Experience Sumo Wrestling in Tokyo Up Close

It depends on whether you want entertainment, authenticity, or a serious sporting event. Check out our Complete Guide to Choosing a Sumo Experience to compare the 4 main types and avoid booking the wrong one.

Six Grand Sumo Tournaments are held each year and three of them are in Tokyo, at Ryogoku Kokugikan: January, May and September. The other three are in Osaka (March), Nagoya (July) and Fukuoka (November). Each tournament runs for 15 days, from a Sunday to a Sunday. The next one in Tokyo is January 10 to 24, 2027. Outside tournament dates you can watch morning practice at a sumo stable or go to a sumo show.

Official tickets go on general sale about five weeks before the first day, on a Saturday; all three 2026 Tokyo sales opened at 10:00 Japan time. For the January 2027 tournament that is Saturday, December 5, 2026. The official English seller is Ticket Oosumo: credit card only, a service fee of 2,000 yen per ticket, tickets printed at a Seven-Eleven in Japan, and no changes or cancellations. In 2026 its English site sold box seats A to C and chair seats; ringside and S box seats were on the Japanese site only. The Kokugikan box office has no advance sales, and when a tournament sells out no tickets are sold on the day, which is what happened in Tokyo in May and September 2026.

GetYourGuide also lists a Grand Sumo Tournament tour: a chair seat at Ryogoku Kokugikan plus a local guide who briefs you and gets you in (the guide does not sit with you). It costs from $634 (Oct 2026) and the time with the guide is 2 hours. Check the listing for which tournament dates are open.

See the Tournament Tour

Tamari (ringside): first-floor seats next to the ring, for ages 16 and over only, with no eating or drinking and no photography without permission. Masu (box seats): first-floor boxes where you sit on cushions with your shoes off. A box normally holds four people, and boxes for one to six are sold too. Chair seats: ordinary seats on the second floor.

The Japan Sumo Association has raised prices from the January 2027 tournament, and there are now three price levels: weekdays, weekends and holidays, and the last two days. Per person, ringside costs 25,000 yen on a weekday, 27,500 yen on a weekend or holiday and 30,000 yen on the last two days. Box seats run from 9,500 yen per person (Masu C, weekday) to 25,000 yen (the new Masu SS front rows, last two days), so a four-person Masu C box on a weekday is 38,000 yen. Chair seats run from 3,000 yen (Chair D) to 13,000 yen (Chair S, last two days). Children aged 4 and over need their own ticket.

At the 2026 Tokyo tournaments the doors opened at 8:45 am on Days 1 to 12, at 10:30 am on Days 13 and 14, and at 10:00 am on the final day. Door times for January 2027 are not published yet. The lower divisions wrestle first and the day ends at about 6 pm. The top division (makuuchi) enters the ring at roughly 3:40 to 3:55 pm and its bouts run until the close. These times are approximate, and the first and last days run earlier. If your time is limited, be in your seat by 3:30 pm. You can leave and come back once, and you must be back by 5 pm.

The Japan Sumo Association's rules depend on the seat. In a box seat you take your shoes off, stay in your own box, and do not use your phone, stand up or move around while a bout is on. You may eat and drink in box seats and chair seats. Ringside seats are stricter: no food or drink, no photography without permission, no phone use, and no one under 16. You can leave and re-enter the arena once during the day, and you must be back by 5 pm.

Morning Practice (Asageiko): Watch training at a real sumo stable with an English-speaking guide. It is practice, not a show; it takes 2 hours and costs from $95. Sumo Shows: From $35 for the Shinjuku show and experience to $64 for the dining show in a former sumo stable, served with chicken chanko hot pot at the 11:00 and 19:00 shows. All of them are in the comparison above.

At a tournament, photography from the ringside (tamari) seats is not allowed without the organiser's permission, and phones may not be used during bouts in the ringside or box seats. At morning practice the stable and the tour operator set the rules, so follow your guide. The Shinjuku and Shibuya shows include a photo in the booking.

Age rules for shows and practice visits are set by each operator, so check the listing on GetYourGuide before you book. At a tournament, children aged 4 and over need their own ticket, and ringside (tamari) seats are for ages 16 and over only.