basho, basho, basho!
Following the success of our inaugural basho in 2024, Sumo Sundays is excited to bring back another amateur sumo exhibition for 2025!
With support from Powell Street Festival, and sponsored by Fujiya Japanese Foods and DMCL Chartered Professional Accountants, our 2025 basho offers an afternoon of family-friendly sumo entertainment. Including live matches featuring men’s and gender diverse brackets (inclusive of women, non-binary and gender diverse folks) and sumo demonstrations, this event is one you won’t want to miss.
Plus: watch/listen as one of Katari Taiko’s members calls in competitors through the drum. Limited food will be available for sale on-site from Fujiya.
- When: Monday, May 19, 2025 @ 1-5:30 pm (Victoria Day)
- Where: Vancouver Japanese Language School & Hall (487 Alexander St.), Vancouver, B.C.
- Tickets: $20-30 or $5 for children 12 and under
For questions, email sumosundays [at] gmail [dot] com.
Watch
Join us for a full day of live sumo and taiko drumming at the historic Vancouver Japanese Language School! All ages are welcome.
Early bird tickets are available at $15 until April 19. Standard tickets are offered on a sliding scale from $20-30 with children’s tickets (12 and under) at $5.
Compete
This year’s brackets include space for participants with limited experience in sumo, as well as those looking for a more competitive experience. We will also have open gender brackets and brackets specifically for women, non-binary and gender-diverse folks. Trans folks are welcome in all brackets.
$20/bracket, max. 2 brackets/competitor. Closes April 30 or until full.
Volunteer
Interested in volunteering for our event? We’re looking for folks to help with tasks throughout the day. Perks include access to the event and a few other fun things.
Kayla Isomura
In 2022, Kayla co-founded Sumo Sundays as a way for others to learn basic knowledge of an activity they only accessed once a year at Powell Street Festival. An on/off competitor since trying sumo at the 2015 festival, Kayla now co-leads fundamentals classes through Sumo Sundays and regularly manages all aspects of the club. While Kayla acknowledges they know very little about professional sumo, their drive for Sumo Sundays stems from their experiences at the festival. After flailing in the ring at the festival’s amateur exhibition for years, Kayla managed to finesse just enough skills through impromptu training to earn a first-place prize in 2022 (aka the big bag of rice). As a result, their goal is not only to facilitate opportunities to learn but to create inclusive spaces that reflect themselves, their friends and broader communities. Outside of Sumo Sundays, Kayla is also involved with Kikiai Collaborative and has volunteered/participated/worked with countless other Japanese Canadian organizations and events.
Lydia Luk
Lydia Luk and their family have roots in colonized lands of Hong Kong and was raised and nurtured on the unceded and ancestral homelands of the wməθ kwəyəm (Musqueam), sḵwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and selílwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) nations. Lydia continues and is committed to un/learning what it means to be a racialized settler on these lands. Recognized for their work in the community by Xtra West twice, first as a Leader of the Future and the second time as one of Vancouver’s Top 30 Under 30, Celebrated BC’s Brightest Queers and has been nominated twice for the Pride Legacy Awards for creating Safe Spaces in Community and Outstanding Youth Work. Lydia has been involved with community organizing and peer-led education for 20 years working with youth, seniors, people with disabilities, newcomers, refugees, sexually and gender diverse folks. As a person who lives in intersections of gender, sexuality, race, class and disabilities, Lydia brings their enthusiasm for intersectional community development and experience in community mobilization, engagement with social justice. Sometimes referring themselves as an asian little soup dumpling, you’ll find this small-fat, non-binary, queer, tender PoC bouncing and rolling around having fun while hoping to make changes in the most delicious ways!
Satoshi Schulte
Satoshi Schulte grew up watching sumo but never tried the sport until later in life. Introduced to Sumo Sundays through the 2023 Powell Street Festival, he shares that he had previously tried sumo with friends at a local beach in Vancouver, B.C. Following the 2023 festival where he chose to watch, not compete, Satoshi soon attended Sumo Sundays and hasn’t stopped since. A big supporter of the organization’s growing community, Satoshi participated in the 2024 basho (tournament) and the 2024 Powell Street Festival, where he also volunteered with Sumo Sundays. His passion for sumo has now extended beyond Sumo Sundays with extra training on his own time.
extra hands:
- Sophie Yamauchi Latimer, Powell Street Festival Society
- Vanessa Matsubara, Powell Street Festival Society
- Bryan Chan, Sumo Sundays