Like a wrestler entering the ring, sumo is straddling the brink of a new era.

Japan’s national sport seems more popular than ever. Attendance has bounced back from the pandemic; all 90 days of bouts in 2024 were sold out. The Japan Sumo Association, which oversees the sport, is enjoying record revenues. This autumn, it will hold a tournament in London’s Royal Albert Hall, the first outside Japan in years.

And after decades of dominance by foreign-born wrestlers, the country again has a homegrown champion. Last month Onosato became just the second Japanese this century to be named to the highest rank of yokozuna — and at the age of just 25, he could be the face of sumo for years to come.