UK Grand Sumo Poster Design Competition - Winners
In October 2025, sumo made its momentous return to the UK for the first time since 1991 with the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall.
The Japan Society invited children and young people across the UK to learn all about sumo and to design a poster to promote the Grand Sumo Tournament's return to the Royal Albert Hall. Entrants were asked to incorporate key elements that represented sumo, Japan, and the UK within their poster design, to highlight and showcase the event itself and the friendship between Japan and the UK. See below for the results and gallery.
Primary | Secondary | Honourable Mentions | Image Gallery
Contest Results
We received almost 200 entries from children and young people all over the UK! We were amazed by everyone's creativity and keen attention to detail, and it was clear to see how much time and effort people had put into their designs. The Japan Society would like to extend a big thank you to everyone who took part in the competition and for sharing their wonderful designs with us; we hope that you enjoyed being able to learn all about sumo and designing your poster!
After much careful deliberation, we are delighted to announce the results of the competition!
See below for the winners and runners-up in the Primary and Secondary categories, and other honourable mentions.
Primary
Congratulations to Aidan (7), the winner of the Primary category, and the runners-up Ashton (10) and Ellora (10)!
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| Winner! Aidan (7) |
Runner-up Ashton (10) |
Runner-up Ellora (10) |
Secondary
Congratulations to Jessie (17), the winner of the Secondary category, and the runners-up Christopher (12) and Bethany (13)!
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| Winner! Jessie (17) |
Runner-up Christopher (12) |
Runner-up Bethany (13) |
Honourable Mentions
We received so many fabulous entries, so it was a big challenge choosing just three winners for each category. We would like to share with you a couple of our staff's favourite designs!
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| Tedric (5) | Tristan (7) | Hoi To Ruby (8) |
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| Dhyaana (12) | Yaroslava (14) | Sophia (17) |
Congratulations to all the winners and once again, a big thank you to everyone who took part! We hope you will continue to learn more all about sumo and Japan!
A huge thank you to Japan Centre for sponsoring this competition! Their generous support has allowed young artists across the country to take part in this celebration of the Japan-UK relationship.
Check out some of our free online resources on our website to learn more about Japan.
Or, sign up to our mailing list to be the first to know about competitions like this in the future!
The UK Grand Sumo Poster Design Competition is a collaboration between The Japan Society and the Royal Albert Hall.
Sponsored by Japan Centre.
Gallery
Check out some of the shortlisted entries from both categories of the competition!
