 82. Hanada, whose nickname was the ''Devil of the Dohyo,'' also served as a JSA chairman.

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JSA issues anti-mobster declaration

TOKYO, Japan - Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hanaregoma reads out a declaration at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan on Aug. 30, 2010, pledging to permanently keep mobsters out of sumo and to fight against the criminal underworld.

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JSA issues anti-mobster declaration

TOKYO, Japan - Japan Sumo Association Chairman Hanaregoma (C, front) reads out a declaration at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan on Aug. 30, 2010, pledging to permanently keep mobsters out of sumo and to fight against the criminal underworld.

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Wrestlers gather at sumo association meeting

TOKYO, Japan - Grand champion Hakuho (L) and ozeki Kaio (R) take part in a meeting with other wrestlers, staff members and leaders of the Japan Sumo Association at the Ryogoku Kokugikan gymnasium in Tokyo on Aug. 23, 2010. The JSA in a rare move held the meeting as part of efforts to restore the sport's tarnished reputation in the wake of a series of gang-linked scandals.

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Sumo association not to present Emperor's Cup at Nagoya meet

TOKYO, Japan - The Japan Sumo Association will not present the Emperor's Cup (file photo) in a ceremony to congratulate the winner of the upcoming Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament because of a gambling scandal rocking the ancient sport, the association said on July 7, 2010. The JSA voted not to go through with the presentation of awards, including the Prime Minister's Cup, saying that doing so would be inappropriate under the current circumstances.

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Fired ozeki Kotomitsuki erroneously listed in new rankings

TOKYO, Japan - The name of ozeki Kotomitsuki (pointed to by a finger) appears on a new sumo rankings list for the upcoming Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament released by the Japan Sumo Association on July 5, 2010, a day after the JSA decided to fire Kotomitsuki and stablemaster Otake for being the central figures in a widespread gambling scandal.

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Fired ozeki Kotomitsuki erroneously listed in new rankings

TOKYO, Japan - A sumo fan looks at a new sumo rankings list for the upcoming Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament released by the Japan Sumo Association in front of Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan on July 5, 2010. The list includes the name of ozeki Kotomitsuki, whom the JSA decided on July 4 to fire for being one of the central figures in a widespread gambling scandal.

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JSA fires Kotomitsuki over gambling scandal

NAGOYA, Japan - Sumo stablemaster Sadogatake bows in apology in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, on July 4, 2010, after the Japan Sumo Association decided to fire ozeki Kotomitsuki, who belonged to Sadogatake's stable, for being one of the central figures in a widespread gambling scandal. The JSA has also decided to fire stablemaster Otake.

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JSA fires Kotomitsuki over gambling scandal

NAGOYA, Japan - Sumo stablemaster Otake speaks to reporters at a hotel in Nagoya on July 4, 2010, after the Japan Sumo Association decided to fire Otake and ozeki Kotomitsuki for being the central figures in a widespread gambling scandal. Otake was found to have borrowed 20 million to 30 million yen from Kotomitsuki as he was mired in debts accumulated through illegal gambling.

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JSA fires Kotomitsuki over gambling scandal

NAGOYA, Japan - Sumo stablemaster Otake (R) speaks to reporters at a hotel in Nagoya on July 4, 2010, after the Japan Sumo Association decided to fire Otake and ozeki Kotomitsuki for being the central figures in a widespread gambling scandal. Otake was found to have borrowed 20 million to 30 million yen from Kotomitsuki as he was mired in debts accumulated through illegal gambling.

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JSA fires Kotomitsuki over gambling scandal

NAGOYA, Japan - Sumo stablemaster Onomatsu, the coach of several wrestlers who allegedly gambled on baseball, bows in apology at a hotel in Nagoya on July 4, 2010, after the Japan Sumo Association decided to demote him two ranks and make him ineligible for promotion for the next 10 years. (Pool photo)

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JSA fires Kotomitsuki over gambling scandal

NAGOYA, Japan - Sumo stablemaster Tokitsukaze, who gambled on baseball when he was a wrestler, speaks to reporters at a hotel in Nagoya on July 4, 2010, after the Japan Sumo Association decided to demote him to ''toshiyori'' in the sumo hierarchy and to keep him at the lowest rank on probation for five years. (Pool photo)

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JSA fires Kotomitsuki over gambling scandal

NAGOYA, Japan - Japan Sumo Association Chairman Musashigawa speaks at a news conference at a hotel in Nagoya on July 4, 2010, after the JSA decided to fire ozeki Kotomitsuki and stablemaster Otake for being the central figures in a widespread gambling scandal at an extraordinary meeting of its board of directors.

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JSA fires Kotomitsuki over gambling scandal

NAGOYA, Japan - Hiroyoshi Murayama, a former Tokyo High Prosecutors Office chief, speaks at a news conference at a hotel in Nagoya on July 4, 2010, after being named by the Japan Sumo Association as JSA Chairman Musashigawa's fill-in. Musashigawa will be suspended until the end of the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament, which runs from July 11 to 25 at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, over his disciples' involvement in a widespread gambling scandal.

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JSA fires Kotomitsuki over gambling scandal

NAGOYA, Japan - Hiroyoshi Murayama (R), a former Tokyo High Prosecutors Office chief, speaks at a news conference at a hotel in Nagoya on July 4, 2010, with Japan Sumo Association Chairman Musashigawa. Murayama will act as JSA chief because Musashigawa will be suspended until the end of the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament, which runs from July 11 to 25 at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, over his disciples' involvement in a widespread gambling scandal.

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JSA fires Kotomitsuki over gambling scandal

NAGOYA, Japan - Mongolian yokozuna (grand champion) Hakuho (L) and other sumo wrestlers implicated in various forms of illegal gambling in a third-party investigation bow in apology during a press conference at a hotel in Nagoya on July 4, 2010. Hakuho has admitted to betting some tens of thousands of yen on ''hanafuda'' Japanese playing card games.

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JSA fires Kotomitsuki over gambling scandal

NAGOYA, Japan - Sumo wrestlers and stable masters punished by the Japan Sumo Association over a widespread gambling scandal bow in apology during a press conference at a hotel in Nagoya on July 4, 2010. The JSA has fired ozeki Kotomitsuki and stablemaster Otake for being the central figures in the scandal.

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Ex-prosecutor Murayama named as acting JSA chief

TOKYO, Japan - This undated file photo shows Hiroshi Murayama, a former chief of the Tokyo High Prosecutors Office, who was named as acting chairman of the Japan Sumo Association. The current JSA chief Musashigawa is to be suspended from the July 11-25 Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament due to a spate of gambling scandals involving wrestlers and members of the association.

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JSA holds extra board meeting on illegal gambling

TOKYO, Japan - Members of the Japan Sumo Association hold an extraordinary meeting in Tokyo on June 28, 2010, to discuss illegal gambling on baseball by sumo stablemasters and wrestlers.

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JSA holds extra board meeting on illegal gambling

TOKYO, Japan - The Japan Sumo Association (JSA) holds an extraordinary meeting in Tokyo on June 28, 2010, to discuss illegal gambling on baseball by sumo stablemasters and wrestlers. Among the members attending the meeting is Shigeru Ito (L), who heads a special investigative panel, and JSA Chairman Musashigawa (3rd from L).

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JSA holds extra board meeting on illegal gambling

TOKYO, Japan - Members of the Japan Sumo Association (JSA) hold an extraordinary meeting in Tokyo on June 28, 2010, to discuss illegal gambling on baseball by sumo stablemasters and wrestlers. Among the members attending the meeting is Shigeru Ito, who heads a special investigative panel (L), JSA Chairman Musashigawa (3rd from L) and Hiroyoshi Murayama, former Tokyo High Prosecutors Office chief who is now a board member outside the JSA.

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Kotomitsuki, 29 JSA members admit to gambling

TOKYO, Japan - Ozeki Kotomitsuki, a sumo wrestler in the second-highest rank of the sport, gets into a vehicle near his residence in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, on June 17, 2010. Kotomitsuki confessed to his involvement in illegal gambling on baseball, a scandal over which Tokyo police grilled a sumo stablemaster the same day.

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Association to pay Asa 120 mil. yen in retirement settlement

TOKYO, Japan - Japan Sumo Association Chairman Musashigawa leaves a meeting of JSA directors at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan on Feb. 10, 2010, after the meeting decided to pay an undisclosed retirement settlement to former yokozuna Asashoryu of Mongolia, who last week quit the sport following allegations he attacked a man outside a Tokyo nightclub in a drunken rage. According to a source close to the JSA, it is believed Asashoryu will receive 120 million yen in retirement benefits.