SUMO

Many people are interested in Sumo because it is so different from other sports. Sumo originally started as religious ceremoniy. At the same time, it is martial arts. Today, Sumo tournament is held 6 times a year in January, March, May July, September and November.

You can only see the official Grand Tournament for 15 days in the monthes held in:

Tokyo: January, May and September
Osaka: March
Nagoya: July
Fukuoka: November

It is better to plan ahead because tickets sold out quickly nowadays. You also need to be in the city it is held on right time. You can buy tickets online at Nihon Sumo Kyokai Official Grand Sumo Home Page click Ticket OOSMO English

When buying tickets, box seats are really close to the ring, but seats are small and you have to sit on the floor (Japanese style) so it may be not comfotable. If you have knee problem, I recommend chairs (Arena).

Grand tournaments generally starts as early as 8:30AM. (Please check official home pages for information) They start from lower rank wrestlers in the morning. The stronger, more famous wrestlers appear around from 4 PM. When I go watch sumo, I generally go around 3-4PM. It will continue until around 6 PM. After the last bout, you will see a bow ceremony where a sumo wrestler come out and twirl bow. After this bow ceremony finisih, you will hear a drum outside the stadium.

Grand tournament starts on Sunday and it will continue for 15 days. You can also watch that on TV on NHK, Japanese public broadcast.

Some background information about Sumo

• The rule is 2 wrestlers fight inside the ring. If one go out of the ring or any parts of the body other than sole touches ground, you lose.
• As it started as religious ritual, it has roof similar to Shinto Shrine above the ring. There are 4 tassels with different color
  • Blue symbolizes blue dragon, spring
  • Red symbolize red peacock, summer
  • White symbolize white tiger, fall
  • Black symbolize black turtle, winter
• There are about 300 wrestlers. They are on ranking system and the rank is decided rigt before each tournament. You can purchase ranking chart in some of the shops inside the stadium.
• The top rank wrestler is called Yokozuna or Grand Champion.
• Sumo wrestlers belong to one of the HEYA or Stable under OYAKATA (Coach). Up to certain rank, they will live in the stable and practice. You can start after 15 years old (after graduating from Junior High school)
• There is a Sumo School inside the Sumo Stadium in Tokyo. When you enter, you go to the Sumo school for lectures, calligraphy and manners and etc.
• It is important that they eat to be strong. What sumo wrestlers eat at stable is called “Chanko”. The most popular Chanko is hotpot with chicken, vegetable and tofu. Each stable has different recipe.

What to do at the stadium

• There are plenty to do at the stadium. If you have ticket with you, you can go out and re-enter untill 5PM. You can watch the sumo, walk around sourvenir shops, take photos and enjoy events.
• You can buy special sourvenirs you cannot buy outside the stadium. Popular sourvenir at the sumo are towels, photo books, etc.
• You can buy food and enjoy at your seat. The most popular food there is Yakitori or chicken on a skewer. They make Yakitori inside the stadium.
• Sometimes, you may be able to buy “Chanko” if you go early, like 3 PM.