Sumō Museum — Attraction in Tokyo

Attended 14th Sept'23 Tokyo Grand Sumo tournament from 10:00am to 18:00. Arrived 11:30. Watched divisional bouts. The junior bouts start at 14:30hrs, and then the seniors from 16hrs. As you can see from the photos. Japanese attend from the junior division, only died hard sumo fans attend before lunch. Oh yes lunch early. Don't wait until the lunch interval - again my mistake - because the majority of the bento boxes or good food options are already sold out!! And again don't make my mistake of opening the chicken food. Read the instructions! Often there's an external string that needs to be pulled to initiate the cooking of the food. I didn't read, opened the box then had to put it back together to cook the food. Summary worth seeing once. Next time...

Because I'm seeing reviews for both here, I want to point out that this is strictly about the Sumo Museum located on the ground floor of the Ryogoku Kokugikan, not the Kokugikan itself.

This museum consists of a single room with cases along two walls, and a freestanding case in the middle of the floor. There is no permanent exhibition, so you'll find different objects on display on different visits. This makes up for its small size, but I have to admit that unless you're already a sumo fan most of what's there will lack enough context for full appreciation. On the other hand admission is free, so you can't really go wrong by popping in for a brief look.

You probably won't find any photos with a review here, as photography inside the museum...

This was a very rare opportunity to be there during a Sumo wrestling tournament, it only happens 3 times a year in Tokyo (I think it was March, May and September), there are other tournaments at different times of the year and in different cities and the tournaments only lasts for 15 days. Tickets sell out quickly for the level 1, but if you wanted seated areas, level 2, book through a tour company is advisable. With the tour, you meet your tour guide who explains the history of Sumo wrestling, train ride to the venue, the entrance fee and the museum. Your guide will spend all day there with you and watch as many bouts (matches) as you want, watch the open ceremony of each day and winner will perform a ritual at the...