SUMO BURGER (WITH A HINT OF CANNIBALISM)

In Japan, nationalism works in weird and not always wonderful ways. For years, the Japanese national sport of sumo was dominated by poker-faced foreigners from the plains of Mongolia who "ate" the Japanese boys for breakfast.

But all that changed in May when Onosato, a 25-year-old from Ishikawa Prefecture, weighing 30 stones (190kg) and standing 6ft 4in tall, became the first Japanese wrestler in eight years to be made "yokozuna" (grand champion).

Yes, finally, sumo, just like baseball, was coming home!

Now to celebrate this moment of national rebirth in the nation's sporting psyche, Burger King Japan, that bastion of all that is good and wholesome in the nation, has launched the sumo-themed "Baby Body Burger" designed to satisfy the outsized appetites of sumo wrestlers like Onosato and his fans, and provide a palatable alternative to the sumo wrestler's customary fare of "chankonabe," a hearty but stodgy stew of chicken, fish, beef and tofu that packs on the pounds needed for the three-second dance that most sumo matches are.

This “sumo burger” has five - yes FIVE!!! - beef patties, four slices of cheddar cheese, bacon, tomato, lettuce, and pickles, and weighs in at 668 grams, or nearly a pound and a half, or 1,900 gut-busting calories. 

In fact, the stacked patties are meant to resemble the layers of fat on the side of the average sumo wrestler's body (and that of babies), adding a subtle hint of cannibalism to this meat  mountain, hence the name "Baby Body Burger."

The meal for champions costs 2,590 yen (£14) or 2,890 yen (£16) with fries and a drink. 

Burger King has dubbed it "a yokozuna-class jumbo-size burger," while even the prestigious Japan Sumo Association has leaped on board endorsing the meat monster. 

Will this boost the number of lumbering giant Japanese yokosunas in the future? We can only hope. Over to you Mongolia!