A sumo tournament in Tokyo

Japan – January 2024

Getting tickets to a sumo tournament turns out to be almost as competitive as the tournament itself. On December 10, 2023, I am sitting in front of my computer at exactly 10 AM, refreshing the ticket page again and again. I am living in Tokyo at the time, and together with my friend Julie we have decided that watching a professional sumo tournament is one of those experiences we absolutely have to try. The January Grand Sumo Tournament is coming up, and tickets are going on sale. The website is busy, seats disappear quickly and every refresh seems to bring a different result. Eventually, we manage to get two tickets for Friday, January 26, one of the final days of the tournament. There is just one problem: it is a weekday. So we take a day off work. As it turns out, that gives us the perfect excuse to spend almost the entire day at the Ryogoku Kokugikan.

We arrive at the Kokugikan in the morning, with several hours of sumo ahead of us. Unlike a typical sporting event, where the main attraction starts at a specific time, a tournament day gradually builds from the lower divisions to the biggest bouts in the afternoon. When we arrive, the arena is still relatively quiet. There are plenty of empty seats, and we soon discover that this gives us an opportunity. Our assigned seats are higher up, but with so many places still available, we sneak down into the premium seating area on the ground floor, right next to the dohyo. Suddenly, we are much closer to the action than expected. From here, we can see all the rituals before each bout. The wrestlers enter the ring, stomp their feet, throw salt and perform a series of movements that initially seem like elaborate choreography. But these rituals have much older roots. Sumo has a long connection with Shinto, and many of these gestures are associated with purification and driving away evil spirits.

Even the dohyo itself is considered sacred. The salt is used to purify the ring and pray for the wrestlers’ safety, while the powerful stomping has traditionally been associated with driving evil spirits away. As a first-time spectator, there is a lot to take in. The rituals are just as much a part of the spectacle as the wrestling itself. We continue watching from the lower seats for a while before exploring the rest of the arena. During an extensive walk through the large building, we discover just how elaborate the sumo souvenir industry is. There are towels, stationery, snacks and plenty of other merchandise featuring the names, faces and symbols of individual wrestlers. I end up buying postcards featuring a gathering of yokozuna and a roll of washi tape decorated with different sumo wrestling poses. When taking a shopping break up on the terrace, we notice a crowd gathering outside. Intrigued we head back down and to the side entrance. Here the wrestlers pass on their way out, dressed in intricate yukata and spectators try to catch their favourites for a selfie.

By lunchtime, we head down to the basement of the Kokugikan for something that feels particularly appropriate: chanko nabe, the hearty hot pot traditionally associated with sumo wrestlers. The dish is served to visitors at the tournament, giving us a chance to try the kind of meal we have heard about all morning. While we eat, we look around at the walls. They are covered with colourful posters made by schoolchildren, each one cheering on a favourite wrestler. It is a small detail, but it makes the world of sumo feel much bigger than what we are seeing inside the ring. These aren’t just professional athletes competing in a tournament. They are local heroes with young fans making posters to support them. We also spend some time looking through the tournament guide, trying to work out who is who and following the results as the higher divisions begin to appear. By now, the arena is noticeably busier. The quiet morning atmosphere is slowly disappearing as more spectators arrive and the bigger names start making their way onto the dohyo.

After lunch, we head back to our assigned seats in the section aimed at foreign visitors. By the afternoon, the difference from the morning is huge. The arena is filling up, the crowd is louder and the atmosphere around the dohyo becomes much more intense. The wrestlers appearing now are the ones whose names we have been seeing throughout the arena all day. As the higher divisions approach, the ceremonial side of sumo becomes even more elaborate. Before the top-division bouts begin, the wrestlers enter the dohyo together for the dohyo-iri, or ring-entering ceremony. One by one they enter the ring wearing elaborate ceremonial aprons called kesho-mawashi. The aprons often feature the logo of a sponsor, so it kinda feels like another ad break to me. But once the circle around the dohyo is completed, the wrestlers are performing a short ritual. Then comes the turn of the yokozuna, the highest rank in sumo.

The yokozuna enters with attendants and performs a more elaborate version of the ceremony, clapping his hands, stretching his arms out to the sides and raising his legs before bringing them down with a heavy stomp. Standing there for the first time, it is easy to mistake this for pure theatricality. But the movements are connected to the purification rituals that run through sumo. The giant braided rope worn by the yokozuna is also a Shinto symbol, with zigzag-shaped paper strips attached to it. Then, after all this ceremony, the actual wrestling begins. And it can be over in seconds. The wrestlers stare each other down, perform their final rituals and then suddenly launch themselves at each other. Sometimes the entire bout is over almost immediately. Then the next pair enters. Because we are there on Day 13, the tournament is also reaching its decisive stages. The leading wrestlers are fighting for every remaining win, and the Japanese spectators around us clearly know exactly what is at stake.

It’s around that time that we decide to move once again. Julie spots a couple of empty seats near the railing upstairs and somehow manages to claim them. This time, we don’t just get a better view of the dohyo. We also find ourselves sitting next to 3 Japanese grandpas who have clearly been enjoying the day. They are already a little drunk and are following the matches with considerably more knowledge than we are. They soon realize that we are foreigners and start explaining what is happening in a mix of Japanese and some English. They tell us about the wrestlers, show us their magazines and share snacks with us while the bouts continue. Every few minutes, one of them points something out or explains a wrestler’s background. We try to follow along, occasionally checking the tournament guide to see who they are talking about. We came to the tournament knowing almost nothing about sumo. Now we have two enthusiastic locals sitting beside us, patiently trying to turn us into fans.

By the time the final bouts approach, the Kokugikan is almost completely full. On Day 13, Kirishima, Terunofuji and Kotonowaka are all sitting at the top of the leaderboard with 10 wins and 2 losses going into their final bouts. First comes Kirishima against Hōshōryū. Kirishima wins, bringing his record to 11-2. Then comes the final match of the day, the musubi no ichiban: yokozuna Terunofuji against Kotonowaka. We still don’t understand all the techniques or know enough about the wrestlers to appreciate every detail, but even we can tell that this one matters. Terunofuji and Kotonowaka face each other across the dohyo. The bout is short, powerful and decisive. Terunofuji wins. With the victory, he joins Kirishima and Kotonowaka at the top of the leaderboard, all three now sitting at 11 wins and 2 losses with two days of the tournament remaining. We have somehow arrived at exactly the right moment.

By now, the Japanese spectators around us are getting really excited. Some are shouting for their favourites. Others react loudly to every move, groaning when a wrestler loses his balance and erupting when their favourite wins. Maybe some of the alcohol consumed during the long day is helping. But there is clearly plenty of genuine passion behind it too. That is probably one of the things that surprises me most. Japan can sometimes feel quite restrained in public, so seeing thousands of people openly shouting, cheering and celebrating their favourite wrestlers is quite a sight. And sitting next to our slightly drunk sumo teachers, we find ourselves getting caught up in it too. Even after the final bout, the day isn’t quite over. The tournament ends with the traditional yumitori-shiki, or bow-twirling ceremony. A specially designated wrestler enters the dohyo with a large bow and performs an elaborate routine, spinning it around his body and moving it through a series of increasingly impressive gestures.

And then it is really over. The crowd begins leaving almost immediately. We follow everyone out of the Kokugikan and head towards the station. It doesn’t take long to understand why everyone was in such a hurry. We’re still in Tokyo after all. And the trains heading to Akihabara are absolutely packed with commuters during rush hour anyway, now adding thousands of sumo fans to it.