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Sumo Wrestling is a BIG sport in Japan (literally) and no trip to Japan is complete without purchasing tickets for a Tokyo sumo wrestling match at the Ryogoku Kokugikan National Sumo Arena.
Although the arena is open all year round with a sumo wrestling museum and restaurants, you should try and time your trip with one of the national sumo wrestling championships in Tokyo.
Sumo wrestling tickets in Tokyo are surprisingly easy to buy / pick-up and are not that expensive (if you are willing to sit in the outer edges of the arena).
From what to expect at a sumo wrestling Tokyo tournament to Japanese sumo wrestling ticket prices in Japan, here is our ultimate guide to buying sumo wrestling Tokyo tickets in 2024:
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When is the Japanese Sumo Wrestling season in Tokyo in 2024?
There are six national sumo wrestling tournaments (the Grand Sumo Tournament) held each year in Japan, usually from mid January until mid November each year.
The 2024 nationwide Japanese Sumo Wrestling Grand Tournament runs from 14 January 2024 until 24 November 2024.
Three of the six national sumo wrestling tournaments are held in Tokyo (Ryogoku):
- January 2024 (14 January to 28 January 2024)
- May 2024 (12 May to 26 May 2024)
- September 2024 (8 September to 22 September 2024)
In 2024, the Japanese sumo wrestling Grand Tournament dates and locations are as follows (2024 Tokyo sumo wrestling tournaments in bold):
| Tournament | Location | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| January 2024 Sumo Wrestling Grand Tournament | Ryogoku Kokugikan National Sumo Arena, Tokyo | 14 January to 28 January 2024 |
| March 2024 Sumo Wrestling Grand Tournament | Osaka Edion Stadium, Osaka | 10 March to 24 March 2024 |
| May 2024 Sumo Wrestling Grand Tournament | Ryogoku Kokugikan National Sumo Arena, Tokyo | 12 May to 26 May 2024 |
| July 2024 Sumo Wrestling Grand Tournament | Dolphins Arena (Aichi), Nagoya | 14 July to 28 July 2024 |
| September 2024 Sumo Wrestling Grand Tournament | Ryogoku Kokugikan National Sumo Arena, Tokyo | 8 September to 22 September 2024 |
| November 2024 Sumo Wrestling Grand Tournament | Fukuoka Kokusai Center, Fukuoka | 10 November to 24 November 2024 |
The 2025 nationwide Japanese Sumo Wrestling Grand Tournament runs from 12 January 2025 until 25 November 2025.
Try this – Sumo Wrestling Tournament Experience in Tokyo >
Sumo Wrestling Tournament Tokyo advance 2024 ticket sales dates
Advance tickets for Tokyo sumo wrestling tournaments go on sale as follows:
May 2024 Tokyo Sumo Wrestling Grand Tournament – tickets on sale from 6 April 2024
September 2024 Tokyo Sumo Wrestling Grand Tournament – tickets on sale from 10 August 2024
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Sumo Wrestling Tokyo Tickets – how to buy sumo wrestling tickets in 2024
Buying Tokyo sumo wrestling tickets is a fairly easy and simple process – there are several ways to buy sumo wrestling tickets in Tokyo, plus the sumo tournaments in Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka.
Ticket suppliers for the 2024 Sumo Wrestling Grand Tournament include:
The official site – Ticket Oosumo English sumo wrestling site (all tickets except Nagoya)
We found the easiest way to purchase Japan sumo wrestling tickets was to buy online on the official site which is the Ticket Oosumo English website, and then pick up the tickets from 7-Eleven convenience stores.
You can go to any 7-Eleven to pick up your pre-booked sumo tickets (just show your booking confirmation email and ask the store staff to print off your sumo ticket at the till).
We found the Google Translate app on our phone came in very handy when asking the store staff to do this!
We purchased our Tokyo sumo wrestling tickets through Ticket Oosumo English site and found it to be a reliable website. Just remember there is an extra 1,500 Yen ticket fee per seat.
If you can, we’d recommend buying Tokyo sumo wrestling tickets as soon as they go on sale (mark your calendars) especially if you want to secure the cheapest sumo wrestling tickets. Tickets often sell out within minutes!
Jump to Tokyo sumo wrestling ticket prices here >
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Boo Woo (Nagoya only)
For purchasing Nagoya sumo wrestling tickets you need to book through Boo Woo.
buysumotickets.com
Alternatively, some people also recommend buysumotickets.com where you can pre-order sumo tickets weeks in advance and have them sent in the post to your overseas address or hotel in Japan. But please be aware tickets are at a premium compared to the official channels.
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Ryogoku Kokugikan box office
You can also sometimes buy Tokyo same-day sumo tickets from the Ryogoku Kokugikan box office in person but sumo tickets often sell out in advance (especially for the later dates in the two week tournament period).
So it is recommended to buy them in advance online and then pick them up at a convenience store.
Tours
Finally, you can buy Tokyo Grand Sumo Tournament Tickets (including a tour) from Viator. However these are not the cheapest sumo wrestling tickets in Tokyo.
Sumo Wrestling Tokyo ticket types
There are two types of main tickets for the sumo wrestling grand tournaments in Tokyo and Japan:
- Japanese style box seats (Masu-seki)
- Stadium balcony seating
Japanese style box seats are where you sit close to the sumo ring on the floor and are more expensive than the stadium balcony seats.
For the more authentic and close up experience, the box seats are better but you must purchase an entire box together (four seats) – so not great if you are a solo traveller or a couple / small group.
They are also more expensive tickets costing 38,000 Yen per box (plus fees) as of March 2024
We went for the cheapest Kokugikan stadium seats sitting on the back-row and still very much enjoyed the sumo spectacle, staying for the whole day which comprised about 10 hours of sumo wrestling.
We paid 2,500 Yen each for the very back row wrestling seats in January 2023 but prices have since gone up in 2024 – updated prices below.
Try this – Tokyo: Sumo Practice Show with Chicken Hot Pot and Photo >
Sumo ticket Tokyo prices 2024
Japanese style box seats
The 2024 sumo wrestling ticket price in Tokyo / Japan for the Japanese style box seats (Masu-seki) start from 38,000 Yen (including tax) per box, with four seats in the box.
38,000 Yen is the equivalent of $260 USD, 240 Euros or £200. Booking fees are extra.
Stadium balcony seating
Sumo wrestling ticket prices for the 2024 Grand Tournament start from 3,800 Yen (including tax) for a weekday ticket as of March 2024 – this is for the highest seats at the back of the stadium.
Weekend and public holiday sumo wrestling tickets in Tokyo are more expensive starting from 4,000 Yen and going up to 11,000 Yen per ticket.
The cheapest 3,800 Yen sumo tickets are the equivalent of $26 USD, 24 Euros or £20 and includes tax but excludes ticket agency booking fees (for instance, Ticket Oosumo English add a booking fee of 1,500 Yen per sumo ticket).
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Guide to Ryogoku Kokugikan National Sumo Arena – the home of sumo wrestling in Tokyo
All of the Tokyo sumo wrestling bouts and Grand Tournaments are held in the Ryogoku district (near Asakusa) at the Ryogoku Kokugikan National Sumo Arena (AKA Kokugikan Arena).
The Japanese National Sumo Arena in Ryogoku has a big stadium used for the national sumo tournaments plus a sumo museum inside the arena that dates back to the 1980s.
It is full of famous sumo wrestling memorabilia and trophies (there are some great photo opportunities inside).
The National Sumo Museum is open all year round to the public with free entry – opening times are Monday to Friday from 12.30pm to 4pm (last entry at 3:30pm).
You can also visit during the sumo tournaments if you are a ticket holder (like we did) but it can get very busy, especially if beloved sumo wrestlers are doing personal appearances (such mania)!
The whole Ryogoku area of Tokyo is really cool to visit, with sumo wrestler manhole covers and statues all over the sidewalks.
We even bumped into several sumo wrestlers placing a large order at the Ryogoku McDonalds (such a surreal and cool experience).
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The current Tokyo sumo wrestling stadium in Ryogoku (Kokugikan) seats over 11,000 spectators and sumo wrestling fans and was opened in 1985 to replace another aging stadium.
Incidentally, we found a convenient hotel to stay at in the Ryogoku neighbourhood within walking distance of the stadium – APA Hotel & Resort Ryogoku Eki Tower.
You might like our guide to the APA Hotel chain in Japan >
Try this – Tokyo Sumo Morning Practice Tour in Ryogoku >
Sumo Wrestling Tokyo – the experience inside
Based on our experience, watching the sumo wrestling in Ryogoku was one of our top 10 Japanese experiences of all time.
We didn’t know much about sumo wrestling before-hand but were enthralled throughout and totally addicted by the end – the pacing and passion shown is immense (by both the sumo wrestlers and the crowd) and there is no other Japanese sporting experience like it.
We arrived at the Tokyo Kokugikan arena a little after the stadium opened and watched all of the sumo wrestling bouts throughout the day.
The stadium remained quite quiet during the day (for the Juryo Intermediate Division) and filled up by mid afternoon (for the Makuuchi Senior Division).
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We went to the Tokyo sumo wrestling Grand Tournament on a weekday so we presume most people visited after work.
We purchased the cheapest Tokyo sumo wrestling tickets (2,500 Yen in 2023) which was the very last row of the Kokugikan arena. We did move forward when the stadium was empty to take some close-up pictures but security staff ushered us back to our original seats in a friendly way.
By 5pm the arena was full and packed to the rafters – such an atmosphere too!
Afterwards, if you have time, we’d recommend popping to Beer Club Popeye craft beer bar tucked away in a Ryogoku side-street, just a short walk from the stadium.
The staff at Beer Club Popeye are incredible and during happy hour, you get a free hot snack (like karaage or pizza) with every beer purchased.
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How to get to Ryogoku Kokugikan National Sumo Arena in Tokyo
Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo is easy to get to by public transport. The sumo wrestling stadium is a one minute walk from Ryogoku JR Station (take the West exit) which is on the JR Sobu Line.
Alternatively (and sometimes less crowded) – alight at Ryogoku MRT station on the Oedo Line and walk a slightly longer distance to the stadium (around four minutes).
Look out for the colourful Sumo Nobori (flags) outside the stadium on Grand Tournament days – these huge flags are usually vibrant colours (wear sunglasses!) and display the sumo wrestler’s name and their sponsor.
On sumo tournament days, the Ryogoku Station and Kokugikan sumo stadium can get VERY busy so try to arrive early to beat the crowds.
Other things to know about Tokyo Sumo Wrestling and the Experience
Once inside the sumo wrestling stadium, there is a whole side-show of activities and stalls to enjoy including:
Sumo wrestling merchandise
During tournament breaks, be sure to browse all the sumo wrestling merchandise stalls.
Here you’ll find everything from sumo wrestling gachapon toy capsule machines to sumo wrestling magnets or sumo stickers (and even sumo wrestling fans in the shape of wrestlers faces).
Sumo wrestling chanko-nabe restaurants / food and drink
Based on our experience at the Tokyo Sumo Wrestling Grand Tournament at Kokugikan stadium, there are a few food and drink stalls inside but not as many as expected.
The popular food kiosks have massive queues too and many items sell out early. External food and drink isn’t allowed in the stadium so we ate our convenience store egg sandwiches very quickly in the queue outside.
For a unique sumo wrestling food experience, head to the basement area of Ryogoku Kokugikan National Sumo Arena on a tournament day to try chanko-nabe, the traditional meal that sumo wrestlers eat to keep on weight.
Chanko-nabe is a heavy / rich stew of fish, meat, tofu, vegetables and rice – it is also quite smelly so just follow your nose to the basement (expect long lines and queue for chanko-nabe sumo food at the Grand Tournaments in Tokyo).
Try this – Tokyo: Sumo Experience and Chanko Nabe Lunch >
Sumo wrestling etiquette and photography
In the Ryogoko Kokugikan stadium, the dohyo (sumo wrestling ring) is revered as sacred space so you must not approach the immediate vicinity, even after a bout has finished.
Spectators must never pass between the dohyo (ring) and the sumo wrestling judges.
Photos are allowed at the sumo wrestling tournaments (including Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan stadium) but you can only take them from your own seat or from the rear of the seating area. Only authorised photographers (wearing special armbands) are allowed to photograph from the front and in the aisles.
The entire sumo wrestling stadium in Tokyo is smoke-free – no smoking is permitted.
Try this – The Secrets of Sumo Culture tour in Tokyo >
Sumo wrestling Tokyo tours and trips
If you don’t happen to be in Japan for a sumo wrestling tournament in Tokyo, Osaka or other major cities, you can always do sumo wrestling tours and activities all year round in Tokyo.
For instance, you can go to a Tokyo Sumo Morning Practice Tour in Ryogoku or challenge sumo wrestlers and enjoy a sumo style meal in Tokyo.
For a full list of Tokyo Sumo Wrestling tours and trips, check out Viator’s range of sumo wrestling tours in Japan here >
Get Your Guide also offer several sumo experiences in Tokyo >
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