Ticket Planning
Sumo Tokyo Tickets Explained: Pricing, Seasons, and Seat Types
Tokyo hosts three Grand Sumo Tournaments each year. Use this breakdown to understand seat categories, release dates, and the best days to catch yokozuna in high-stakes bouts.
Tokyo Tournament Seasons
Ryōgoku Kokugikan stages three 15-day tournaments a year. The 2026 Tokyo tournaments are over (the September one ended on September 27) and the only one left in 2026 is in Fukuoka. The next Tokyo tournament is in January. General sale for each one starts on a Saturday about five weeks before opening day; all three 2026 Tokyo sales opened at 10:00 Japan time.
- January 2027: January 10–24, on sale from Saturday, December 5, 2026
- May 2027: May 9–23, on sale from Saturday, April 10, 2027
- September 2027: September 12–26, on sale from Saturday, August 7, 2027
Sale day is 36 days before opening day for January and September; May 2027 is 29 days. The Japan Sumo Association has not yet published door times, lottery dates or the seat list for January. Make a free account on the official ticket site before sale day (you need one for the lotteries) and use its button to be told when sales open.
Seat Types and Prices From January 2027
Kokugikan sells ringside cushions (tamari), box seats (masu) on the first floor and chairs on the second floor. The Japan Sumo Association raised prices for the Tokyo and Osaka tournaments starting with January 2027, and added a higher tier for day 14 and the final day. The table shows yen per person, tax included. Masu boxes are sold per box, usually for four people, so multiply by four for a full box.
| Seat | Weekday | Sat, Sun, holiday | Day 14 and final day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tamari (ringside) | ¥25,000 | ¥27,500 | ¥30,000 |
| Masu SS (rows 1–2) | ¥22,500 | ¥24,000 | ¥25,000 |
| Masu S (rows 3–4) | ¥18,000 | ¥20,000 | ¥22,000 |
| Masu A | ¥15,000 | ¥16,500 | ¥18,000 |
| Masu B | ¥11,000 | ¥12,500 | ¥14,000 |
| Masu C | ¥9,500 | ¥10,500 | ¥11,500 |
| Chair S | ¥11,000 | ¥12,000 | ¥13,000 |
| Chair A | ¥10,000 | ¥11,000 | ¥12,000 |
| Chair B | ¥6,000 | ¥7,000 | ¥8,000 |
| Chair C | ¥5,000 | ¥6,000 | ¥7,000 |
| Chair D (adult) | ¥3,000 | ¥3,000 | ¥3,000 |
So a four-person box costs, for example, ¥44,000 in Masu B on a weekday, ¥42,000 in Masu C on a weekend, or ¥100,000 in Masu SS on the final day. Children aged 4 and over need their own ticket. The full list, including wheelchair seats, kids’ tickets and the rear box seats, is on the Japan Sumo Association price list (PDF, Japanese).
What the same seats cost through September 2026
The Tokyo tournaments through September 2026 used the old prices. These had not changed in years: tamari ¥20,000 on all days; a four-person Masu S box ¥60,000 on weekends and ¥56,000 on weekdays; Chair S ¥9,500 or ¥9,000; Chair C ¥4,000 or ¥3,500. From January 2027 the same tamari seat costs 25 to 50 percent more depending on the day.
Tamari (ringside cushions)
You sit on a cushion right at the edge of the ring. Tamari is limited to guests aged 16 and over, and the rules are strict: no eating or drinking, no phone use, no cameras or photography, no floor chairs, and no moving or standing during bouts. Wrestlers and referees can land in the front rows. Ringside is sold only on the Japanese ticket site and through the lotteries.
Masu-seki (box seats)
A masu is a square box on a raised floor where you sit on cushions with your shoes off, with storage for shoes behind you. Four people is the basic number; boxes for one to six people are also sold. You stay in your own box during bouts. From January 2027 the first two rows are Masu SS and rows three and four are Masu S.
Arena chair seats
Chairs are on the second floor and suit anyone who prefers back support. Kokugikan has no “SS” chair grade: the top chair is S, then A, B and C, with Chair D as the cheapest seat (¥3,000 from January 2027, up from ¥2,500).
How Buying Actually Works
The official English site is Ticket Oosumo, the Japan Sumo Association’s own ticket service. It sells box and chair seats; ringside and Masu S are on the Japanese site only.
- Credit card only, with a service fee of ¥2,000 per ticket.
- You print the tickets at a Seven-Eleven in Japan, using the details on the purchase confirmation screen and in the e-mail.
- Tickets cannot be changed or cancelled.
- The first lotteries run earlier, on the Japanese ticket site and through the official fan club. For September 2026 the first fan club round opened on July 18, three weeks before general sale on August 8. January 2027 lottery dates are not out yet; the same pattern would put the first round around mid-November (our inference, not an announcement).
- General sale stays open until 17:00 on the day of the match, if any seats are left.
There are no tickets at the door when a day has sold out. The official September 2026 and May 2026 sales both show sold-out notices with no same-day tickets, and the Fukuoka tournament in November 2026 is sold out on every date. Nothing official says how quickly that happens, so plan around sale day itself.
A Booked Seat With a Guide
If you want to skip the Japanese ticket site and the lotteries, GetYourGuide lists a Grand Sumo Tournament tour with a chair seat at Ryōgoku Kokugikan and a local guide. The guide briefs you and gets you in, about two hours in all, but does not sit with you. It costs from $634 (Oct 2026), and it is a new listing, rated 4.7 from 3 reviews (5 October 2026). Check the dates on the page for the tournament you want.
See the sumo tournament tour on GetYourGuide
Prices checked on GetYourGuide on 5 October 2026; they change with the date and group size.
Not in Tokyo During a Tournament?
Outside tournament weeks, these three are sold on GetYourGuide. Check each listing for the dates that are open.
Ratings as shown on GetYourGuide on 5 October 2026.
Best Days to Watch Tokyo’s Top Wrestlers
The second week delivers the most dramatic matchups as title contenders emerge. In January 2027, day 12 is Thursday, January 21, and day 13 is Friday the 22nd. Day 14 is Saturday the 23rd and day 15 is Sunday the 24th, so only days 12 and 13 are weekdays.
Days 12–13 (Thursday and Friday)
High-ranked wrestlers face off with championship implications, at the weekday price tier. At the 2026 Tokyo tournaments the doors opened at 8:45 on day 12 and at 10:30 on day 13.
Day 14 and Day 15 (Final Weekend)
The Emperor’s Cup showdown happens on the last afternoon. From January 2027 day 14 and the final day share the highest price tier.
Days 1, 7, and 8 (Opening and Middle Weekends)
In January 2027, day 1 is Sunday, January 10, and day 7 and 8 are Saturday the 16th and Sunday the 17th. Day 2 falls on the Coming-of-Age Day holiday (Monday, January 11), so it is priced as a holiday. A yokozuna can be missing from the start: Hōshōryū was on the official absence list from day 1 in September 2026, so check that list before you pick a day.
Daily Schedule for Elite Divisions
At the 2026 Tokyo tournaments the doors opened at 8:45 on days 1 to 12, at 10:30 on days 13 and 14, and at 10:00 on the final day. January 2027 times are not published yet. Matches finish around 6:00 PM. Every seat is reserved, so you do not need to arrive early to keep a seat. Times for the later bouts are approximate: the Japan Sumo Association publishes no current timetable, and day 1 and the final day run earlier.
- About 2:20–2:45 PM: Juryo ring-entering ceremony, then juryo bouts
- About 3:40–3:55 PM: Makuuchi ring-entering ceremony, with the yokozuna ring-entering a few minutes later
- About 4:00–4:15 PM: Makuuchi bouts begin
- From about 5:30 PM: the highest-ranked wrestlers, with the final bout around 5:50 PM
- About 6:00 PM: Bow-twirling closing ceremony
Arrive by 2:00 PM if you want the juryo bouts and the build-up.
Yokozuna Appearances
Yokozuna wrestle once daily on every tournament date unless they are injured. The two active yokozuna are:
- Hōshōryū, the 74th yokozuna
- Ōnosato, the 75th yokozuna, who won the September 2026 tournament with 12 wins
Rankings for the January tournament are announced on December 21, 2026 (October 26 for November), and the official absence list shows who is sitting out each day.