Sumo wrestling Tickets

Sumo wrestling is the quintessential ‘only in Japan’ knowledge. Equal parts brutal chaos and carefully managed ritual, sumo is very unlike any sporting occasion in the world. With referees costumed like kabuki performers, Shinto-inspired pre-bout purification rites, and wrestlers named for magical birds and mystical mountains, attending a sumo event is similar to entering another world.

Many travelers to Japan incorrectly assume so it’s very hard to wait a sumo competition. Absolutely nothing could be further through the truth. Provided that there was a tournament on while you are in town, you should have no difficulty getting seats and enjoying the spectacle on your own.

The Origins of Sumo

Sumo has actually roots deep in Japanese history and like the majority of aspects of Japanese tradition, you will find certainly influences from continental Asia. Sumo shares particular elements with wrestling designs observed in Korea, Mongolia and Asia. What’s certain is sumo took its present-day form in the early Edo Period (17th century). It had been during this period that fighting types, guidelines and tournament formats came to resemble something now seen at modern-day sumo tournaments.

Outdoor sumo ring-in Tokyo. Photo by mrhayata / CC BY 2.0

The fundamentals of Sumo

Stripped of its ritual, sumo is one of the easiest and elemental fighting styles in the world. Two wrestlers enter a dohyo, a circular band of packed dust 4.55m across. Once the gyoji (referee) signals the start of the match, 1st man to make others out of the dohyo or force him to place any element of his body on a lawn except that the bottoms of his foot is stated the winner.

Of program, sumo is a lot more than a glorified shoving match. An endless arsenal of techniques and methods come right into play: vicious slaps and shoves to the face, cunning feints that recall bullfighting, and a myriad of grappling moves that resemble judo or jujitsu. Wrestlers usually you will need to understand their opponent’s mawashi (dense loincloth), enabling him to manhandle their opponent, go him across the dohyo and toss him into the ground.

The absolute most remarkable bouts end with one wrestler virtually tossing their opponent from the dohyo and on to the group below. The possibility to be crushed by a 150kg wrestler adds a certain thrill to sitting ringside at a sumo tournament. Rather sensibly, the Japan Sumo Association restricts the sale of ringside seats to those healthy enough to scurry out-of-the-way of traveling wrestlers.

Yearly Sumo Tournaments

Six main sumo tournaments take place each year in Japan. They are the estimated times:

January Tournament (Tokyo): 11–24 January
March Tournament (Osaka): 8–22 March
Might Tournament (Tokyo): 10–24 May
July Tournament (Nagoya): 12–26 July
September Tournament (Tokyo): 13–27 September
November Tournament (Fukuoka): 8–22 November

Tournaments typically last about a couple of weeks. The ultimate times will be the many interesting, because those bouts determine the general event champion.

Sumo wrestlers learning Tokyo Prefecture. Picture by Glowimages / Getty Images

Getting Tickets for a Sumo Tournament

Tickets for sumo tournaments carry on purchase about four weeks prior to the beginning of the tournament. You can easily check out the year’s sumo routine on English-language, Japan Sumo Association website . it is feasible purchasing tickets online using the English-language Ticket Oosumo internet site. There are a selection of seating available. Seats near the ring are in fact square areas on to the floor that can accommodate to four people. Those closest to the ring are known as tamari, while comparable seats a little additional back are called masu. The enjoyment among these seating is you can disseminate just a little and possess a picnic while you're watching the activity. Behind the tamari and masu, you’ll look for appropriate stadium-style seats and, above these, you’ll discover the unreserved seats referred to as jiyuseki. Violation rates are priced between ¥2200 to ¥14, 800, with a few coming in at ¥200 for children underneath the age of 15.

It may be a little fiddly purchasing passes on line, so if you’re finding an easier way to purchase you'll simply show up within stadium regarding early morning for the time you need to attend and get tojitsu-ken (same-day tickets) through the stadium solution office. Tickets generally continue sale around 8am. If you carry on a weekday at the beginning of the competition, you’ll will often have not a problem getting passes, even though most readily useful chairs may be out of stock. On vacations as well as on the finishing days of the tournament, tojitsu-ken might not be readily available. Nevertheless, in the event that you don’t mind taking place a weekday early in the tournament, this is usually more painless method to get seats.

Methods for Going To a Sumo Tournament

• English-language bout schedules can be obtained at arena admission company.

• it is possible to go into the site from 8:30am, however the most readily useful suits happen between 4pm and 6pm, which can be if the top ranks compete. Lots of people reach the arena around 3pm.

• You will need to pick chairs which are regarding the shomen region of the dohyo. This is basically the “front” for the ring therefore provides the best view of this activity.