Seeing Sumo for the first time in February

[mrquixote 0]

Hi! My wife and I are Americans who, unfortunately. speak no Japanese. Nonetheless we decided that while in Japan we should go see a sumo tournament. We know very little about sumo, other than some basic research on the web about terminology. Anyway, we have tickets to the 37th Grand Torunament (Special Elimination tournament) on February 10th. Now we are trying to understand what it is that we are going to see.

I am trying to gather some information about the rikishis, their beyas and this particular tournament. Unfortunately, I am having trouble finding anything that isn't about the March tournament. Can anyone give me a primer on who and what I will see? Anything that will help us to understand and appreciate the event would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Jakusotsu 6,401]

(Welcome...)

For starters, here's the thread about last year's tournament:

http://www.sumoforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29248

The most comprehensive source of information about rikishi and heya can be found here:

http://sumodb.sumogames.de/

[Mukonoso 273]

There are some older and reasonably price books on Amazon as well. Both The Big Book of Sumo and Dynamic Sumo provide thoroughly interesting explanations of sumo and sumo life. Both books are from the mid 90s and thus are a bit dated when it comes to who is who in the current sumo world but they were still great reads for me. I think I got one of them for like 11 cents on Amazon. I guess it helps if your hobbies are unusual.

[Fukurou 534]

Hi! My wife and I are Americans who, unfortunately. speak no Japanese. Nonetheless we decided that while in Japan we should go see a sumo tournament. We know very little about sumo, other than some basic research on the web about terminology. Anyway, we have tickets to the 37th Grand Torunament (Special Elimination tournament) on February 10th. Now we are trying to understand what it is that we are going to see.

I am trying to gather some information about the rikishis, their beyas and this particular tournament. Unfortunately, I am having trouble finding anything that isn't about the March tournament. Can anyone give me a primer on who and what I will see? Anything that will help us to understand and appreciate the event would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Here's a link to some information about the event you'll see - it's mainly prices, but it also mentions the event time and how long it's scheduled to run, and about the souvenir sets available (and what you get for your money).

I hope one of the Japan-based folk pops in in time to see your message, because they can give more information about the actual event, I'm sure!

Edited February 5, 2013 by Fukurou

[Kuroyama 715]

Bear in mind that what you will be seeing is not a regular tournament. Those are 15 days long and held during odd-numbered months, with the 1st, 3rd, and 5th of the year being held at the main sumo arena in Tokyo, and the others held at different venues around Japan. They're normally structured as a sort of limited round-robin, the overall winner of each division being determined strictly by win-loss record (along with tiebreaker bouts, if necessary).

These single-elimination tournaments are what you'll more often see at short-term exhibitions, and as they do not affect a wrestler's ranking, they're much more low-pressure, casual events. That doesn't make it any less interesting if you've never been exposed to the sport before, and with multiple elimination rounds I think you'll actually see more top-division sumo than you would at a regular tournament day where everyone fights just one bout each.

Enjoy! And if you have ringside seats, be prepared to get out of the way FAST. You probably do not want to be the one providing a soft landing to a 300+ lb sumo wrestler.

Edited February 6, 2013 by Kuroyama

[Exil 301]

(Welcome...)

As you might have already noticed, the Wikipedia article on sumo provides an excellent starting point.

[Sumo-Fan 1]

Hi

Well how was it? I just went to my first Basho a few weeks ago myself here in Tokyo. We just happened to be in the area and the wife asked so said sure as been watching it on TV at the hotel daily. Now seems gonna be an annual event for us to attend :-D

I'm actually in the middle of this book right now

Sumo: A Thinking Fan's Guide to Japan's National Sport

Not a bad book but he strays a little from the bare bones of what Sumo is but he covers some of it from a westerners viewpoint.

Dave