In this tour you will be able to:
• observe sumo practice up close in a Tokyo Sumo stable
• visit the Sumo museum in Kokugikan
Check out what we are going to do.
Feel free to personalize this offer.
At your hotel or JR Ryogoku station west exit
Observe early morning Sumo practice
Visit the Sumo museum in Kokugikan
At JR Ryogoku station west exit, your hotel, or place of your choice
Overview:
According to Japanese mythology, one of the many theories about the origin of Sumo tells the tale of a fight to the death between two legendary fighters, Nominosukune and Taimanokehaya that took place around 36 BC during the period of the 11th Emperor Suinin.
In ancient times, it was practiced as a part of agricultural and Shinto rituals, so it still includes many traditional ceremonial elements to this day. Sumo was established as Japan's national sport in 1909, and continues to be one of the most popular sports in Japan.
In this tour you will be able to observe sumo practice up close in a Tokyo Sumo stable.
• The practice begins at 8:00 am and finishes at 11:00 am (practice may finish at 10:30 am depending on the stable's schedule).
• We will need to sit on hardwood floor (with thin cushion) for about 2 to 3 hours, and must remain quiet to respect the wrestlers who are practicing.
• Since Japanese people are rather sensitive to noise and manners; we will need to avoid chatting with each other, eating, or drinking during the practice.
• Photos are allowed but no flash.
• Taking videos of training and uploading these videos to the internet is prohibited.
• Only children 11 years and older are allowed.
Information of 2018 〜 2019 Sumo tournament schedules and local tours
Nov. 11 – 25, 2018 in Fukuoka, Kyushu
Jan. 13 – 27, 2019 in Tokyo
Mar. 10 – 24, 2019 in Osaka
May. 13 – 26, 2019 in Tokyo
Jul. 7 – 21, 2019 in Nagoya
Sep. 8 – 22, 2019 in Tokyo
Nov. 10-24, 2019 in Fukuoka, Kyushu
There will be no morning practice in Tokyo stable during (even two to three weeks before) the period of tournaments in Fukuoka, Osaka, Nagoya.
In April, July, September and December after the tournaments, they might not have morning practice every day due to their local touring schedules.
The price of the tour includes tour guide's fee, her transportation, and hotel pick-up and drop-off.
Other costs, such as gratuity to the Sumo stable (3,300 yen per person including 10% consumption tax as of Oct.1st.) and guest’s transportation fee (approximately 1,000 JPY, which will vary depending on location of the hotel) are not included.
Important messages from the guide:
・Before you book this tour, please contact me so I can ask whether there will be practice on the requested dates, and about availability of seats.
・When you go and observe the practice, please prepare a gratuity to the Sumo stable (3,300 yen per person including 10% consumption tax as of Oct.1st.).
Kaoruko picked us up at our rented house. We experienced morning traffic on the trains, packed as sardines we arrived to Ryogoku. We visited one of the sumo stables and attended a morning practice. It was very interesting and fun. After the practice we where going to visit the sumo museum but sadly it was closed. We went to Asakusa instead and Kaoruko followed us there and helped us to find out where we could buy a karate suit for our son, much appreciated! We really recommend this tour if you are curious about the sumo culture!
Thank you for your nice review. I forgot to look for two plants names that we found at the little gardent park next your rented house. One pink flower tree which looks like plum flower is a Japanese quince or Bokeh flower, Boke in Japanese. The other white flower is Mitsumata, means three-pronged fork. Mitsumata is used as a material for making traditional hand-made Japanese paper or Japanese paper and is known as a material for Japanese bank note. I hope that you enjoyed visiting the other part of Japan other than Tokyo too!
Kaoruko organized our visit to a sumo stable, where we were able to watch practice for about 2.5 hours. Kaoruko was very flexible with our schedule and understanding when I was confused about the address of our hotel. She was also very kind, and easy to talk to. Thank you Kaoruko for organizing this trip for us.
Thank you for your review, I practiced "Honanya!" to my former boss! Thank you! Kaoruko
I was able to get in touch with Kaoruko and arranged watching Sumo Practice in the morning. She met us at the Ryokan we were staying at and showed us through the stations to get the practice. Normally she would take us to the Sumo museum afterwards, but due to a tournament taking place during the same time, the museum wasn't available. She offered to take us to Old Tokyo, which we agreed to but didn't know what we were in for. While I appreciated going out to check out the location and see the sights, I wasn't briefed on how far it was away from central Tokyo, nor was I really prepared for a museum on a Japanese actor/movie series that I wasn't even aware of. I was told it was a beloved series in Japan, but it was lost on me because I've never heard of it before we walked in to it. All of this wasn't exactly planned out either, as we had corresponded before, the Sumo practice was definitely going to happen, but if the museum wasn't available, I would have preferred something closer or different options. If all we watched was the Sumo Practice, I would have asked for a discount. I felt I got my money's worth for the tour of the old Tokyo area, but it's also not exactly what I had in mind when I initially reached out. More choices for tours or things to do afterwards if the secondary attraction was closed would have been better, as I don't think the rest of the morning after practice was spent on stuff that interested me necessarily. I got the feeling at the end, that 'She' really wanted to go to these places, and that we were kind of along for the ride. While I don't mean to sound negative about the experience, as I know my partner enjoyed it, but this just wasn't the plan originally.
I regretted guiding you there. I thought that you might like old Tokyo simply because that you stayed Ryokan. Actually I guided three groups there in the past and they all liked the place. So it has a good reputation. Thank you anyway for your comment and best regards to your mother. Kaoruko
Kaoruko was very professional and explained us the world of Summo. Very good English and lots of empathy made Kaoruko a very good and enjoyable guide.
Thank you very much for this nice review. I wished that I could communicate with you in Portuguese even in some words! Anyways, I hope you will have a wonderful trip in Japan! Best regards, Kaoruko