Overview

• Referees performed a ring-blessing at the Royal Albert Hall before bouts began, with drummers circling the dohyo as spectators looked on.
• More than 40 top-division rikishi are in London, with roughly 20 matches scheduled each night through October 19 and a playoff on Sunday considered likely.
• Crews hauled about 11 tons of clay and earth to build an authentic dohyo marked by rice-bale ropes shaped and set into place.
• The field features many Mongolian contenders and two Ukrainians, Aonishiki and Shishi, alongside names such as Midorifuji and grand champion Onosato.
• Wrestlers posed at London landmarks and even squeezed into black cabs, with Japan’s ambassador Hiroshi Suzuki sharing the scenes on social media.