There's something fascinating about Japan's national sport sumo , even though the titanic clashes between the enormous, near-naked wrestlers, some weighing well over 100kg, can be blindingly brief - the average weight is 136kg, while Konishiki weighed 272kg. However, the age-old pomp and ceremony that surrounds sumo - from the design of the dohyo (the ring in which the bouts take place), to the wrestler's hair slicked back into a topknot - give the sport a gravitas completely absent from Western wrestling.

Despite their formidable girth, top rikishi (wrestlers) such as Takanohana and his recently retired brother Wakanohana enjoy the media status of supermodels. But, in a neat reversal of Japan's appropriation of baseball and export of pro-players to the US league, three of sumo's most revered stars were born abroad - both the top-ranked yokuzuna Konishiki (aka the "dump truck") and Akebono, who retired in 1998 and 2001 respectively, were born in Hawaii, while the up-and-coming American-Samoan Musashimaru won four basho in 1999.

Accounts of sumo bouts ( basho ) are related in Japan's oldest annals of history when it was a Shinto rite connected with praying for a good harvest. By the Edo period, sumo had developed into a spectator sport and really hit its stride in the post-World War II period when basho started to be televised. The old religious trappings remain, though: the gyoji (referee) wears robes not dissimilar to those of a Shinto priest and above the dohyo hangs a thatched roof like those found at shrines.

At the start of a bout the two rikishi wade into the ring, wearing only mawashi aprons, which look like giant nappies. Salt is tossed to purify the ring, the rikishi hunker down and indulge in the time-honoured ritual of psyching each other out with menacing stares. When ready, each rikishi attempts to throw his opponent to the ground or out of the ring using one or more of 48 legitimate techniques. The first to touch the ground with any part of his body other than his feet, or to step out of the dohyo , loses.

When not fighting in tournaments, groups of rikishi live and train together at their heya (stables), the youngest wrestlers acting pretty much as the menial slaves of their elder, more experienced colleagues. If you make an advance appointment, it's possible to visit some heya to observe the early-morning practice sessions; contact the TIC in Tokyo for details. For all you could want to know and more on the current scene, plus how to buy tickets, check out the official Web site of sumo's governing body Nihon Sumo Kyokai , at www.sumo.or.jp/index_e.html