Best unofficial place to buy sumo tickets?

[Edwardoho 9]

Hi,

Where are the best unofficial places to buy sumo tickets? Has anyone had any experience doing this?

 Have looked on Viagogo (English) and Yahoo auctions (Japanese) so far. 

Thanks a lot for any recommendations,

Ed

 

 

[Kintamayama 32,627]

buysumotickets. A bit pricey but excellent service. Perfect service

[Edwardoho 9]

Thanks @Kintamayama but I think they don't offer any Masu A which is what i'm after. 

Will email and check. 

 

Edited December 15, 2019 by Edwardoho

[sumojoann 445]

I have a friend in Japan (not in Tokyo) who is a sumo fan.  I have just sent him an e-mail asking your question and asking if he has any ideas.  I hope you don't need these tickets for the 2020 Hatsu (January) basho.  The Masu A tickets would undoubtedly be sold out by now.

[Edwardoho 9]

5 hours ago, sumojoann said:

I have a friend in Japan (not in Tokyo) who is a sumo fan.  I have just sent him an e-mail asking your question and asking if he has any ideas.  I hope you don't need these tickets for the 2020 Hatsu (January) basho.  The Masu A tickets would undoubtedly be sold out by now.

Thanks!

Yeah, im looking for tickets for this January. 

I know they sold out very quickly but that's why im looking for the most popular re-seller websites.

 

[sumojoann 445]

On 20/12/2019 at 02:10, Edwardoho said:

Thanks!

Yeah, im looking for tickets for this January. 

I know they sold out very quickly but that's why im looking for the most popular re-seller websites.

 

It sounds like what you're looking for are ticket scalpers which are illegal in Japan.  They are called dafu-ya.  I typed --- scalpers --- in the Sumo Forum search bar & it came up with 11 entries.  That's where I found the above info.  My friend in Japan didn't realize you were looking for tickets for the Jan basho so he just gave me a website (Pia) that sold them online .  (They are not resellers).  I will send him another email about the resellers but he might not want to tell me anything about illegal transactions.  I had heard somewhere that there are a few scalpers who hang around the Kokugikan.  It's not like here in America where scalping is common and openly done.  I suppose you could go to the Kokugikan and discreetly ask someone out in the front area if they know where to find a dafu-ya.  You might be running the risk of getting counterfeit tickets, though.  When I went to the Aki Basho in 2014, there were 2 people who had gotten in with no problem and were seated nearby.  (This was in the upper level Arena B section).  Suddenly, 2 other ticket-holders showed up and found these 2 people sitting in their seats.  Both couples had tickets for the same seats,  A security guard compared the tickets and apparently determined that the first set was counterfeit.  That couple had to leave.  Needless to say, you would be losing a LOT of money if that happened to you.

Out of curiosity, I looked up Yahoo Auctions Japan (in English) and found the following ---  http://yahoo.aleado.com/2084231005-category-leaf.html

I don't understand the sumo ticket ads at all.  Is this what you were looking at?

I will write again to my friend in Japan about resellers and let you know if and when I hear back from him.

[sumojoann 445]

On 21/12/2019 at 05:27, sumojoann said:

It sounds like what you're looking for are ticket scalpers which are illegal in Japan.  They are called dafu-ya.  I typed --- scalpers --- in the Sumo Forum search bar & it came up with 11 entries.  That's where I found the above info.  My friend in Japan didn't realize you were looking for tickets for the Jan basho so he just gave me a website (Pia) that sold them online .  (They are not resellers).  I will send him another email about the resellers but he might not want to tell me anything about illegal transactions.  I had heard somewhere that there are a few scalpers who hang around the Kokugikan.  It's not like here in America where scalping is common and openly done.  I suppose you could go to the Kokugikan and discreetly ask someone out in the front area if they know where to find a dafu-ya.  You might be running the risk of getting counterfeit tickets, though.  When I went to the Aki Basho in 2014, there were 2 people who had gotten in with no problem and were seated nearby.  (This was in the upper level Arena B section).  Suddenly, 2 other ticket-holders showed up and found these 2 people sitting in their seats.  Both couples had tickets for the same seats,  A security guard compared the tickets and apparently determined that the first set was counterfeit.  That couple had to leave.  Needless to say, you would be losing a LOT of money if that happened to you.

Out of curiosity, I looked up Yahoo Auctions Japan (in English) and found the following ---  http://yahoo.aleado.com/2084231005-category-leaf.html

I don't understand the sumo ticket ads at all.  Is this what you were looking at?

I will write again to my friend in Japan about resellers and let you know if and when I hear back from him.

My Japanese friend finally wrote back.  He's traveling right now.  He said that very few scalpers operate in person at the sumo venues anymore because it's illegal.  He said nowadays, virtually all of the scalpers sell online, some at flea market online sites (which he didn't specify).  He said their profit margin is much greater online.  He also said that hard-to-get tickets are virtually impossible to get once tickets have officially gone on sale.

I don't speak or read Japanese but I poked around the Internet and the only thing I found about getting Masu-seki tickets is the following:  (You have to scroll down about halfway, after the last big photo)  https://piece-of-japan.com/sightseeing/ryogoku/how-to-buy-sumo-ticket.html

It says that you would have to contact the Sumo Information Offices called "Sumo-jaya" or "Sumo-annai".  They monopolize almost all the best Masu-seki and most of the Tamari-seki tickets.  No further information is supplied.  So that looks like your best bet.  Have you made any progress in getting tickets?

[Edwardoho 9]

@sumojoann thank you so much for such informative responses and for going out of your way to find the information. 

I've not made much progress yet but have found some auction sites which sell the tickets and am keeping an eye on them.

I will also see if I can find any scalpers near the arena. Fingers crossed!