Best shots from past Grand Sumo Tournaments around the world

The Japan Sumo Association has staged 13 Grand Sumo Tournaments overseas since its first in 1965 in the Soviet Union. This page looks back on those exhibition tours with exclusive photographs by Kyodo News.

File photo shows (from L) yokozuna Kashiwado, Taiho, Sadanoyama and Tochinoumi and other top-division wrestlers leaving the Port of Yokohama for a sumo exhibition tour of the Soviet Union on July 25, 1965. (Kyodo)

Skewered persimmons are hung for drying in Katsuragi in Wakayama Prefecture, on Nov. 5, 2024, as production of the seasonal specialty, a four-century-old tradition, hit its peak. (Kyodo/Masaki Takasaki)

File photo shows sumo wrestlers arriving at Beijing Capital International Airport during a sumo exhibition tour of China on April 3, 1973. (Kyodo)

File photo shows yokozuna Takanosato performing the ring-entering ceremony in front of New York City Hall on June 13, 1985.

File photo shows sumo wrestlers taking photos while on a sightseeing boat on the Seine in Paris in October 1986. (Kyodo)

File photo shows sumo wrestler Asashio being approached by curious tourists while he takes a break after visiting the Palace of Versailles in France in October 1986. (Kyodo)

File photo shows yokozuna Hokutoumi (2nd L) performing the ring-entering ceremony at Parque do Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on June 8, 1990. (Kyodo)

File photo shows sumo wrestlers Wakahanada (L), Akebono (C) and Mainoumi sightseeing in London on Oct. 6, 1991. (Kyodo)

File photo shows yokozuna Akebono taking a morning walk in Vienna on Oct. 7, 1995. (Kyodo)

File photo shows yokozuna Akebono shaking hands with a local child during a morning walk in Vienna on Oct. 7, 1995. (Kyodo)

French president Jacques Rene Chirac (2nd from L) has a pleasant chat with sumo wrestlers (from L) Takanonami, Wakanohana and Musashimaru at Palais de l'Elysee in Paris on Oct. 11, 1995. (Kyodo)

French president Jacques Rene Chirac has a pleasant chat with sumo wrestlers (from L) Wakanohana and Musashimaru at Palais de l'Elysee in Paris on Oct. 11, 1995. (Kyodo)

File photo shows sumo wrestlers Kyokushuzan (C) and Gojoro (R) riding horses for sightseeing in Melbourne on June 7, 1997. (Kyodo)

File photo shows Takanohana (C) and Wakanohana (R) yokozuna brothers posing for commemorative photos in front of the glacier at Lake Louise in Canada on June 3, 1998. (Kyodo)

File photo shows yokozuna Asashoryu (L) and Korean sumo wrestler Kasugao (R) posing for photos in Seoul on Feb. 12, 2004. (Kyodo)

File photo shows sumo wrestlers, including ozeki Chiyotaikai (2nd R) and Mongolian wrestler Hakuho (2nd L), visiting the Great Wall of China in suburban Beijing on June 4, 2004. (Kyodo)

File photo shows sumo wrestler Takamisakari (R) and Mongolian wrestler Hakuho sightseeing in Las Vegas on Oct. 10, 2005. (Kyodo)

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