Foreign food has been good but we get one meal too much Konishiki, visiting sumo player

Spectators are paying in excess of £100 to get some of the best seats in the Hall which has a capacity of 5000 and is already nearly a sell-out.

Sumo in Japan is comprised of around 800 full-time wrestlers divided into seven divisions. A tournament is called a Basho and lasts for 15 days.

The UK version has been shortened to a five-day contest. Each wrestler will fight once a day leading to the likelihood of a final day play-off.

But despite the shortened version, organisers promise the £2 million tournament will be as authentic and true to the Sumo spirit as possible.

Clay for the sacred dohyo (wrestling ring) has been specially selected from a quarry near Heathrow, while a huge drum and the ceremonial canopy, the yokata, have been shipped in from Japan.

The top 40 rikishi (wrestlers) are comprised of younger players and old masters, including the two yokozuma (grand champions) - Asahifuji and Hokutuomi.

But all eyes are on the heaviest sumo wrestler ever, and also a foreigner, Hawaiian Konishiki, who weighs 37.5 stone (238.25 kg).

Asked about his thoughts on England since arriving, Konishiki, nicknamed the Dump Truck, joked about the food:

"Usually in Japan we don't have breakfast...Foreign food has been good but we get one meal too much I guess."

Given their extreme weight and proportions, the wrestlers' accommodation at the Royal Garden Hotel has undergone certain modifications.

The management has weight-tested the lavatories, reinforced the beds and chairs and fitted special detachable showers - the original showers have too small a spray to cover the sportsmen's bodies.

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