Sawt Falasteen - Sumo returns to Paris and turns heads

In their kimonos and sandals, their hair oiled and tied in buns, the 1.93m (6-foot-4) Takaaki Tsukahara, whose fighting name is "Tochitaikai", and the 1.77m Hideki Suzuki, "Tochikodai", were conspicuous as they went sightseeing.

Tochitaikai, like any good tourist, posed so that he appeared to be grabbing the Louvre pyramid with his fingertips. Meanwhile, other tourists were keen to take selfies with him as their monument.

"In Paris, the buildings are magnificent, I am amazed," the 25-year-old Tochitaikai told AFP.

Tochitaikai was travelling outside Japan for the first time to promote a rare foray overseas by his sport

Foreign tournaments were quite common in the 1980s and 1990s but there has not been a professional event abroad since a trip to Las Vegas in 2005.

The two rikishis were in Paris for the announcement of a tournament at the Bercy arena, site of gymnastics and the basketball finals at the 2024 Olympics, in June 2026.

It will be the third sumo tournament in the country.

The first, in 1986, made Jacques Chirac, at the time mayor of Paris, a fan. By the time of the second tournament in 1995, Chirac had been elected French president.

On a grey, chilly February afternoon, Tochitaikai and Tochikodai visited the Eiffel Tower, its upper reaches shrouded in fog, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, the Trocadero and the city hall, posing for photos with the landmarks and with passers by.

"Honestly, when I saw them, it immediately reminded me of President Chirac because he loved it, it was his passion. It's a pleasure, I'm very happy to have them here," says Hamade Bettayeb, a 51-year-old truck driver.

The two men could be back next year, if their results are good enough.

Tochikodai says he likes to take sumo on the road.

"In Tokyo, it's less the case, but when we go to the regions, people are happy, there is admiration," he said.

Tochitaikai said he was living his dream.

"I think we represent something sacred in Japan and precious to the Japanese," he said.

"I wasn't very good at school and I didn't see myself studying," he said.

"So I told myself that I was going to earn my living with my body, it was quite obvious for me to choose this path."

M.Qasim--SF-PST