A Travel Experience Not to Miss

If you ever take a trip to Japan, there is one quintessentially Japanese event you should try: don’t miss the sumo. Although we in the west tend to view sumo as some kind of comic charade in which large men in odd diaper-like pants push each other around, in Japan sumo is serious business that traces its roots back centuries. What you get at sumo is a glimpse into the past and at something that hasn’t changed in centuries and that has not been watered down or staged for tourists, as so many other cultural events worldwide have been. Sumo is the real deal.

What to Expect

Before most of the big bouts, contributors to the kitty that the winner of each bout collects parade around the edge of the ring holding advertising banners. It is a colorful display of traditional costume and brightly painted advertising that lasts but a minute or two. As the parade disperses, an umpire dressed like a high priest enters the ring and chants the name of the combatants in the upcoming fight. This long, wailing chant is met by cheers as it fades away and the fighters take to the ring.

Brains before Brawn

Before it culminates in a brief explosion of power, sumo is often won and lost in the preceding psychological battle. So you can expect to watch a lot of posturing, at least five minutes for each brief fight. Just after entering the ring, the giant fighters begin to strut, lifting their huge legs up to right angles and slamming them hard into the ground, each thud being met with sighs and roars of excitement from the crowd before the combatants retreat to their respective corners to collect handfuls of salt to toss across the ring to purify the ground. This is a pattern that is played out several times; posturing, salt, staring, leg slamming, chest thumping, more like a mating ritual from the animal kingdom than a warm-up to a sporting event

Fight Time

Finally a call to arms and the fighters are staring each other down with both fists on the floor ready to lurch at each other at the umpires command. Then boom. The noise of skulls colliding, or a nose shattering against a shoulder, then frenzied slaps and pushing. Only seconds pass and it’s over. One wrestler is down and hurting, maybe both, maybe in the ring or maybe collapsed on the front row seats, in any case only one will have won. The crowd will be screaming and baying for more blood in a way you wouldn’t imagine the stereotypically reserved Japanese to do. Then it happens all over again.

The Adventure Doesn’t End When the Sumo Does

At six o’clock when it’s time to leave the sumo behind, many of the crowd retreat to eat the hotpot stew that helps put all that meat on the fighters’ bones. Ryougoku has many of these sumo stew (chanko nabe in Japanese) restaurants of which many are owned and often even run by ex-fighters. For about $50 a head you can have a few drinks and enough stew to make you skip breakfast the next day. Each course will start with a bit of raw fish like tuna or snapper served as sashimi (sushi without the rice). After this a big hotpot will come to the table where it will boil away as you add vegetables and fish balls or chicken to the soy-, pork- or salt-based soup before taking them out and dipping them in a selection of dips. It’s pretty simple and pretty good.

Which Fighters Should You Look Out For?

At the time of writing, 24 year old Mongolian wrestler, Asashoryu, had just won his sixth straight grand tournament, further cementing his position as the pre-eminent fighter of the day. For a wrestler he is unusually small at only 140kg of solid muscle, and he is very agile. But, his style is perhaps the most aggressive of all active fighters and his bouts tend to provide an explosive finish to each day. Another crowd pleaser is Takamizakari, a poorly sighted Japanese wrestler with a big smile and glasses thicker than a bunker door. Although Takamizakari is not in the same class as Asashoryu he is still adored by most sumo fans for his never say die attitude even though he fights almost blind, and his unusual warm-up that sees him punching himself about the face and torso.

When to Go

Japan has six annual grand sumo tournaments each consisting of fifteen days of bouts. They take place in January (Tokyo), March (Osaka), May (Tokyo), July (Aichi), September (Tokyo) and November (Fukuoaka).

Buying Tickets

For tournaments at Tokyo’s Kokugikan, the home of Japanese sumo, tickets start at 3,600 yen ($32) and go as high as 14,300 yen ($130) for ringside seats. Tickets can be bought on the day, or you can reserve them by phone and over the internet at the Japan Sumo Association homepage.

Getting There

The Kokugikan is only a few minutes walk from Ryougoku station on either the subway Oedo line or the JR Sobu line. Once you get to the station, just follow the signs.

Insider Tip

The big bouts take place from about 1600 onwards and then finish at exactly 1800. Until these bouts, most of the good ringside seats are unoccupied and you are allowed to use them until the ticket holders arrive. This really is a great way to get a very close view of the fighters and soak up the sounds and smells that make each bout so intense. Fights start from early in the morning with the most junior of fighters, but you don’t need to go that early to use the expensive seats for free. Going at around 1400 should give you an hour or so of close-up action between some reasonable fighters.

What Not to Do

Feel free to click away on your camera all day long and get up between the numerous bouts to buy food and drink that you can eat at your seat. In fact, pretty much anything goes at sumo. However, you should never enter the ring as it is considered sacred ground.