How I got to watch Sumo in Japan

It’s not easy to watch Sumo in Japan. For one thing, Sumo tournaments only occur during odd months. If you’re in Japan on an even month, the only way to watch Sumo is to attend a training session. And even if you’re in Japan when there’s a Sumo match, tickets are very hard to come by.

It’s not easy to get to a Sumo Tournament

There were no Sumo tournaments happening when I was in Japan. It was April, an even month. My only option to watch Sumon in Japan was to attend a Sumo training session. Even then, things became complicated. All the training sessions I found required guests to sit cross-legged on the floor or with feet pointed away from the wrestlers, for up to two hours.

Watching a training session also has drawbacks

I don’t do sitting on the floor well. And for two hours – that’s way beyond my level of endurance. I’d stiffen up and not be able to get up off the floor. After hours on the internet, my search for a training session where I could sit on a chair turned up a blank. Then I found one. You sit in booths eating a traditional Japanese meal while the wrestlers battle it out in front of you.

It didn’t appeal, and I went to Japan resigned to the fact that wouldn’t get to watch Sumo in Japan. But like a dog with a bone, I continued looking for something suitable when in Tokyo.

I came up trumps with “The World of Sumo Tour.” Billed as a half day tour with “exclusive access to a sumo training stable.” I could sit on a chair only metres from the training session. I booked immediately.

Setting off to watch a Sumo training session

It’s easy to get lost in Tokyo train stations and I left in good time to meet our guides at Ueno Station. Then things went wrong. My SUICA card (a prepaid debit card) had expired, and I discovered that the rail pass I’d bought to tide me over my last few days in Tokyo, was only valid for the metro. I was taking a different line.

The man at the gate pointed me to a bank of machines. In a panic, I rushed to the first machine, fed coins into the slot and grabbed the ticket. That didn’t work either. The ticket was for yet another rail company. Finally, I bought a ticket that worked and was on my way.

Helpfully the tour leaders had set up a WhatsApp group beforehand and provided clear instructions and photos of the meeting place. Phew, I found our guides just as the clock ticked over to our meeting time of 7:45am. Others in our group weren’t as punctual, and we waited some time before setting off on the train.

The World of Sumo Experience

The World of Sumo experience takes place in a small sumo stable out in Tokyo’s suburbs. Our guides used the train journey to explain sumo terminology, sumo culture and rules of the sport.

Learning about Sumo

We were visiting one of the 43 (in 2022) Sumo Stables in Japan. The stable master is former sumo wrestler, Kotonishiki Katsuhiro. He achieved sekiwake, the third-highest rank in sumo. Our guide illustrates the ranking system with a diagram of a triangle, divided into ten layers, the ten rikishi (wrestler) ranks.

Seventy rikishi fill the top six ranks. Called Sekitori, they earn a salary and a bonus. They also wear silk mawashi or loincloths. The 620 rikishi in the lower four layers aren’t paid. They receive board and lodging and a tournament allowance six times a year. They wear black cotton mawashi.

The Stable Master

After taking two trains, we walk down a suburban street to the Asahiyama stable where a trim and fit-looking Kotonishiki Katsuhiro greets us. He is less than half the size that he was when he was a champion wrestler.

The Training Session

Seven rikishi are warming up. All but one have their black hair tied in a topknot and wear black mawashi. Each sumo stable is only allowed one foreign sumo wrestler. Here, the foreigner has his reddish hair hanging loose around his ears. It’s still growing. He wears a cream coloured mawashi.

The rikishi stand in a circle, feet apart, knees bent stomping their feet to chase away evil spirits. As they complete a range of exercises, I’m surprised at how agile these men are. Puffing and panting, they work through squats, leg raises, and push-ups. Then they become more active.

Their skin glows with sweat, some have stretch marks and the largest favours one leg. Most have tape wrapped around some part of their body – wrists, big toes and knees. A guide tells me the smallest wrestler only weighs 83kg. To be considered to join a sumo stable, men must be 15-25 years old, taller than 167cm and weigh more than 67kg.

Practice Matches

With the warmups completed, the rikishi sweep the sand back into the ring and throw salt around the ring. Now that the ring is purified, the practice matches begin. The aim of sumo is to force your opponent out of the ring or to touch the ground with any part of the body except the soles of the feet.

Wrestlers only have one chance to win. Once you’re beaten that’s it for the tournament. The smaller wrester wins his first two bouts and then takes instructions from the stable master. He squats politely as he listens, then bows and walks back to the ring to face his next opponent. He seems to have better technique and agility than the others.

Starting from a crouching position, the wrestlers stare at each other, their hands hovering over the ground. Suddenly they lunge at each other. I can’t work out what signal gets them moving. The guide explains that they need to touch the ground with their fists.

Meeting a Sumo Wrestler

Breathing heavily, the defeated opponents get up from the floor, sand from the ring sticking to sweaty skin. One ends up with a split lip. When the training is over, I chat to one of the wrestlers.

He tells me that he tapes his toes up to protect them when he drags his feet along the rough sandy ground. I ask to feel his cotton loin cloth or mawashi. Like a rough canvas it is thicker and rougher than I expected. When unrolled, mawashi are over eight metres long and like kimonos, are tied in a specific manner.

Weight gain is part of the training

Once the training is finished, we enjoy a tasty bowl of vegetable and meat soup, smaller but the same as what the rikishi are now enjoying in an adjoining room.

Avoiding breakfast – training on a full stomach would cause problems – rikishi eat twice a day. Weight gain is an essential part of sumo training. While most active healthy men eat around 2500 calories daily, sumo wrestlers eat 20 000 calories every day. Their meals might be large, but they are healthy, usually a meat and vegetable soup/stew (chanko-nabe) and rice.

I felt privileged to watch a Sumo training session

Watching Sumo training and practice bouts with World of Sumo is a unique experience. I felt privileged to sit only metres from the wrestlers as they trained and left the Sumo stable filled with awe for the men who make Sumo their life.

For your information, I booked my World of Sumo Tour here. I went at my own expense.