With the Japan Sumo Association¡¯s (JSA) first trip to London in 34 years being far more successful than almost anyone could have expected, the possibility of a return visit has already been raised by the people involved.

But while there is clearly an audience for sumo in the British capital, don¡¯t expect banzuke and bintsuke to become as closely associated with London as bobbies and black cabs anytime soon.

According to longtime NHK sumo commentator Hiro Morita ¡ª who was MC for the Royal Albert Hall tournament ¡ª the JSA isn¡¯t very proactive when it comes to such matters and it could be a decade or more before discussions over a return to the U.K. turn serious.

However, even if European fans never get to see this generation of wrestlers in the flesh again, the just-completed five-day exhibition tournament at the historic and venerable London venue is bound to have a significant impact across the continent.

Over the course of the past 10 days, sumo received wall-to-wall coverage in mainstream British media.

The BBC streamed the ¡°Grand Sumo Tournament¡± ¡ª as the showcase was dubbed ¡ª live across the U.K. and it was also available through DAZN, Fubo and several other services both in Britain and internationally.

Rikishi were a source of fascination for Fleet Street as well, and over the last week there was hardly a single London landmark that didn¡¯t get photographed with wrestlers posing nearby.

Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Abbey Road ¡ª you name it and there was a photo of one or more of sumo¡¯s stars hamming it up for the cameras.

And it wasn¡¯t just traditional media that was taken in by the giants in traditional garb.

With the jaunt to London being essentially a goodwill exercise, and banzuke rankings not at stake in the tournament, rikishi were far more outgoing and relaxed than normal ¡ª something that was reflected in social media feeds.

Instagram, in particular, was flooded with selfies and videos as sumo fans and the general public had far more access to the stars of Japan¡¯s national sport than ever before.

It wasn¡¯t just the rikishi that were in demand, according to Morita.

¡°I was mobbed. When I walked the streets around the Royal Abert Hall, I was treated like a superstar, like SMAP back in the day. I was asked for autographs, photographs. I couldn¡¯t go anywhere.¡±

The level of enthusiasm that British fans had even for those on the edges of the sport caught the host of the JSA¡¯s Sumo Prime Time channel off guard, but it wasn¡¯t the only unexpected discovery for Morita.

¡°One of the most surprising things I found was how people in the...