How to buy tickets for a Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo
Buy from the Japan Sumo Association's official English ticket site, Ticket Oosumo (sumo.pia.jp/en). Tickets for each tournament are released roughly eight weeks before the first day, on a Saturday morning at 10:00 Japan time, and are paid by credit card with a per-ticket service fee. For the Tokyo tournaments, weekends and the final days can sell out within hours, so plan to buy on release day.
For the 2026 September tournament (Aki Basho, 13-27 September) at Ryogoku Kokugikan, general sale opened on 8 August 2026 and reserved seats are sold out; the official resale service is the safest remaining route. Always confirm on-sale dates and availability with the Japan Sumo Association. Japan Sumo Association ↗
What you are seeing
- Ticket Oosumo lists ringside cushions (tamari), floor boxes (masu-seki, graded A/B/C), and second-level chair seats (isu-seki, graded A/B/C).
- A small number of same-day unreserved upper-level seats (tojitsu-ken) are sold at the arena box office on the morning of each day, one per person, cash, first come.
- The Association warns against third-party resellers such as viagogo and StubHub; prices are inflated and entry is not guaranteed.
What to watch next
- Find the on-sale date for your tournament and be logged in to sumo.pia.jp/en before 10:00 Japan time that Saturday.
- If the day you want is sold out, check the same official site for resale of returned tickets rather than a resale marketplace.
- For a same-day ticket in Tokyo, expect to queue outside Ryogoku Kokugikan well before the early-morning sale; on the busiest days they can be gone before doors open.
- Check whether your order prints at a Seven-Eleven in Japan or supports a QR e-ticket before you travel.
A common first-timer mistake
Leaving it until you land in Japan. By then the Tokyo weekend and final-week dates are usually gone, and the door-sale seats are the hardest to get.
Words you may hear
- Ticket Oosumo
- the Japan Sumo Association's official ticket service; the English version is sumo.pia.jp/en
- Tojitsu-ken
- same-day unreserved tickets sold at the venue each morning
- Masu-seki
- a floor box seat, sold as a unit, shoes off
Sources and review
Created and photographed in Ryogoku by a Tokyo-based spectator. Facts reviewed against Japan Sumo Association materials on 25 August 2026.