By Harry Nara · Last updated
- Tickets go on general saleSaturday 5 December 2026
- Final day, senshurakuSunday 24 January 2027
- Where
- Ryogoku Kokugikan
- Tickets
- Ticketed
- Time of year
- January
- Dates
- Around the same dates every year
The January tournament always starts on the second Sunday of the month and runs fifteen consecutive days, so the dates shift slightly from year to year but the rule does not. General sale usually opens in early December; the exact on-sale date is published by the Sumo Association a few weeks beforehand.
Reserved seats for the New Year tournament go on general sale in early December and the good ones are gone within minutes, which is where most visitors give up. They should not. A small block of same-day general admission tickets, a couple of hundred of them, is sold at the arena box office each morning of the tournament, cash only, at the cheapest price in the building. Every person in your group has to be there in person to buy. Turn up before the box office opens, join the line, and you will almost certainly get in on a weekday. Weekends and the closing days are a different matter.
What the Hatsu Basho actually is
One of six ranking tournaments that make up the professional sumo year, and the first of them, which gives it the atmosphere of a season opening. It runs fifteen straight days at the Kokugikan in Ryogoku, the sport’s own arena, in a neighbourhood that is essentially a sumo village: training stables on the side streets, retired wrestlers running chanko restaurants, and a museum in the arena itself. The day starts in the morning with the lowest divisions fighting in a near-empty hall and builds through the afternoon, with the top division entering around mid-afternoon for the ring-entering ceremony and the final bout of the day going off in the late afternoon. Individual bouts last seconds. The ritual around them lasts minutes, and that asymmetry is the thing people are surprised by.
Where to watch the Hatsu Basho
- Same-day general admission, and this is the answer for most visitors. A limited block, roughly a couple of hundred seats high in the upper tier, goes on sale at the arena box office on the morning of each day at the lowest price in the house. Cash only, and everyone in your party must be present to buy, so one person cannot collect for a group. On a midweek day joining the queue an hour or so before the box office opens is usually enough. On a weekend or in the final week, people are there considerably earlier.
- Reserved chair seats in the upper tier, if you plan ahead. These are the sensible booking. They run from a few thousand yen and go on general sale about five weeks before the tournament through the official ticketing site, which now sells in English. Book the moment sales open. The view from high up is genuinely good because the ring is in the middle and there is nothing to obstruct it.
- A masu box on the first floor, if you want the full version and can split the cost. Four people sit on cushions in a bordered square, close enough to hear the impact, and the price is for the box rather than per person. It is the traditional way to watch and it is not comfortable: you are on the floor, cross-legged, for hours.
- Arrive late afternoon if you only want the top division. Your ticket covers the whole day, and the hall is mostly empty until early afternoon. Many people use the morning to walk Ryogoku and come in for the last two hours, which is when the ring-entering ceremony, the bow-twirling and the biggest bouts happen.
- Ryogoku itself, on a day when there is no tournament. Some stables allow visitors to watch morning training if you arrange it properly and behave, and the neighbourhood chanko restaurants serve the stew wrestlers live on. This is the fallback if tickets defeat you entirely, and it is a good day out on its own terms.
Tickets and what it costs
There are three tiers and the gap between them is enormous. Same-day general admission is the cheapest, sold at the door in cash on the morning, limited to a couple of hundred people and restricted to one per person present. Reserved chairs in the upper tiers run from a few thousand yen to around ten thousand and are the practical booking for a visitor. First-floor masu boxes seat four on cushions and are priced for the box, running from the mid tens of thousands. Buy through the official ticketing site, which sells in English and adds a per-ticket service fee, or from convenience store machines once you are in Japan. Resale sites list seats at large markups and the association takes a dim view of them.
Official information and booking: www.sumo.or.jp/EnTicket
Getting there
The arena is a two minute walk from Ryogoku station, which sits on the JR Sobu line, and there is a second Ryogoku station on the Oedo subway line a few minutes further off. Both are easy. Coming from Tokyo station it is a short hop on the Sobu line. Nothing about the journey is difficult and there is no need to allow extra time except on the final days, when the last hour empties several thousand people onto one platform at once. If you are queueing for same-day tickets in January, dress for standing outside in the cold before sunrise.
Mistakes worth avoiding
Assuming a sold-out tournament means you cannot get in
The reserved seats sell out. The same-day general admission block does not go on sale until the morning of each day, and it is not part of that. Most visitors never learn it exists and conclude the tournament is impossible.
Sending one person to buy same-day tickets for the group
Every person who wants a seat has to be physically present at the box office for the purchase. Turning up alone with four passports will not work, and finding that out at the window after a cold hour in a queue is a bad start to the day.
Arriving in the morning expecting the famous wrestlers
The morning is the junior divisions in a half-empty hall, which has its own quiet charm but is not what anyone came for. The top division enters mid-afternoon and the last bouts are in the late afternoon. Your ticket covers all of it, so use the morning elsewhere.
Booking a masu box for the comfort
It is four cushions on the floor inside a low border, you sit cross-legged for hours, and you pay a lot for it. It is the authentic way and the closest view. It is not the comfortable way, and taller visitors regret it.
Leaving straight after the final bout
The bow-twirling ceremony that closes the day happens after the last match, and it takes a couple of minutes. Half the hall is already on the stairs by then. It is a small thing and it is the proper end of the day.
Other Tokyo events
Frequently asked questions
Can you buy sumo tickets on the day?
Yes, and this is the part most visitors miss. A limited block of same-day general admission seats, roughly a couple of hundred, goes on sale at the Kokugikan box office each morning of the tournament at the cheapest price in the building. It is cash only and everyone who wants a seat must be there in person. On a midweek day, arriving an hour before the box office opens is usually sufficient.
When do reserved tickets go on sale?
General sale for the January tournament opens in early December, about five weeks ahead, through the official ticketing site, which sells in English. The desirable seats go within minutes, so be logged in and ready when sales open rather than browsing later that day.
How much do sumo tickets cost?
Same-day general admission is the cheapest at a couple of thousand yen. Reserved chairs in the upper tiers run from roughly two and a half thousand yen up to around ten thousand. A first-floor masu box seats four on floor cushions and is priced per box, running into the tens of thousands. There is a service fee per ticket on top of the official prices.
What time should you arrive?
It depends what you want. The doors open in the morning and the junior divisions fight to a near-empty hall. The top division makes its ring entrance in the middle of the afternoon and the biggest bouts are in the late afternoon. One ticket covers the entire day, so plenty of people spend the morning in Ryogoku and come in for the final couple of hours.
How long is the tournament?
Fifteen consecutive days. The January tournament always begins on the second Sunday of the month, which is why the exact dates shift a little each year while the pattern stays fixed. The final day, senshuraku, is when the championship is usually decided and is the hardest day to get into.
Is it worth going if you do not follow sumo?
Yes, and arguably more so. You do not need to know the wrestlers to follow what is happening, because the rules are almost absurdly simple: out of the ring or down on the clay and you have lost. What surprises people is the ratio of ceremony to sport. The salt-throwing and the staring can run for four minutes and the bout itself for four seconds.
Sources
- Japan Sumo Association, English ticket site
- Japan Sumo Association, tournament schedule
- Ryogoku Kokugikan, venue information
Dates on this page are checked against the organiser’s own listing and confirmed through 2027. Written and maintained by Harry Nara.