Attending a Sumo Wrestling Tournament in Japan

You might think sumo wrestling is just a bunch of really fat guys throwing each other around; and in a way you’d be right. But watching a sumo tournament is a fantastic quintessential Japanese experience, and a chance you should always jump at if it comes your way.

The history of sumo wrestling is long and colourful, and like many parts of Japanese culture, each small facet has a tradition and reason. There’s a whole host of terminology that goes with it, from the various throws and holds that can win a wrestle to the stages of each bout and the positions of sumo wrestlers on the “sumo ladder”. Before you go to watch a sumo tournament, try to learn a bit of the background and lingo – you’ll enjoy it much more if you know what’s going on.

Major sumo tournaments are held in Tokyo and Osaka twice a year, and in other cities like Fukuoka once a year. The main tournaments last two weeks, with tickets obviously being easier to come by (and usually cheaper) for the early days than the final ones. Sometimes, occasional or exhibition tournaments are also held, so check with a tourist office in case you get lucky.

My sumo experience includes two different tournaments held in the Osaka Convention Centre near the Osaka Castle. Both times were such fun that I’d go back again at the first offer. Perhaps sadly, younger Japanese people are less and less interested in sumo wrestling, and many have never attended a tournament; as a result, the audience at the sumo competitions I attended were made up largely of older Japanese people and a lot of curious foreigners.

A sumo tournament runs all day, each day: from the introduction of the newest wrestlers at nine in the morning through to the bow ceremony which finishes each day of competition, usually about six in the evening. That makes it a long day, obviously, but you can use this to your advantage: get there early and the people in the expensive box seats right near the ring won’t be there yet. You can usually “borrow” their box for a few hours and get a great close up view of the wrestlers – but be sure to graciously disappear to the cheaper seats when they start to arrive. Unless you “know someone”, you won’t be able to get tickets to these ringside boxes, but the halls are designed for a pretty good view from everywhere.

A final tip: pick a good wrestler and support him loudly all day. Asashoriyo was my favourite wrestler, and my friends and I had a ball shouting support for him. Oh, and one more tip: if you want to feel small, seek out some of the lower-ranked wrestlers in the canteen and stand next to them. They are really big boys!