The sight of two big men in an outfit that seems like underwear fighting. It’s an image that’s known worldwide and very often is made fun of. But when travelling to Japan, you’ll discover that sumo is serious business in the land of the rising sun.

Planning my journey in Japan, I was intrigued by the sumo fighting. I wanted to see more and know more about it. I’ve seen photos and parodies of it since I was a child, I saw costumes of sumo fighters at costume parties and bachelor parties, but I wanted to know more about the fascination of Japan with those large men.

I discovered that when I was visiting Tokyo, there would be sumo tournaments. It was the period of may. I found out that it is a big spectacle and that only the best sumo fighters would participate so I immediately decided to buy tickets.

Since I booked the tickets through an agency, a guide was arranged. Normally I prepare and inform myself on my own, but this time I believed the guide to be very helpful. He provided everybody with a map of the Kokugikan arena and a list with the names and information (like age, nationality, heigth and weigth) of the fighters. It was immediately clear that this would be a big thing.

Arriving at the closest station next to the arena, the Ryõgoku Station, sumo was everywhere. The station is completely decorated in sumo style. There are large portraits of the best fighters, stairs have painted sumo fighters on them and there is a complete wall of handprints of the sumo fighters. USA’s Hollywood has its Walk of Fame, and the sumo fighters have their subway station.

Outside the arena lots of things were going on. From a tower music was playing and people from every age were walking towards the arena. Inside there is a small museum (with portraits of every winner) but also with the prizes the winner will recieve. Again it’s obvious that stakes are very high because the winners win a lot.

Inside the arena you have a good view from everywhere. Although there were many tourists, most of the public were locals. Japanese people from every age who came with a drink and snack to enjoy the sumo tournament.

The fights don’t take very long. The winner wins when he gets his rival outside a circle or have him touching the ground (with any body part except the feet). Most of the times this doesn’t take very long. Since the sumo fighters are quite large the fights are literally quite heavy. Many times the fighters even fall of the ring. I was worried many times about the people who were seated on first row – the judges and often elderly people who came to watch – when a fighter fell or almost fell on them. But this didn’t seem to bother anyone and only made the excitement bigger.

And talking about the excitement… the tournament really is. Like I said, the fights don’t take long but between them there are so many ceremonies; where all the fighters come in a ring, where the fighters introduce and prepare themselves for the fight,… There’s a lot of anticipation and that makes that you get more into the sumo game every fight you watch. The best fighters only appear at the end of that day. This means that every fight you see, the fighters get better.

Although not understanding all the rules of the sumo fight, I had a good time at the tournament. I was expecting to only stay for a few fights but at the end I stayed till the last one. And like the Japanese people have the uttermost respect for the sumo game, I have to say my respect fort heir fighters grew a lot because this isn’t some funny thing to see but serious business for them to become a fighter and to be a part of a tournament.

 

Some tips when you want to see sumo:

• Tournaments: check the dates for the tournaments. You’ll get to see real fights and the arena helps you to get more into the game.
• Watch a training: even when there isn’t any tournament, you can still get a glimpse of sumo. The stables where the sumo live and train often open their doors for the public. People can see the morning trainings. But prepare yourself when you go to a sumo practice. You’re not in an arena but in a small stable. This means the sumo fighters are much more closer to you. So inform yourself about the rules (like talking, taking photographes,…) so it can be a good experience – both for you and the sumo fighters.