Sumo is coming to Jakarta, as officials plan to host the traditional Japanese martial art's first-ever tournament in Indonesia.



A Japanese business consulting company, Gotanda Denshi, in cooperation with the Japanese Sumo Association, announced on Thursday that they would hold a two-day sumo tournament at the Senayan Sports Hall from Aug. 24 to 25.



The tournament will be held to mark the 40th anniversary of Japanese-ASEAN relations as well as the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Japan, its erstwhile colonizer during the World War II.



The tournament, thought to be the first sumo event to be held outside Japan since an event in Mongolia in 2008, is expected to attended by hundreds of professional sumo wrestlers (rikishi) from Japan.



However, according to tournament organizing committee chief Takuji Motooka, who is also chairman of the Jakarta-Japan Club Foundation, the number of participants would depend on the results of a tournament in July.



Information about tickets would be announced later, Motooka added.



Onoe Oyakata from the Japanese Sumo Association said that it would be a honor to introduce the traditional Japanese sport to Indonesia. 'We hope that the event will strengthen the relationships between Japan and Indonesia and Japan and ASEAN,' he told reporters on Thursday.



The deputy chief of mission of Japan to ASEAN, Takako Ito, said that event originated with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who said during a visit to Indonesia three months ago that Japan needed a new strategy to strengthen its relations with nations in Southeast Asia.



'The tournament will be broadcast on Japan television stations,' Ito said.



Third-rank rikishi Kaido HÃ¶Ã¶velson from Estonia said that there were around 800 rikishi in Japan, including around 60 from Europe, Russia and Mongolia, among other places.



HÃ¶Ã¶velson, who was given the shikona, or fighting name, of Baruto, said that he had been captivated by sumo when as teenager and moved to Japan when he was 18 to pursue his interest professionally.



Indonesia-Japan Friendship Association chairman Rahmat Gobel said that Indonesia should be proud to have a sumo event.



'We have met with Vice President Boediono, and he gave his full support to this event. He urged us to learn from the tradition that has been preserved for centuries.'



For the Japanese, sumo is a tradition that has been part of life for centuries, Oyakata said. The sport develops many values including fighting spirit, patience, endurance, sincerity and courtesy.

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