Sumo Tickets in Tokyo (2027): When They Go on Sale, Seat Prices and How to Book
Tokyo hosts three grand sumo tournaments a year, in January, May and September, at Ryogoku Kokugikan. Tickets for each go on sale on one Saturday morning, four to five weeks ahead, and the official site showed the November 2026 tournament (in Fukuoka) sold out for every day.
Book on the official Ticket Oosumo site the moment sales open. If you miss it, a tour that includes a ticket is the fallback; compare its price with the official seat prices below.
Some links on this page are affiliate links. We always show the official way to book first, and it is the cheapest.
When do sumo tickets go on sale?
Each tournament runs for 15 days, and tickets for all 15 days go on sale on one Saturday, four to five weeks before for the Tokyo tournaments (eight weeks for Nagoya in July). The times are Japan time.
Ticket Oosumo has also run an international advance lottery: its page showed lottery results for the November 2026 tournament. Check the English site in the weeks before a sale to see whether one is offered for your tournament.
Which seats should I buy, and what do they cost?
There are three kinds of seat. Prices below are for January 2027, tax included. "Final days" means day 14 and the final day.
Chair seats (2nd floor)
Ordinary stadium seats. ¥1,000 more at weekends and on holidays, ¥2,000 more on the final days.
Box seats (masu-seki)
A square on the floor with cushions. Shoes off, and the box is sold as one unit for four. Weekends and final days cost more (box C ¥42,000 / ¥46,000). The English site sells A, B and C boxes for four.
Ringside (tamari-seki) and box S
Ringside is closest to the ring. These are sold only on the Japanese Ticket Oosumo site: read its seat rules there before you buy.
Children aged 4 and over need a ticket. There are no child discounts.
How to buy on Ticket Oosumo (English)
- Before sale day, open sumo.pia.jp/en and choose your tournament. Decide your day and seat type in advance.
- At 10:00 Japan time, open "Buying Tickets" for your tournament. That is 10:00 in Seoul, 09:00 in Taipei and Hong Kong, 01:00 in London, and the evening before in the Americas.
- Choose the day, the seat type and the number of tickets, then pay by credit card. Each ticket has a ¥2,000 service fee on the English site.
- Pick the tickets up at a 7-Eleven in Japan. The purchase screen and email tell you how. Your seat number appears when the ticket is printed. Keep the paper ticket safe: a lost ticket can't be replaced.The pickup details are in the confirmation email, so keep it where you can open it in Japan. A Japan eSIM is set up before you fly.Compare Japan eSIMs on Klook ↗
Reading Japanese? The Japanese Ticket Oosumo site sells more seat types, including ringside and box S. Check its own fees and pickup options before you buy.
Sold out: can I still see sumo?
If a tournament sells out in advance, there are no tickets on the day either. That was the case for every day of the November 2026 tournament in Fukuoka.
A guided tour with a ticket
A guide explains the bouts and the rituals, and the ticket is included. Compare its price with the official seat prices above before you book. Never buy from resale or auction sites: the Japan Sumo Association bans unauthorised resale and can refuse entry.
Affiliate linkMorning practice at a stable
Watch wrestlers train through an arranged visit, 8:00–10:00. Not during tournaments, or from the 20th of the month before a regional tournament.
Sumo Museum, Ryogoku Kokugikan
Free, 10:00–16:30 outside tournaments; closed on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays (with some exceptions). During a tournament it is inside the arena, so you need a ticket.
What happens on the day?
- morningDoors open and the lower-division bouts start. The door time for your day is on Ticket Oosumo.
- around 14:00The top-division wrestlers' bouts begin.
- 17:00Latest time to come back if you leave: you can re-enter once.
- around 18:00The last bout of the day ends.
Your ticket covers the whole day. You can arrive at any time during the matches, so coming only for the afternoon top division works too.
Getting to Ryogoku Kokugikan
A 1-minute walk from JR Ryogoku Station on the Sobu Line, or 5 minutes from exit A4 of Ryogoku Station on the Toei Oedo Line. There is no parking. Suica works on both. How to get a Suica →
Make a day of it in Ryogoku
Tokyo Skytree
In the same ward as Ryogoku, so easy to add on the same day.
Tokyo Subway Ticket
Covers the Oedo Line to Ryogoku and most of central Tokyo for 24–72 hours.
Affiliate linkWhat we checked
Ticket Oosumo English (sumo.pia.jp/en): the schedule and the January 2027 tournament page. The Japan Sumo Association's How to Buy page, the Sumo Museum page and the Kokugikan visitor guidebook (sumo.or.jp).
The schedule showed the January tournament on sale on Dec 5, 2026 at 10:00, and the November 2026 tournament (Fukuoka) sold out on all days. The door times for January were not shown on the page. We have not bought tickets ourselves.
Set an alarm for sale day
Dec 5, 2026 at 10:00 Japan time for January. If you can't be online then, or it sells out, a tour with a ticket is the fallback.
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