Watch Sumo Wrestling in Japan

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If you want something, make it happen.

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2 tickets @ ¥2900 ea, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium.

I bought 2 tickets, one for me and one for my friend. Unfortunately, my friend worked late so she couldn’t make it. Fortunately, I found a lone man lingering around the ticket booth that said “today’s match sold out”, and I made my first scalping transaction. LOL, at face value.

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These designated seats range from ¥3,800 (chairs) to ¥9,500 (box seats) to ¥14,800 (ringside).

The tournament starts in the morning, but I decide to watch it around 2pm when they have an introduction ritual and when the more seasoned sumo wrestlers compete. With my general admission, I could sit anywhere in the last 2 rows in front or behind the stage.

Tip: I read online that it is possible to watch the earlier matches near the front and then later return to your designated seat/area once the crowds move in.

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This is around 2pm. A lot of the seats are empty. The referee is different too (you can tell by the colour of his robe).
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The seats fill up.

Each match lasts about 10 minutes: the wrestlers warm up, stamp their feet, throw salt, and wrestle. The wrestling itself doesn’t last more than 2 minutes. Sometimes, it lasts only seconds.

Having trained for dragon boat races in the past, I cannot imagine how much time and effort these wrestlers put in for these matches, and how shocking it can be to win/lose a battle in seconds.

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Introduction of the more seasoned sumo wrestlers.
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The object is to wrestle your opponent to the ground or outside the circle.
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Scoreboard.
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For the hot shots, advertisements are shown before the match.
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I told my friend Miyuki I thought the sumo wrestlers don’t look as big as I imagined. She replied, “Is it because people in North America are big so you don’t think the sumo wrestlers are big?” Funny… but maybe it’s true.

Anyway, that is my sumo wrestling experience.

Want a chance to get a SUMO postcard?

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Sorry, all gone!

3 thoughts on “Watch Sumo Wrestling in Japan”

  1. Hi Tiffany, my name is Thania, i wanna ask you what seat do you bought to see the sumo tournament. The view was good?
    Greetings from Mèxico

    1. ¡Hola Thania!

      I bought general admission tickets on the day of the tournament (had to buy them in the early morning). They are first-come-first-serve seats in a reserved area for general admission ticket holders located near the back of the arena. There was a sign written in Japanese, so you may want to ask the staff where you can sit. The view was okay, the sumo wrestlers look small from where I was. It was good enough for me though because I only wanted to experience it. I’m not a fan or anything.

      I read on someone else’s blog post about how one can go early and sit near the front, and then move back when the crowd comes in, but I didn’t do that myself…

      Hope that helps!
      Tiff

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