How to see the Grand Sumo Tournament

Last update: 10 Aug - September tournament is SOLD OUT and added a note about BuySumoTickets 

Access to the arena:

It is a short walk from the west exit of JR Ryogoku Station. Outside the station, there is a Seven-Eleven (if you need to retrieve tickets) and several restaurants that serve the sumo chanko cuisine. The station can get extremely crowded after the tournament finishes, though if you wait just 15-20 minutes, the congestion eases. 

The Toei Oedo subway line also has a Ryogoku Station which is about 7-8 minutes east of the arena. For the shortest route, head in the direction of the APA Hotel, staying to the north of the JR tracks.

東Higashi/East and 西Nishi/West refers to the seats with a side view of the ring. If you are close enough to the ring, or have a good zoom on your camera, this is a good angle to see the tension rising as the wrestlers are about to face off. Photographers from the media often take their seats in the corner to get a good expression of the wrestlers.

It used to be possible to select your favorite area from the official ticketing site, but now that the tickets are almost an instant sellout, you have to settle for whatever seats you can get. Fortunately the Kokugikan is configured specifically for sumo with the arena in an even square shape, so there is a clear view from any angle.

How to get tickets (It's almost impossible without paying extra!)

Up until the January 2024 tournament, it was possible to visit the ticketing site a few hours after sales began and still secure tickets with relative ease. However since the May 2024 tournament, the ticketing site is so overwhelmed that it often will not let you even enter. And by the time the website is back running again, all days have already sold out. It is likely that tour agencies are buying in larger quantities to cater to higher demand, and only a very small number make its way to the ticketing site. If you are willing to pay a little extra, the following companies might be able to secure tickets on your behalf. You will need to contact them well in advance of the ticket sales date to increase your chances of succeeding.

Buy Sumo Tickets is a company with a good reputation that can send the printed tickets to your home address or your hotel. The Japan Sumo Association does not seem to appreciate their existence and openly state on their English site for customers to be cautious about this service, but the JSA needs to acknowledge that it is THEIR poorly constructed ticketing system that requires foreign fans to take this extra step! 

Update August 2025 - Several users reported that orders were abruptly cancelled for the July tournament. There was also a failure to fulfill many of the orders for the September tournament. They have since announced that they will no longer accept requests for future Tokyo tournaments though they will continue to support tournaments in other cities.

 JTB Sunrise Tours is under the JTB group, the major player in the tourism industry. They have a different route to tickets that allow them to secure a large quantity well in advance of the public sales date. Most if not all of the tickets will be part of a package with a tour guide and some souvenirs. Group size is a max of around 20 participants. They also provide Klook with the exact same product. Usually these websites will still have a few tickets remaining for several hours after the official sales date, so you could consider them as your back-up plan in case your purchase through the official ticketing site fails. However as chances of landing a ticket through the official site is so slim, taking the expensive JTB tour might the more realistic option of attending the tournament.

Japan Wonder Travel is another option; they also sell mostly products bundled together with meals or a guide service. On some previous occasions they had a product called "Chair Seat with Entrance Assistant", where you receive tickets near Ryogoku Station and there is a so-called "assistant service" with a staff providing information on where the seats are, but without accompanying you to the arena. You also received a yakitori bento box as the part of a package. It is a tasty product though you can easily purchase the same for 750 JPY once you are inside.

Many tickets also eventually make its way to unofficial reselling platforms like StubHub so there seems to be a fair number of people who buy with no intention of going. Reselling for a marked up price is punishable under Japanese Law. A screenshot or printout of a QR code is not a valid form of entry so be extra careful if you do decide to go through this route.

The same day, non-reserved seating that was available to the first few hundred people in line was discontinued during the pandemic and no longer an option.

Other chances to see Sumo

For viewing the morning practices, see the previous page.

1) Going to a Jungyo - regional exhibitions

There are numerous Jungyos, which can be translated either as a regional or exhibition tournament. They are held in April, August and October, a period in between the main tournaments.

While most Jungyos are held in rural communities, a few are held in central Tokyo as well. In April, there is an event at the Yasukuni Shrine and on August 28th there is an event in Tachikawa at the Tachihi Arena, the western suburbs of Tokyo. 

You can find the full schedule for 2025 on the Sumo Association website (in Japanese)

https://www.sumo.or.jp/Jungyo/schedule_2025/

This autumn, the top-ranked wrestlers will be travelling to London where they will hold a five day exhibition from 15-19 October at the Royal Albert Hall. It will be the first overseas event since an exhibition was held in Jakarta back in August 2013.

The show in London should follow the usual schedule of a jungyo that would be held locally.

There is also a Paris Jungyo scheduled for 2026, on June 13 and 14th at the Accor Arena.

See details about the April event at the Yasukuni Shrine HERE.

The program will feature a comical explanation of the rules, chance to see the wrestlers getting their distinctive hairstyle done, and small kids challenging the wrestlers. There are also head to head battles of the top ranked wrestlers towards the end of the program, usually happening around 3 pm. The results in the exhibition don't really mean anything for the wrestlers so the atmosphere is much more relaxed in comparison with the actual tournaments.  

3) Additional Events hosted by TV Networks - always in February

In February, Fuji TV and the national television network NHK host a one-day tournament at the Kokugikan.

*For 2025, the NHK event was on Feb 8th (Sat) and the Fuji TV event was on the 9th (Sun). In previous years the NHK event was always held on the 11th (a national holiday), but the date changed for 2025.

Again, the program would be similar to those seen in Jungyos.