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The last tournament of the year is in November, at Fukuoka. What's the schedule?
In Japan, Official Sumo wrestling Grand tournaments are held six times a year. November is the season for the last tournament of the year, held in Fukuoka. An exciting competition will be held for two weeks starting from the second Sunday in November. On the first floor seats near the ring, you can...
Yearly schedule of Japan Sumo wrestling
Sumo is Japan's national sport. Grand Sumo, the highest level of wrestling, consists of six major tournaments a year.
The Kyushu Tournament will be held in November at the Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka, for a total of 15 days from the second Sunday to the fourth Sunday in November.
All tournaments have the same structure, with the highest-ranked "makuuchi" wrestlers (called "Rikishi") competing once a day (called "torikumi"), for a total of 15 matches. As a result, the wrestler with the most wins will become the winner.
Therefore, the winner of the series is often decided during the last few days (for this Kyushu series, from November 24th (Fri) to November 26th (Sun)), making it especially popular with fans.
Sumo tickets are very popular, tickets are now on sale for November
Sumo wrestling is so popular that tickets for all dates are typically sold out on the official website, even one month before the series starts.
Tickets for the 2023 November series just started on Sep/16th (Sat) in 2023. Already the "Tamari'' seats which is the closest to the ring and the "Masu'' seats for two people are sold out!
Check your schedule, and if you're visiting Fukuoka in November, take this rare opportunity to enjoy traditional Japanese sports.
The next grand tournament will be held in January, in Tokyo.
The final tournament for the 2023 will be the Fukuoka series. The next one will be held in Tokyo, in January 2024.
The January series will be held for a total of 15 days from Jan/14th(Sun) to Jan/28th(Sun).
The ticket sales start on Dec/9th(Sat). If you are interested, we'll recommend to make your reservations in advance to ensure you can purchase your tickets.
What if you want to watch sports other than sumo?
In addition to sumo, baseball, soccer, and basketball are also becoming increasingly popular among tourists traveling to Japan.
The experience of watching sports while traveling is unique and will make your trip very memorable. Please consider this when traveling to Japan.
After COVID, the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan has increased very much. Also it became more common to see them at sports stadiums. What we heard from them is the difficulty of purchasing tickets. Match information, ticket information, how to buy, procedures for getting tickets (language, payment, Japanese address and phone number required)...etc People often gave up halfway through because of the difficulty of the process. "Japan Sports Ticket" supports the tourists to visit the Japanese local sports games, hope the tourist enjoy a unique and unforgettable Japan trip!!
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