IT’S SUMO PERKINS!

From geishas to girl bands and the famously fat wrestlers, Sue Perkins gets a hands-on taste of Japan in a new travelogue

Sue Perkins literally throws herself into life in Japan for a quirky new two- part documentary, taking to the ring as a sumo wrestler and donning a kimono as a geisha girl. ‘Japan’s a place I’ve always wanted to find out about,’ she says. ‘I found it fascinating – and occasionally very surprising.’

In BBC1’s Japan With Sue Perkins, the former Bake Off co-presenter starts out in Tokyo, on a pedestrian crossing that seems as densely populated as the capital itself. ‘I’m lost and I’ve only been in Japan for two hours!’ she admits.

Finding her bearings, she visits a sumo club at Asahi University and is invited to have a go. She obliges, pushing the man she’s in combat with out of the ring. She fares less well when faced with a female opponent. ‘ These people are Titans in nappies,’ she declares.

More humiliation follows at The Hell Camp Business School, where Sue and other students have to shout to demonstrate an ability to assert themselves and wear badges of shame to indicate professional failings. While others are reminded that they lack a proper work ethic or manners, Sue claims the badges on her

back would carry the names of her less successful TV shows.

At the Aimme Wedding Planning company, Sue disappears in a sea of dresses. But there’s a twist. Rina, the woman she meets – and many others like her – are choosing to take part in solo weddings rather than the real thing. ‘Marriage rates are at an all-time low,’ says Sue. ‘This is a way of enjoying the build-up to the big day that you may never experience.’

Sue also checks out the teenage girl pop band phenomenon, attending a concert by Tornado, a

group with a huge following that includes unnerving numbers of middle-aged men.

Other stop- offs include the Kii Mountains, where a ‘forest therapist’ soothes Sue by making her lie on a log, close her eyes and listen to flute music; Hiroshima, where the first atomic bomb was dropped by the Americans in August 1945; and Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital. There Sue transforms into a geisha, a traditional female entertainer. ‘I felt like I’d joined a special world, even if the kimono did make me look like an ornate sausage roll,’ she says. ‘But to understand this unique country you have to experience as much of what’s on offer as you can.’

Japan With Sue Perkins, Wednesday, 9pm, BBC1.