Sumo show in restaurant to attract tourists

A tourist from the US, dressed in a Sumo outfit, tries to push former wrestler Towanoyama into the ring at the Yokozuna Tonkatsu restaurant Dosukoi Tanaka Photo: REUTERS

Bring laughter to everyone

Sumo is a Japanese sport full of aesthetics and art. Before the 9th century, this martial art was used in court ceremonies. By the 18th century, Sumo developed into a form of entertainment for the people. However, the Sumo ring is purified before the match by throwing salt and the roof is modeled after the architecture of a Shinto shrine, so it is not easy to watch a Sumo match.

But now, at a restaurant in the center of Tokyo, tourists only need to spend 11,000 yen (about 76 USD) to watch or compete with Sumo wrestlers. In addition, they can also enjoy traditional Japanese cuisine .

The story begins with a Sumo wrestler named Yasuhiro Tanaka - the owner of this restaurant. Before that, he founded a company to help former wrestlers have more advertising and film work. From November 2022, he decided to open Yokozuna Tonkatsu Dosukoi Tanaka restaurant, after Japan resumed visa exemption for tourists .

The restaurant has a sumo ring and 14 tables. One of the six wrestlers performing here is Koto Ohtori, who after two decades of competing in sumo at the top level, is happy to be able to perform the traditional martial art for tourists and see the interesting smiles on their faces. “I can interact with people. I hope tourists and Japanese people will understand this sport better,” Ohtori shared.

Visitors were particularly excited to participate in a sumo wrestling match at the Yokozuna Tonkatsu Dosukoi Tanaka restaurant. Jose Aguillar, 46, from Mexico shared his joyful experience enjoying the iconic sport of Japan. He was dressed in a sumo outfit and faced his opponent Jumbo in the ring. “At first, I was quite confused and wondered why I chose to fight first. But it was a great decision,” Aguillar said excitedly after pushing Jumbo out of the ring.

Sumo has helped the restaurant thrive so much that Mr. Tanaka said he is looking to hire more wrestlers for evening shows.

Contribute to cultural preservation and promote tourism

In Tokyo, there is a similar restaurant called Hananoma, which takes diners back to the Edo period, when Sumo culture flourished. The restaurant has a nostalgic décor with sliding doors, and the front area looks like an old Japanese house with tiled roofs and traditional woodblock prints. Inside, right in the middle of the restaurant is a dohyo (sumo wrestlers' ring), which looks like a stage for bands, singers, or even retired sumo wrestlers to entertain diners. Performances can be songs or drumming performances typically seen in traditional sumo matches. If you want, diners can challenge the wrestlers to get into the sumo ring for once in their life.

Of course, the most important thing in a restaurant is still the food. All the food in the restaurant, like the space itself, is inspired by Sumo. The most famous and most wanted dish is the “Sumo hotpot” chanko-nabe. Looking at the “giant” hotpot, many people will be skeptical, but this is just a normal portion in the diet of wrestlers.

It can be said that restaurants like Hananomai and Tanaka are places that preserve the golden moments in Japanese history, while contributing to the preservation of culture in the land of the "rising sun". This is also part of the tourism ecosystem that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expects to contribute 5,000 billion yen to the national budget each year. In fact, the number of tourists to Japan this summer is estimated to reach 1.2 million, double that of the same period last year.

Thai An

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