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Starring: Yonezawa Daiku, Terunofuji Haruo, Kosei
Sumo: The soul weighs nothing (2026), directed by Eric Shirai, is a beautifully shot Japanese documentary that offers insight into the world of sumo wrestling. The digitally shot documentary uses warm black-and-white monochrome, giving it an old-school Japanese look. The action mainly takes place in a sumo training facility in Japan, where the audience is introduced to the trainees, who must spend 6 months here for intensive training before becoming sumo wrestlers. Most importantly, we meet Hiradumi Yuki, an up-and-coming sumo wrestler who is starting to climb. Hiradumi’s story before and after the sumo championship is a large and very fascinating narrative of the documentary.
Spectators are given a sufficient amount of information about sports. The rules are briefly summarized – opponents are simply required to remove their opponent from the ring or bring any part of their body other than their legs to the ground. Also important to include is that sumo wrestling is rapidly declining. Sports are closely related to ancient Japanese traditions, including religions, ideologies, and mythologies. At a time when the country is rapidly modernizing, these spiritual ideas about Japan’s historical identity have been left behind. The documentary provides some statistics on how drastically the number of sumo wrestlers is decreasing and shows how detrimental this is to the wrestlers who are not only fighting to win, but also to their deep-rooted passion to maintain the sport.
Centering on the wrestler Hiradumi is an inspiring, brilliant and artistic choice by the filmmakers. He is currently one of the highest rated wrestlers and the documentary explores the trials and tribulations he went through, including the setbacks he faced. The audience also sees his home life and feels how important sumo is to him and how he dedicates himself to the sport, regardless of the costs.
Another wrestler who is in the spotlight is Kosei. Kosei is among the youngest and smallest wrestlers. His body type is very different which makes him quite handsome. Instead of using brute force and intimidation, which most wrestlers do, his lack of strength and size puts him at a high risk of injury, so he must use his quickness and speed to catch opponents.
Aside from the obvious risk of injury in wrestling, the documentary goes into detail about sumo’s effects on longevity. Due to extreme weight gain and intensive training, life expectancy of sumo wrestlers is reduced by 20 years. Wrestlers put their bodies under extreme stress, eating about 10,000 calories a day, mostly from plain rice. The documentary shows how this is a real struggle for the students at the sumo institution, especially for Kosei, who expresses nausea after eating so much and is still told to eat more.
There are some interesting studies on the influence of Japanese culture and how sumo stands out as such a unique sport compared to westernized sports. Although sumo is the biggest sport in Japan, the tournaments themselves are extremely civilized. Winners don’t celebrate; There is no huge crowd reaction, instead there is a continuous respectful silence and order throughout. This shows how important the sport is to the Japanese who care about it, viewing it as a religious ceremony where a manner of politeness and calmness is required. The competitors themselves are very reserved, there is never a show of arrogance, and students talk about how being obsessed with winning can be toxic to their ability to compete.
Overall, Sumo: Spirit Weighs Nothing (2026) is a brilliant portrayal of one of the world’s most unique and exciting sports. Sumo is distinguished by its iconic, recognizable form, the wrestlers, their uniforms and the arenas themselves. Sumo has been revered for over a century and continues to hold symbolic value, practiced in the same traditional manner to honor its heritage. It is fantastic to have such an in-depth look into a personal world that will be interesting and useful to those interested in learning more.
Sumo: Spirit Weighs Nothing has been selected for the 2026 London Film Festival.
