NPR’s news show, Day to Day, has a story (audio, 4:30 min.) on a sumo tournament held in Los Angeles.  The coverage of the tournament covers old ground (very basic), but it was interesting that the tournament took place abroad, even if it was just an exhibition.

For the first time in 27 years, 40 top-ranked athletes traveled to Los Angeles for an exhibition tournament. Most people have seen sumo wrestlers only in photographs, but pictures of these barely-clothed behemoths can’t capture the live spectacle as the wrestlers gracefully lumber into the sumo ring, or dohyo.

Most of the wrestlers who competed at the Los Angeles Sports Arena were more than 6 feet [183 cm] tall and well over 300 pounds [136 kg]. And though they all take Japanese sumo names like Takamisakari or Wakanosato, many hail from places like Bulgaria, Estonia and Mongolia.