Visiting heya / morning practice in Tokyo

[dingo 1,454]

Hey all, I have to turn to the infinite wisdom of the people here because I'm travelling to Japan again after a long time and would like to visit a heya or watch morning practice. I've searched the forum and googled for some options, and while there are quite a few tour companies willing to offer trips (often for a substantial sum), I thought to myself there must be a better way to find options. Excluding the tours offered by tour companies I haven't been able to find much current information so I thought maybe someone here can offer some tips as to which heya are easier to visit and open to visitors outside tours. 

I'll be in Japan in the second half of October, mostly around Tokyo. I'm travelling with my family, including two kids (10 and 8 years old) who are also interested in seeing sumo life and practice. I've seen some heya don't allow kids under 11 years or so, is that a common restriction with most heya? If yes, then are there any other alternatives I could consider to show the kids something about sumo life? I guess I could visit the Kokugikan/sumo museum and have chanko somewhere, but are there any activities that I haven't thought of?

Anyway, so far I've identified the following options for watching practice:

Arashio beya -- free of charge, easily accessible calendar on the website which outlines which days are open for watching practice. However, the second half of October is not populated yet in the calendar. Maybe the info will appear later? As far as I've gathered visitors can watch the practice through a window on the street or something similar, is that the case? https://arashio.net/tour_e.html

Nakamura beya -- seems like they've set up an exclusive relationship with one tour company to offer keiko tours both in the morning and afternoon (I know in other heya practice is traditionally always in the morning, so the afternoon option would make it easy with kids who are not particularly happy to wake up super early). There's also an express option which might be good for kids who could get bored watching hours of practice. However it's paid -- 10 000 yen for express and 16 000 for the full practice, and I'm not sure if kids are welcome or not. Also I'm not too keen on paying a hefty amount for 4 people. https://nexspark.jp/  

Tatsunami beya -- as recently announced on this very forum by @Vancouver BC Sumo Fan, they have a newly launched international fan club, though the website doesn't mention keiko watching. Would that be an option?

I also found this pretty useful short guide, though again it doesn't mention if kids are mostly welcomed or not. A few of the heya mentioned there as visitor-friendly like Musashigawa have updated their policy and don't accept any visitors for morning practice outside the koenkai or introductions. https://blog.gaijinpot.com/how-to-watch-a-sumo-morning-training-session/

So in short, if anyone has recent tips or places for visiting keiko, I'd be very thankful. Alternatively, are there any heya besides Nakamura which are taking visitors in the afternoon for example? I guess not but still would be good to know.

Both me and my wife speak Japanese so I could contact some heya myself, but I don't feel comfortable doing so out of the blue so maybe someone has any pointers as to which heya could be willing to accept outside visitors. Any piece of information would be helpful!

[Akinomaki 41,570]

I was at morning keiko only once, Doreen took me there, otherwise I didn't like to rise up that early. Nowadays going there later is possible as well.

The best entry ticket is a membership in the koenkai, but that costs a bit as well of course. It doesn't have to be an international one, if you have a way to pay the member fee - and some address in Japan to have the banzuke sent to. Else being taken there by a koenkai member.

At the time you want to be there, preparations for Kyushu will be under way and many heya away on training camps - and the (uninjured) stars with tsukebito and locals at the Aki jungyo  (no schedule out yet). Likely that will be not near Tokyo though.

Edited 11 hours ago by Akinomaki

[Morning 92]

Also take the week a bunch of them are in London into account.

[dingo 1,454]

Thanks for the replies! I'd rather not join a koenkai unless I really have to, so I'll keep that option in reserve for now. Very good advice regarding Kyushu and jungyo, but I hope something could still be available. At least some paid tours seem to be offered for the second half of October so I'm not losing hope yet. I don't really need to see any stars, just hoping to catch a glimpse of any practice. Good point also about London, but fortunately that'll be finished while I'm still in Japan so hopefully it won't affect my chances too much. At this point it looks like Arashio might be my best best unless I can find something else.

[rhyen 1,856]

If you don’t mind travelling out of central Tokyo, Oitekaze heya out in Saitama has a floor to ceiling high viewing window looking into the dohyo. The only viewers outside with you are the local senior citizens. 
One huge concern is your timing, Kyushu honbasho starts November 9th. That means all the heya will be in Fukuoka by October 19th before the banzuke release on October 27th?