Ryōgoku is home to two of the first things people think of when they hear the word “Japan”: sumo wrestling and woodblock prints. The Tokyo sumo tournaments happen for ten days every January, May and September.
The sumo stadium is right next to Ryōgoku Station, and watching a sumo match is like nothing you’ve ever seen, anywhere. It’s an only-in-Japan sport that will surprise you with the sheer strength and wily cunning of its participants.
The wrestlers march out in all their glory to salute each other before the tournament begins.
Then starts the ritual posturing before the bout.
The tension builds…
and even after they take their positions, they perform psychological fake-outs, designed to catch each other off-guard. The match can only begin when both wrestlers touch both fists on the ground…
and suddenly, the battle of the titans begins!
The loser is the one who stepped outside the circle, not the one hitting the dirt!
I guarantee you’ll go away with newfound respect for the strength and skill of these athletes, and you’ll never think of them as “fat” again.
Even when the last bout is decided, don’t go home yet, because the ranking yokozuna performs a kata at the end of the day’s bouts that’s worth seeing!
You can buy tickets online, but don’t wait too long—they’re often sold out on the day of the tournament. Even the nosebleed seats are grand and give you a bird’s eye view of the action.
If you’re not in Tokyo at tournament time, you can still see wrestlers going about their daily business in Ryogoku. They often take the train, and you can spot them easily by their size and the fact that they never wear western clothes.
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Ryōgoku is also the home of the Sumida Hokusai Museum, where you can not only see pristine examples of his most famous woodblock prints…
they also display his rare paintings,
original copies of his many sketchbooks, a great exhibit on how woodblock prints are made, and even a diorama showing the great man at work.
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And here are the other places I take my friends when they come to town
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
Jonelle Patrick writes about Japan 