The ancient sport of Sumo wrestling is in serious decline as it struggles to compete against modern sports like baseball and soccer.

Key points: The top four ranked Sumo wrestlers are all Mongolian

The top four ranked Sumo wrestlers are all Mongolian Sumo wrestlers consume up to 10,000 calories a day

Sumo wrestlers consume up to 10,000 calories a day Sumo Association in bid to win back young fans to the sport

Now urgent action is being taken to get Japanese kids back into the Sumo ring.

To win back fans and the younger generation the Sumo Association is taking the show on the road.

In the last year it visited 60 cities all over Japan, providing families with a chance to meet the stars and make Sumo fun and friendly.

The show is a charm offensive, where the wrestlers play with the kids, and become slapstick comics.

It is part of the Sumo Association's plan to get kids across Japan back into the ring.

Kimigahama, Sumo coach for the Sakaigawa stable is one of the professionals taking part.

"The current wrestlers are important, but the most important is to have children wanting to become Sumo wrestlers. If there is no one wanting to become Sumo wrestlers, it will all end," he said.

The children are told a good Sumo wrestler has more do with speed, strength and balance rather than size.

The Sumo Association is compromising to save the ancient sport.

"The number of people wrestling is less," wrestler, Sadanosato, said.

"That is why we participate in these events to provide opportunities for kids to begin Sumo."

Hinata Mashiko,12, practices at one of the few dedicated clubs left in northern Japan.

He wants to become a grand champion - a Yokozuna - and in the junior ranks he is already winning medals.

"I have a nimble body," Hinata said.

"I also have a sharp hit, I get inside the opponent's hold and win quickly."

Sumo wrestlers consume up to 10,000 calories a day.

Hinata eats four buns and a glass of milk for his afternoon snack and four bowls of rice with fish or meat at dinner.

The high calorie diet can put many parents off the traditional sport but Hinata's father Shinichi Mashiko supports his son.

"He may not be big now, but once he learns the techniques, he can be as good as the others and be able to pursue his aim," Mr Mashiko said.

Decline in Sumo popularity

Many Sumo fans were lost after a series of match fixing, drug and gambling scandals five years ago but the biggest problem for Sumo now is that the top ranking wrestlers are mostly foreigners like Georgian Levani Gorgaze, or Tochinoshin as he is called in Japan.

The Japanese have not had a grand champion since 2003.

The top four ranked Sumo wrestlers are all Mongolian.

There are also Georgians, Russians, Bulgarians, Egyptians and Hawaiian Sumos.

Sumo needs a Japanese star to inspire youth to take up the sport and the best chance is a 187 kilogram Sumo named Kisenosato, who is currently ranked at number five.