Rikkyo University is offering its international students the chance to try their hand at the traditional Japanese sport of sumo on Saturday Dec. 10, by mingling with members of the university's sumo team.

The Sumo Workshop event will allow foreign students to experience Japanese culture while simultaneously allowing members of the sumo team-normally busy with their training-to engage in international exchange.

Participants will also be able to sample chanko-nabe, a Japanese traditional pot dish commonly served to sumo wrestlers. Pot dishes will be prepared in consideration of the respective religions of individual foreign students.

The event was voluntarily organized by young university staffers to help promote further internationalization at the university, which has been selected as a Top Global University by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. During the previous academic year, the university organized an event that allowed 20 foreign students to learn first-hand about the Japanese martial art of kendo.

The sumo team, which was established in 1919, is one of Japan's oldest and strongest university sumo clubs. In recent years, however, it has suffered from a shortage of members.

The team has a long tradition of accepting "helpers" from other clubs that belong to the university's Athletic Association, echoing the 1992 film "Sumo Do, Sumo Don't," directed by Masayuki Suo, in which British student George Smiley (played by Robert Hoffman) joined a university sumo club as a "helper," elevating the club to the second-tier level. (Suo's film was selected as Best Picture at the 16th Japan Academy Film Prize and the 35th Blue Ribbon Awards.)

The sumo team hopes to discover one or more Smiley-like individuals among the overseas students who participate in the event, and urge them to join the club.

Rikkyo University is headed by President Tomoya Yoshioka; the main campus is located in Toshima Ward, Tokyo.

-----------------------------------------------

Outline of Sumo Workshop

-----------------------------------------------

Date and time: 2 p.m.- 5 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 10, 2016

Location: Sumo dojo in Niiza Campus gymnasium, Rikkyo University, Kitano 1-2-26, Niiza City, Saitama Prefecture

Participants: About 25 in total (including sumo team and foreign students)

Activities: Under the auspices of sumo team members, participants will warm up, don a mawashi belt and practice such movements as shiko, suriashi and teppo, while physically interacting with members of the sumo team. Participants will also be able to watch sumo wrestlers engage in sparring bouts, and, following the training session, tuck into chanko-nabe.