THE SUMO HALL HIRAKUZA OSAKA — Local services in Osaka

I think that the people who are complaining about this not being "real" simply bought tickets without even bothering to check what they were spending their hard earned money on. The description on their website very clearly says Sumo Entertainment show, not "Grand Sumo" nor "Official Sumo" or anything similar. Peeps, please get some glasses and read before buying and then complaining about something you did not check.

Now that’s out of the way, here’s my take on the clearly stated Sumo Entertainment Show. The first part of the show was a theatrical performance about the origins of sumo. On its own, it might feel as if the performance is a bit out of nowhere, but in fact, it complements the program handed out at the hall entrance, where they scan your QR tickets. All in all, it was quite an artsy performance.

After the theatrical part there is a short recess of about 8 mins where the MC (Japanese Rakugo story teller, super high energy, simply fantastic) invites the audience to join a lottery for a chance to "fight" (I use quotation marks because obviously we the common mortals have no chance of defeating professional Sumo wrestlers) one of the sumo wrestlers later in the show.

When the show resumes, they explain the rules of sumo, legal moves, forbidden techniques, and some training routines. The whole show is conducted in English, with a dash of humour mixed in – this is Osaka, after all, and as I understand, Osaka is famous for its comedy.

Then the bouts start. There are 3 fights (4 wrestlers) and of course, since the wresters have to perform every day, they cannot afford to risk injury by going all out and fighting for real (at least that is my interpretation). The fghts for the most part looked real but there is space for improvement.

After the tournament, the winner draws 3 numbers from the lottery box to choose the 3 members of the public who will "fight" the sumo wrestlers. Quite the bummer I wasn’t chosen, but it was great fun to watch the interaction from the safety of my seat!

The food was not bad, not great either. it simply was. It felt like a nice combination of different things you find in other bento boxes in one bento box. I do not eat much myself but I think it might not be enough for bigger people, I digress anyway.... It seems also that many do not know that in Japan, cold food is rather common and complain about that as well in other comments. I do agree that Hirakuza would be better off mentioning that the bento they serve is cold somewhere on their website.

The seating arrangement was also confusing. S-Seat which in reality is A row, A-seat which is not A row and B -seat which is the back row and not B-row. Please please please fix that.

The Pros: Entertaining Sumo "entertaining show". The Staff members are all very friendly and always looked happy and they can speak English as well! I even saw a Staff member helping out some customers in Portuguese and Spanish too! (Bearded lad, brilliant!)

The location was rather spot-on too. It is inside a big shopping centre called Namba Parks. They also have a gift shop with many sumo related little trinkets.

The Cons: While I understand that the fights are scripted, it would be nice that them looked more realistic. Prolly a short explanation/announcement of introduction prior to the start of the theatrical performance would be great instead of just throwing an artsy performance out of the blue and leaving us confused.

Hats off to everyone involved and best of luck...

2/5 Star Review: Sumo Wrestling Experience in Osaka

Baseline up first: I cannot recommend the experience, especially at the asked price.

The reception staff were friendly. However, the snack pack you receive if you didn't preorder a ticket consists of rather cheap supermarket snacks (potato chips and sweets).

The experience began with a Japanese-style comedy act, which was not to my taste, though I imagine there are people who enjoy this type of humor. It continued with a very bad movie playing in the background while the four sumo wrestlers performed what appeared to be warm-up moves. This part was very incoherent and lacked any explanation.

The second half of the show started with some briefly introduced practice moves and an explanation of the rules of sumo in a humorous manner. The humor, of course, depends on the recipient, again.

Finally, there were three fights among the four sumo wrestlers. They were over quickly, which is to be expected, but were fun to watch. The crowd participation afterward, which allowed three randomly chosen spectators to fight a wrestler, was a fun idea but only added a minor laugh towards the end. The same goes for the after-show photo opportunities with the wrestlers.

We will remember the evening with strongly mixed feelings. As I have never attended a real sumo match, I cannot compare the experience to a real match. Instead, I will compare it to my expectations of a real match, and it does not come close. The ambiance is artificial, like in a theater. The wrestlers seem like actors, and there is quite a lot of humoristic trial and error.

We had second-row seats with an unobstructed view and paid 12,500 Yen each. To me, that's too much for 10-15 minutes of entertainment and 45 minutes of a...

Visited here today. It was truly moving to experience sumo, a Japanese cultural treasure, with amazing wrestlers and a passionate female host! I run a similar dining and show business back home, and I have to say the performers here are incredibly skilled. However, what caught my attention and shocked me was the staff's lack of professionalism. Most of the staff seem to be young students, but whether they're working in the hall or kitchen, I think they need more awareness of what it means to work in show business. During the break between acts, the host was actively engaging with the audience. When a front row guest asked the staff to take photos with the ring as a backdrop, the host noticed after a few shots were taken and joined in as part of the interaction. But surprisingly, a female crew member who was serving soup nearby jumped into the photos. I was so shocked and bewildered that I gave up asking for a photo. I wasn't looking to take pictures with employees. What kind of training are they giving these workers? The host was doing proper customer service as someone who's meant to be in the spotlight. But that woman was clearly doing unnecessary work and even abandoned the food she was supposed to be handling. Plus, she was acting like she was the performer and belonged on stage. Isn't that pretty disrespectful to the actual performers she works alongside? In my show business, I would never allow something like that, and if I saw it, I'd address it immediately. I feel there's far too big a gap between the quality of the stage performers and the staff. If they improved this, it could be an even...