Everyone has seen the enormous sumos wrestling in the arena on television, but few have had the opportnity to witness a live match for themselves. Sumo is one of Japan’s national sports where many traditions and rituals are still withheld. The rules are simple, the matches are fast. The wrestler who first touches the ground with anything besides the soles of his feet, or who leaves the ring before his opponent, loses. Weight is essential for sumo as there is no weight class. Sumo’s wrestle against another sumo of their same division or level.

Six tournaments are held every year, each one lasting 15 days. Three of the tournaments are held in Tokyo (January, May, September), and one each in Osaka (March), Nagoya (July) and Fukuoka(November). The sumo official website is available in both Japanese and English.

Although I have lived in Japan for four years I was only lucky enough to have the time to make it to a match in the Ryogoku Kokugikan on January 12, 2012. Grand Sumo begins early from around 9:00 and goes till around 18:00. Our group skipped the early morning preliminary bouts to catch the med-high level Juryo division bouts around 15:00. By that time the cheaper free seating area were all sold out as was the TV camera angle. (The ideal angle to sit is the front or camera angle, so you don’t get butts or just the referee’s backside). Still, we managed to score box tickets for around 11,300¥ per person in East A side which is the second “most ideal spot”. Not bad seats considering we arrived only minutes before without reservations.

Of course Japan’s hero Asashoryu won the tournament. The final day of sumo on 1/22/2012 is already sold out so try and make it for the next round in May in Tokyo.