Sumo Tournament Schedule: Planning a Visit Around Honbasho

The sumo tournament schedule Japan visitors need is fixed around six official tournaments per year, and your trip either overlaps one of them or it does not.¹ If live sumo is a priority, check the calendar before you lock flights and hotels, because dates outside those six windows offer no honbasho at all.¹²

Confirm current details with official sources

Fees, rules, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the Japan Sumo Association official schedule and Ticket Oosumo pages.

Overview

Professional sumo runs six official tournaments per year, called 本場所 (honbasho, "official grand tournament").¹³² Three take place in Tokyo in January, May, and September, with one each in Osaka in March, Nagoya in July, and Fukuoka in November.¹³²

Each tournament lasts 15 days, and wrestlers compete in one bout per day except lower-ranked wrestlers who compete in fewer bouts.⁴² Rankings are recorded on the 番付 (banzuke, "ranking chart updated after each tournament"), which moves wrestlers up or down based on results.¹²

A trip that misses all six windows cannot include a live honbasho bout. Between tournaments the association runs exhibition tours and occasional retirement ceremonies, but those are separate events with their own calendars.²

The six-tournament calendar

Tokyo anchors the year with three tournaments at Ryogoku Kokugikan, while Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka each host one. The pattern below reflects the Japan Sumo Association schedule (as of 2026-08; confirm current figures with the Japan Sumo Association).¹

Tournament	City and venue	2026 dates
January	Tokyo, Ryogoku Kokugikan	Jan 11 to Jan 25
March	Osaka, EDION Arena Osaka	Mar 8 to Mar 22
May	Tokyo, Ryogoku Kokugikan	May 10 to May 24
July	Nagoya, IG Arena	Jul 12 to Jul 26
September	Tokyo, Ryogoku Kokugikan	Sep 13 to Sep 27
November	Fukuoka, Fukuoka Kokusai Center	Nov 8 to Nov 22

All dates and venues in this table come from the same JSA schedule release (as of 2026-08).¹

Tokyo at Ryogoku Kokugikan in January, May, and September

Tokyo hosts three tournaments per year at Ryogoku Kokugikan: January, May, and September.¹³⁴ The 2026 Tokyo dates are Jan 11 to Jan 25, May 10 to May 24, and Sep 13 to Sep 27 (as of 2026-08).¹

Ryogoku Kokugikan holds 11,098 spectators and sits at 1-3-28 Yokoami, Sumida-ku, Tokyo, two minutes on foot from the West Exit of Ryogoku Station on the JR Sobu Line and five minutes from the Oedo Line exits.³⁴ During tournaments the station gets crowded, so JNTO advises arriving early rather than cutting it close.⁴

The January tournament traditionally opens the year and often draws imperial-family attendance.³ The complex also houses a small sumo museum covering the sport and its prominent figures through the centuries.³

Osaka in March, Nagoya in July, and Fukuoka in November

The March tournament is at EDION Arena Osaka (Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium), July is at IG Arena in Nagoya, and November is at Fukuoka Kokusai Center.¹⁵³ The 2026 regional dates are Mar 8 to Mar 22, Jul 12 to Jul 26, and Nov 8 to Nov 22 (as of 2026-08).¹

Each city brings its own venue logic. The Osaka arena sits in the Namba district in central Osaka, where Kansai-region wrestlers draw loud local support.³ The Nagoya hall stands on the grounds of Nagoya Castle, and the July heat is part of the experience rather than background detail.³

The November tournament runs about two weeks from mid-November in Fukuoka, a city on Kyushu island, and a strong showing there feeds into new-year rankings.³ Plan each regional trip around its own host city, since Tokyo access plans do not transfer.

Each tournament runs 15 days

Each honbasho lasts 15 days.¹³⁴ The six-division structure is not delineated by weight, so bouts can pair a very large wrestler against a smaller but nimbler opponent.³²

The top division is Makuuchi and the second is Juryo, with 横綱 (yokozuna, "grand champion, highest rank") at the pinnacle.³² Unlike lower ranks, a yokozuna cannot be demoted, but retirement is expected when performance declines.²

The ranking chart is announced before each tournament; the September 2026 chart was announced Aug 31, 2026 (as of 2026-08).¹ Wrestlers with winning records move up afterward, while those with losing records move down.²

Timing your trip around a tournament

If sumo is the reason for the trip, the tournament dates choose your travel window, not the other way around: see How Long Should Your Trip to Japan Be? for the broader duration framework. The decision below keeps the logic in order.

If your dates miss all six windows there is no live tournament

Outside the six windows there is no honbasho to attend. This is the normal shape of the calendar, not a gap year or a cancellation.¹

JNTO notes the limited number of tournaments, particularly outside Tokyo, can make attendance difficult.³ Alternatives include association tours with practice bouts and demonstrations, ceremonies at shrines, and morning practice visits at stables, but none of these is a tournament bout.³²

Do not build an itinerary around finding sumo later

If your flights already avoid every tournament window, no box office or resale pool fixes that. Move the dates first, then work on tickets.

Choosing which tournament fits your itinerary

Tokyo tournaments offer the largest venue and the densest visitor infrastructure, including the museum, the stable cluster, and the chanko nabe restaurant streets around Ryogoku.³⁴ Regional tournaments trade that density for a different city base, with their own access and lodging markets.³

July in Nagoya means heat; JNTO describes wrestlers glistening with sweat in the July tournament.³ January brings the new-year atmosphere, while the November closing tournament carries ranking stakes into the new year.³

Base yourself in the host city for regional months. An Osaka, Nagoya, or Fukuoka tournament is not a Tokyo day trip, and treating it as one adds a long rail leg to an already long arena day, so book reserved seats early: see Booking Shinkansen Tickets and Reserved Seats.

How to buy tickets

Tickets are sold per day across the 15-day run, through the official service first and leftover channels after. Prices and sale dates below reflect the September 2026 Tokyo instance (as of 2026-08; confirm current figures with Ticket Oosumo).⁶

Seat	Weekend and holiday	Weekday
Ringside, per person, Japanese page only	¥20,000	¥20,000
Box S, per 4-guest box	¥60,000	¥56,000
Box A, per 4-guest box	¥52,000	¥48,000
Box B, per 4-guest box	¥42,000	¥40,000
Box C, per 4-guest box	¥38,000	¥34,000
Chair S, per person	¥9,500	¥9,000
Chair A, per person	¥8,500	¥8,000
Chair B, per person	¥5,500	¥5,000
Chair C, per person	¥4,000	¥3,500
Chair D, per person, back row, online only with QR ticket only	¥2,500	¥2,500

All rows except Chair D come from the September 2026 Tokyo price list (as of 2026-08).⁶ Chair D at ¥2,500 for adults and ¥500 for children aged 4 to 15 is the cheapest seat in the arena, sold online only as a QR ticket only, per the tournament-specific pricing page (as of 2026-08).⁷ The English page adds a ¥2,000 service fee per ticket (as of 2026-08).⁶

Official sales windows and channels

Advance tickets go on sale about one month before each tournament, which puts sumo firmly among Sites in Japan That Require Advance Booking.¹² What most visitors meet as general sale is the last of several rounds, with fan-club and ticket-service pre-lotteries running before it (as of 2026-08).⁷ The September 2026 general sale opened Aug 8, 2026 at 10:00 Japan time, and November 2026 opens Sep 19, 2026 (as of 2026-08).¹⁵⁶

The official English channel is Ticket Oosumo English, linked from the Japan Sumo Association site.⁸⁵ The Japanese service adds Seven-Eleven terminal purchase and phone reservations at 0570-02-9310 from 10:00 to 18:00 in Japanese only.⁶

English-page payment is credit card only with pickup at Seven-Eleven stores in Japan.⁶ Lost tickets cannot be reissued for entry, and purchased tickets cannot be changed or cancelled for any reason (as of 2026-08).⁶

Wheelchair seats cost ¥8,000 for two people, user plus companion, by phone only, with September reservations from Aug 24, 2026 and payment at Seven-Eleven the next day (as of 2026-08).⁶ A non-wheelchair ticket still admits a wheelchair user to the purchased seat, but without staff assistance at the wheelchair location (as of 2026-08).⁶

Official face-value resale and same-day tickets

If a date sells out beforehand, there are no same-day tickets.⁶ Same-day sales release only unsold reserved seats, not a separate cheap category. The September 2026 tournament sold out all dates with no same-day sales (as of 2026-08).⁵

Same-day tickets are leftovers, not a budget category

Treat the box-office line as a fallback for flexible weekdays only. A sold-out date has nothing left to sell on the day.

The official face-value resale pool on the association-linked ticketing site lets sellers relist at face value with a 10 percent seller-paid fee, while buyers pay the original price plus covered fees.⁷ Reported listings open the Monday after general sale and close 23:59 three days before the viewing date for QR tickets, or the day before for uncollected tickets (as of 2026-08).⁷

The JSA warns against unauthorized resale sites and states that resale or transfer without organizer permission is prohibited except for non-profit transfers to family, friends, or business associates.⁶ JNTO gives the same practical advice in plainer terms: tickets can be bought at the box office on the day, but many days sell out, so buy in advance.³

Weekends and final days sell out first

Tickets are particularly difficult to obtain for weekends and national holidays.² For timing tactics that help on fixed-date trips, see Crowd-Avoidance Tactics That Actually Work: Timing, Not Just Destination. Both JNTO and the Japan Guide advise reserving as early as possible, particularly for box seats.⁴²

The final days carry the highest demand because the title is often decided late, with the closing Sunday (千秋楽, senshuraku, "final day of a tournament") as the peak.⁶² September 2026 sold out all dates after the Aug 8 on-sale, which shows how quickly the window can close (as of 2026-08).⁵

Target weekday early and middle days for easier seats

Weekday dates in the first two-thirds of the run are the most realistic fallback when weekends and the final stretch are gone. Decide your day before sales open and act at the opening time.

A day at the venue

One ticket covers the whole day from morning to night, with entry and exit allowed during matches.⁶ September 2026 limited re-entry to one time with return by 17:00, and opened doors at 8:45, shifting to 10:30 on Sep 25 to 26 and 10:00 on the final Sunday (as of 2026-08; confirm current figures with Ticket Oosumo).⁶

Time, days 1 to 12	Event
8:30	Lower-division bouts begin
14:15 to 15:00	Juryo ring-entering ceremony, then bouts
15:45	Makuuchi ring-entering ceremony
16:00 to 18:00	Makuuchi bouts, highest ranks just before 18:00
About 18:00	Bow-twirling closing, day ends

The timeline above follows the standard daily shape described across visitor sources (as of 2026-08).⁴² Days 13 to 15 shift about 30 minutes in the morning to fit the closing ceremony (as of 2026-08).²

Morning lower ranks to afternoon top division

Doors open around 8:00 to 8:45 and lower-division bouts begin around 8:30 in a quiet, near-empty hall.⁶² This is the calmest time to look around and watch younger wrestlers who rarely appear on television.

十両 (juryo, "second division") bouts run from about 14:40 to 15:00, preceded by the division ring-entering ceremony.² The 幕内 (makuuchi, "top division") ring-entering ceremony follows about 15:45, with bouts from about 16:00 and the highest-ranked bouts just before 18:00.⁴²

Matches take place on the elevated 土俵 (dohyo, "raised clay ring covered with sand").² Each bout is preceded by salt purification and stare-downs, and the rules are simple: the first wrestler to exit the ring or touch the ground with anything except the soles of the feet loses.⁴²

The final bout between the top contenders is called 結びの一番 (musubi-no-ichiban, "final bout between the top contenders").⁴ The day ends about 18:00 with the 弓取式 (yumitori-shiki, "bow-twirling closing ceremony").² Stay through it rather than leaving during the last bout.

When spectators typically arrive and how to conduct yourself

The hall fills through the afternoon as the crowd arrives for the top card.² Visitors with limited time should be present at least for the top-division action between 15:30 and 18:00.²

Arrive settled before the top-division ceremony rather than during it. The 土俵入り (dohyo-iri, "ring-entering ceremony in ceremonial aprons") is a highlight in its own right, with wrestlers processing in ornate aprons and a solo ceremony when a grand champion competes.²

桝席 (masu-seki, "box seats, floor boxes for up to four people") require removing shoes and sitting on cushions, while 溜席 (tamari-seki, "ringside seats closest to the ring") sit close enough that wrestlers can fall into the front rows.⁶² 力士 (rikishi, "sumo wrestler") deserve the same quiet focus you would give any live contest: stay seated during bouts, keep cushions and bags in your own space, and save food runs and photos for the breaks the venue allows.

Good to know

A tournament date on your itinerary is not a ticket in hand

Seeing a tournament on the calendar and holding a seat are different steps. Advance sales open about a month before day one, so a trip booked months ahead still needs a second action at the sales window.¹⁶

September 2026 opened Aug 8 for a Sep 13 start and then sold out all dates (as of 2026-08).¹⁵ Put the on-sale date in your calendar with the same seriousness as the flight date, in the order the Japan Trip Checklist: What to Sort Out Before You Fly sequences it.

Box seats are sold as a unit, not per person

Box seats are sold by the box, not per seat. At the September 2026 Tokyo sale the boxes were four-guest units, so two people using a four-seat box still paid for all four seats (as of 2026-08).⁶²

At September 2026 Tokyo prices that means Box B costs ¥40,000 on a weekday and ¥42,000 on weekends and holidays per box, not per person (as of 2026-08).⁶ Solo travelers and pairs who want per-person pricing should look at chair seats instead.

Regional tournaments need a host-city base, not a Tokyo day trip

March belongs to Osaka, July to Nagoya, and November to Fukuoka, each with its own venue and access plan.¹³ A Nagoya Castle-grounds hall and a Namba-district arena do not share logistics with Ryogoku, and the lodging market around each venue tightens on its own pattern.

Stay in the host city for the night before and the bout day. Day-tripping from Tokyo turns a full arena afternoon into a late rail scramble after the closing ceremony.

Dates and sales windows shift each year, so last year's calendar is not this year's plan

Each year's first days and on-sale days move. March opened Feb 7, 2026 for a Mar 8 start, but opens Feb 6, 2027 for a Mar 14 start (as of 2026-08).¹

Confirm the current year against the Japan Sumo Association schedule rather than reusing a prior year's dates. The six-city pattern stays stable while the specific days and sales windows do not.¹

See also

• Summer Matsuri Season: What to Expect and How to Plan Around It
• Hanabi (Fireworks) Festivals: Japan Summer-Night Spectacle
• The 2025–2026 Accommodation Capacity Crunch: What It Means for Your Booking
• Golden Week and Obon: The Domestic-Travel-Crowding Weeks to Plan Around
• Shinkansen and Train Etiquette for Visitors

References

Footnotes

1. Japan Sumo Association (Nihon Sumo Kyokai). "Grand Tournament Schedule" (English). https://www.sumo.or.jp/EnTicket/year_schedule ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹

2. Japan Guide (japan-guide.com). "Sumo." https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2080.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³ ↩²⁴ ↩²⁵ ↩²⁶ ↩²⁷ ↩²⁸

3. JNTO. "GUIDE Experience Sumo." https://www.japan.travel/en/guide/experience-sumo/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹

4. JNTO. "Tokyo Sumo Tournaments." https://www.japan.travel/en/spot/383/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

5. Ticket Oosumo (official JSA ticket service, English). Top page with tournament list and sold-out notice. https://sumo.pia.jp/en/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

6. Ticket Oosumo. "September Grand Tournament" detail page (English). https://sumo.pia.jp/en/sumo09.jsp ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹

7. Watabi. "Sumo Tickets 2026-27: Official Prices and the Resale Trap." https://watabi.org/en/articles/japan-sumo-guide ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

8. Japan Sumo Association. "How to Buy" (English). https://www.sumo.or.jp/EnTicket/ ↩