Watch Sumo

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Sumo - A Very Brief History

Before the 16th century there was a Shinto Ritual called "Sumai no sechie" (sumai party) where contestants would "Wrestle with Spirits" as part of religious beliefs. In the 16th century when Oda Nobunaga was the Shogun of Japan, a tournament was organized and it is believed that a "ring" (instead of just wresting out in an open area) had come into being. Sumo really took off during the Edo Period (1603-1868) when many Samurai and Ronin needed to find an alternative form of income. Professional tournaments, much like we see today, begain in 1684 and the sport took off from there.

Where & When

There are 6 major Sumo Tournaments per year. Each tournament is 2 weeks long with matches everyday and held at various Sumo Arenas across Japan.

January - Tokyo at Ryogoku Kokugikan

March - Osaka

May - Tokyo

July - Nagoya

September - Tokyo

November - Fukuoka

The Sumo Tournaments in Tokyo are held at the Sumo Arena "Ryogoku Kokugikan" which is right next to Ryogoku Station (Ryogoku Travel Log) about 15-20 min. by train going east from Tokyo Station. The Edo-Tokyo Museum is also in Ryogoku right next to the Sumo Arena.

Seating in Tokyo

The Sumo Arena "Ryogoku Kokugikan" has a capacity of about 11,000 and like a boxing match the seats all face the center ring, the "Dohyou", where the bouts takes place. Take a look at the image below and you can see the different colored seating areas. The closer to the Dohyou (center ring), the more expensive the seat, of course. Note that the green and pink seats are actually cushions and have NO seat back to lean against.

Sumo Ryogoku Kokugikan (above image) credit sumo.or.jp is a great website to see exactly what you can see from your seat. Check out the Seat View page. The site is in Japanese but easy to click the obvious camera icons.

The Green Seats - Ringside Seats (溜席)

The green "Ringside" seats are closest to the action and have advantages and disadvantages. The obvious advantage is that you can see and hear the action up close! You might even be smashed by a Sumo Wrestler if they come flying out of the ring, what a story to tell! But seriously, these seats do come with a warning that there is a risk of injury. Anyway, what's a broken bone compared to a lifetime story to tell, "I got smashed by a 300 pound Sumo Wrestler!" The disadvantages are that you cannot eat, drink or take photos. These seats have NO back to lean against, you have to sit up on a cushion the whole time in a pretty small area. If your not used to prolonged sitting on the floor, it might be a major issue.

The Pink Seats - Box Seats (枡席)

The pink cushion area is the "Box Seat" area. It's a small box area with 4-6 cushioned mats in an approximately a 4 foot by 4 foot area. These Box Seats are charged on a per guest per box basis. Three tiers of box seats available: Type A, Type B, and Type C with with Type A costing slightly more than Type C.

Although the term "Box Seating" might give you the impression of lots of space, there is NOT lots of space. With 4 people in a box seat area, it can be quite cramped. Two adults and 2 children barely fit inside a box. Once again, there are NO seats with backs in this area. You take off your shoes and sit on cushions in an upright position. The advantages of the Box Seat area is that you can eat, drink and take photographs. Bring along some juice, beer and a bento and have a great time watching the Sumo from this area but be warned, you most likely will start to get uncomfortable sitting there a long time. It can't be helped, you know before you go so just take it in stride.

The Red Seats - Chair Seats (椅子席)

Typical type seats you might find at any sporting event arena. Of course you can eat and drink here along with taking pictures is ok.

Standing - 2nd floor behind red seats

These are general admission tickets. Cheap at 2,200 yen but you have to stand behind the 2nd floor red seats. These tickets are available on the day of the tournament at the Ryogoku Kokugikan ticket office. These tickets are sold on a first-come-first-served basis and sales are restricted to one ticket per person.

How to buy Sumo Tickets

You should always try to buy tickets from the ONLY official Japan Sumo Association website at Ticket Oosumo (they do have English). Plan FAR in advance if you want to see a Sumo match as tickets sell out fast and are hard to come by as the sport is very popular in Japan. Check the website well before the next tournament to confirm the date and time tickets go on sale.

However, as is with most venues of this nature, 3rd party sellers also sell tickets but at a premium. A couple 3rd party sites are BuySumoTickets.com and viagogo.com. Before you buy a ticket from a 3rd party, consider the "real" price of tickets by viewing the official price at the official website. 3rd party companies will bulk buy tickets which allow you to "pre-book" tickets via their websites... but, once again, you will be paying extra if not a LOT extra for using their services. You may also consider contacting and using a travel agent to just handle everything but again, fees for service.

What to expect at a Sumo Match

Matches start in the morning around 8:30 a.m. and last until about 6:00 p.m. at night. The lowest ranking Sumo wrestlers wrestle in the morning and as the day goes on, the higher ranking matches are held. Most people arrive in the afternoon between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. right before the higher ranked Sumo wrestlers start their matches but you can arrive at any time you like. Some people like to show up earlier when it's less crowded so they can walk around a bit and take some pictures. Of course you can leave at any time as well.

Sumo is NOT a constant, action packed sport like basketball or ice hockey. It's pretty darn slow until an actual bout takes place. Every time two new wrestlers step into the ring there is a lengthy pre-competition ritual that is enacted before they get to the action. After the ritual the wrestlers step up and in, warm up, throw salt, back down, up... down, slap... anyway, this goes on a bit before the wrestlers finally build up enough energy to throw themselves at each other.

Once the bout begins it's pretty simple. Either you force your opponent out of the ring or force your opponent to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of their feet. Honestly, the action is super intense and powerful! The build up and ritual that happens before the actual action makes it so climatic. These are HUGE dudes and they bash into each other at great force. There is also a tremendous amount of skill involved that requires years, decades of training for those 10 to 15 seconds of wrestling.

Check out this super thrilling match!

Final Thoughts

Going to watch Sumo is a great Japanese experience and a highly recommend thing to do while visiting Japan. Grab a backpack filled with water, juices and bentos (Daimaru at Tokyo Station sells incredible bentos) and head over to the Sumo Arena in Ryogoku in the afternoon. You can arrive and leave at anytime so spending a couple/few hours watching Sumo will give you lasting memories... especially if you are able to watch the last couple hours when the highest ranking and most exciting bouts take place. The only issue is getting tickets but if you plan ahead, you should have no problem. Compared to American sporting events Sumo tickets are relatively inexpensive as well.