Vancouver sumo club aims to push the ancient sport into modern times [Video]

Eva Yu said she started watching sumo matches last year and quickly became a self-described “super fan.”

“I can talk forever about sumo,” Yu said.

Her interest in Japan’s national sport eventually brought her to Sumo Sundays, which describes itself as “Canada’s only all-bodies sumo club.”

On Monday, Yu entered the sumo-wrestling circle, known as a dohyo, to compete in the 2025 Vancouver Basho, an amateur sumo exhibition hosted by Sumo Sundays at the Vancouver Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall in the Downtown Eastside. 

WATCH | Sumo Sundays hosts its 2nd tournament: After a successful event last year, the Sumo Sundays team brought back another basho — a sumo tournament. The inclusive amateur sumo exhibition featured live matches and demonstrations.

Yu said the transition from fan to competitor was “exhilarating,” and she even went home with some hardware. She said she won the competition’s Fighting Spirit Award, in part because of her pre-bout ritual, which was a tribute to recently-retired pro sumo wrestler Hokutofuji …