Japan Omnibus - Sports - Sumo: The Basho Japan Omnibus Sumo: Introduction | The Basics | The Basho | The Hanada Dynasty The Basho There are six basho (tournaments) a year, held every odd month in Tokyo (Jan, May and Sept), Osaka (Mar) Nagoya (Jul) and Kyushu (Nov). The Tokyo basho are held at the Kokugikan in Ryogoku. In recent years, sumo has lost some of the popularity it enjoyed in the 1990s so that tickets are not usually sold out. Same-day tickets can often be bought for the first ten days or so of the 15-day basho and advance tickets are even easier to get. Unfortunately, you'll have to go to the venue to buy them. If you're really stuck, ticket touts are usually somewhere in the area - they'll find you if you look desperate for a ticket. Towards the end of the 15 days, the tension builds and tickets become harder to find as rikishi (wrestlers) try for their kachikoshi (winning record) or vie for the yusho (championship).

Makushita rikishi warm up The bow-twirling ritual The basho day starts early, with maezumo (apprentices) fighting in the morning before the four junior divisions (who only fight on 7 of the 15 days) take to the dohyo (ring). While the next division, the juryo are fighting, the crowd begins to build until about 4pm when the dohyoiri (ring-entrance ceremonies) for the highest division - 30 makuuchi rikishi, the sanyaku (three top ranks) and the yokozuna (grand champions) - signal the main bouts of the day. These top-ranked sekitori wear colorful, hand-made silk kesho-mawashi (aprons) paid for by sponsors or fans. Before each bout, the two rikishi step up onto the dohyo and a yobidashi (steward) calls out their names. The rikishi throw some salt into the 4.6 meter ring on the dohyo to purify it before entering. They then perform some movements which symbolize their lack of weapons, leave the ring and enter again, usually twice more.

The gyoji (referee) adopts a different stance when the preparation time is up. Despite all the elaborate ceremony surrounding the sport, sumo is surprisingly simple. The two rikishi face each other behind their shikirisen (starting line) in the center of the dohyo and when both are ready, they touch the dohyo with both hands and charge. If one rikishi charges before the other is ready, there is a matta, meaning the bout is stopped, the rikishi warned (and fined ¥30,000!) and the bout restarted. The first to touch the dohyo with any part of the body other than their feet or to step out of the ring loses. As even the slightest touch of the dohyo outside the ring means a defeat, the clay is carefully brushed smooth before each bout. Sometimes there is uncertainty about which rikishi stepped out or touched the dohyo first. In this case, the five shimpan (judges) sitting around the dohyo gather for a monoii or consultation before deciding the winner or declaring a rematch. The final bouts are always the sanyaku and then the yokozuna.

An upset or a dramatic bout at the top level is often greeted with the hurling of dozens of seat cushions as the crowd shows their approval (though the stadium authorities do not approve of this!). After the final bout, there is short bow-twirling ritual by a junior rikishi as the fans start to amke their way to the exits. And at the end of the final day, the yusho winner is presented with a whole bunch of cups and trophies sponsored by various companies and embassies. Makunouchi dohyoiri - during... Kisenosato looking to end Japanese title drought at New Year sumo | The Japan Times Kisenosato looking to end Japanese title drought at New Year sumo Kyodo SHARE It has been 10 years since a Japanese-born wrestler last won a championship title at a Grand Sumo Tournament, and much of that decade has been riddled with near misses for the man once touted as the sport’s next homegrown hope. Kisenosato was 19 years old and a ninth-ranked maegashira when ozeki Tochiazuma lifted the Emperor’s Cup for the third and final time in his career on Jan.

22 at the New Year basho in 2006. At the time, Kisenosato was being tipped for a bright future in a sport that has been dominated by Mongolian wrestlers in recent years. The Tagonoura stable ozeki, who turns 30 in July, has endured years of frustration as he attempted to live up to the hype but he has been putting in overtime in a bid to restore national pride and capture an elusive first title at the New Year tourney getting under way in Tokyo on Sunday. “So many times I have blown it and lost crucial bouts,” Kisenosato said with his customary frown. “I guess I just haven’t had the all-round ability and a strong enough will to win. “Looking back to 10 years ago, I never thought at the time that 10 years down the line I would still be getting up onto the raised ring. The frustration of every loss remains.” Over most of the last decade, Kisenosato has been battling it out in the top ranks of the makuuchi division, only to see the likes of Mongolian yokozuna Asashoryu, Hakuho and Harumafuji cart home the tournament hardware time and again.

“What the foreign wrestlers do is neither here nor there. Never having been at the very top is the big source of frustration for me,” said Kisenosato. “Dreams are not something that you see, they are something that you seize.” The Tagonoura stable wrapped up “keiko” practice much earlier than usual on Dec. 27 last year, but Kisenosato, who went 10-5 at the Kyushu basho in Fukuoka in November, continued tuning up at a dimly lit training facility until Dec. 30. “I’m not in a position to be taking time off,” he said. “Thanks (to the extra training) I am in good shape (ahead of the tournament). Whether or not Kisenosato has the strength of character to go all the way and win the title remains to be seen, but Hakuho, with 35 titles the most successful wrestler in the history of the sport, will once again start as title favorite. Hakuho faded down the stretch and lost his last three bouts at the Kyushu basho and will be aiming to bounce back and win his first title in three meets.

Hakuho appeared to be bothered at times by a left-elbow issue in training but that did not affect his movement and he should be there or thereabouts as the tournament draws to a close. “The New Year holiday starts after the New Year Basho for sumo people. The (professional) soccer and baseball seasons are over now and this tournament will draw more attention. Hopefully I can wrestle well,” said Hakuho. A second consecutive title will be on the line for Harumafuji but a left knee problem has hampered his preparations, while yokozuna Kakuryu will be in with a chance if he can snap the habit of pulling back and instead wrestle more offensively at the 15-day meet. Of the other ozeki, Kotoshogiku will be hoping his quick-fire attacks can get him on a roll but a winning record will be the main objective for Goeido, who is nursing a sore right wrist. Terunofuji is carrying injuries to both knees and 10-plus wins are likely the best that can be expected from the Mongolian ozeki.

One man who could pose a threat to sumo’s big guns is giant-killer Yoshikaze, who is enjoying an Indian summer to his career and has reached sumo’s third highest rank of sekiwake. At 33 years, 10 months old he is the sixth oldest “new” sekiwake in the post-war era. Tokitenku ailing KYODO Former komusubi Tokitenku has been suffering from malignant lymphoma but is on course for recovery, his stablemaster Tokitsukaze revealed Friday. The 36-year-old Mongolian wrestler complained of rib pain during September’s Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament before being diagnosed with the disease. He has been in and out of hospital since October and will receive treatment through April, according to Tokitsukaze. “He must be the one in the most pain but says ‘I want to overcome this for those who are suffering from the same disease,’ ” said the stablemaster, who revealed that Tokitenku has lost 20 kg but has no problems talking or walking.

Tokitenku missed November’s Kyushu basho, his second grand tournament absence since he debuted in the 2010 New Year basho, and is ranked ninth in second-tier Juryo division for this month’s New Year tourney. Tokitenku is expected to discuss his future with Tokitsukaze before March’s Spring Grand Sumo Tournament, when he is certain to find himself wrestling in the makushita division, the sport’s third highest competition. Photos The Sumo Matchup Centuries In The Making | FiveThirtyEight The Sumo Matchup Centuries In The Making Email The final match of the 2016 Haru Basho — one of six professional sumo tournaments held each year — was a day-15 championship-deciding showdown between the sport’s top yokozuna. 1 Hakuho, the White Peng, 2 the dominant force in sumo over the past decade, was 13-1 in the tournament and hadn’t lost since his opening match.

If he could beat rival Harumafuji — himself a winner of seven Grand Tournament championships — Hakuho would win a record 36th Emperor’s Cup, about the equivalent of a 24th major in tennis or golf. 3 If he lost, he would have to wrestle again (almost immediately) in a tiebreaker against 13-2 ozeki 4 Kisenosato , who was waiting ringside. The highest-ranked sumo wrestlers like Hakuho wear the yokozuna rope during dohyo-iri (the ring-entering ceremony). Tim Foley The shikiri (pre-match ritual) takes several minutes. The wrestlers clap to attract the attention of the gods, lift their hands to show they are unarmed, stomp the ground to scare away demons and throw salt in the ring to purify it. They repeatedly crouch as if about to start the match and then stand up after a few moments of glaring at each other. When they are finally ready, they creep toward their starting stance. There is no bell. The match starts with a tachi-ai (initial charge), which generally happens the instant the opponents are set.

Harumafuji lunged from his crouch , low, exploding toward Hakuho in an effort to take control of the bout early. Instead, he caught a quick palm to the face — and then air. His momentum carried him clear out of the other side of the ring, like he’d tried to bull-rush a ghost. The match had lasted one second. Kisenosato scowled and walked out of the ring area. Commentators didn’t quite know what to say; one of the English announcers let out a long “hmmmmm.” The crowd booed its champion. This is not normally how a match of this scale plays out. Side-stepping an opponent’s charge is legal but considered beneath the dignity of top sumotori. The move is known derisively as a henka (変化), which translates to “change” or “changing,” while connoting the root “strange” (変). That it would be used by an all-time great in one of the most consequential matches of his career was strange indeed. With all Hakuho has accomplished, his greatness is unquestionable, but his legacy is an enigma.

It is already beyond being measured by wins and losses, or even by yusho (tournament wins) or sansho (special prizes), so incidents like this now take on particular importance. But judging him by heel turns would be reductive. The best way to measure Hakuho’s legacy is to pit it against legend. Enter thunder and lightning. Raiden Tameemon. Before Hakuho (born in 1985), before Taiho (born in 1940), before Hitachiyama (born in 1874), before Jinmaku (born in 1829), before the United States of America (born in 1776), there was Raiden. A legend of Japan’s Edo period, Raiden set a standard for greatness in the sport that would last hundreds of years. With centuries separating the two legends’ careers, Raiden vs. Hakuho may be one of the most time-bending sports comparisons imaginable. Fortunately, we have data.

The visual history of sumo As far back as the 18th century, a banzuke listing each wrestler’s rank in the hierarchy of professional sumo has been made before each honbasho (official tournament), often with elaborate detail. Some have visual guides to the various wrestlers and act as a kind of program to the events; others resemble intricate box scores. These collectibles have preserved vital information about which wrestlers were involved in each tournament, including their shikona (ring names), ranks (seedings) and hometowns. Banzuke are the backbone of sumo stats-keeping; other information such as tournament and match results that are gathered from historical newspapers or books all tie back to them. Alexander Nitschke (a German sports data nerd) has a website called Sumo Reference where he has combined banzuke information with other sources of tournament data — including by hand-parsing thousands of lower-division match results for years — to make the most comprehensive sumo data set on the internet. It includes tournament results for most contestants going back to 1761 and individual match results for bouts back to mid-1909. He has let us use that database for this article.

Below is a chart that outlines the entire recorded history of Makuuchi division (top-level) professional sumo, from the 1761 Fuyu (winter) Basho through the now-infamous 2016 Haru (spring) Basho. Explore 250 years of sumo data Although the discipline of sumo wrestling may have existed in various forms for well over a millennium , it isn’t the sport stuck in time that it is sometimes made out to be. It has experienced controversy throughout its history. In the 17th century, the unseemly practice of samurai wrestling each other for money was banned, only to be brought back with official sanction and standardized rules. The first known professional tournament was held in 1684, and the first sumo organizations began issuing written rankings in the mid-1700s — just in time to document the rise of sumo’s most legendary figure. Raiden was born Seki Tarokichi in 1767 — about 100 years before the Edo period ended — and competed under the shikona of Raiden Tameemon.

Raiden is a combination of “thunder” (雷) and “lightning” (電) and translates roughly to “thunderbolt.” Mentored by the first non-posthumous yokozuna, Tanikaze , Raiden was a legend trained by a legend. He went undefeated in 24 out of the 35 tournaments he entered, and despite a much shorter tournament structure that had no method for breaking ties, Raiden finished with the most wins outright in 17 tournaments and tied for the most wins in 11 more. As there were no official tournament winners until 1909, none of these are considered official “yusho” or tournament wins, but no one would top 28 tournaments (officially or unofficially) for more than 150 years. The Thunderbolt was an absolute monster among men — 6-foot-6 and 373 pounds — large enough to physically overpower opponents of the day. His top-division win-loss record of 254-10 (96 percent) is easily the best in recorded sumo history. 5 Hakuho has won 85 percent of his upper-division matches, leading modern-era wrestlers.

The basic style and structure of banzuke have gone unchanged for hundreds of years. The one on the left, from 1796, lists Raiden as the top-ranked ozeki in the West division. On the right is a banzuke from 2012 that lists Hakuho as the top-ranked yokozuna in the East. Raiden’s career — like Hakuho’s — didn’t pass without controversy. It’s said that on account of Raiden’s dominance, some of his favored techniques were at least temporarily banned from the sport. And for reasons that appear to be lost to history, he was never awarded the title yokozuna. The Yokozuna Stone at the Tomioka Hachiman Shrine — home of the first professional sumo tournament — has the names of every yokozuna inscribed on it, plus one: the “peerless rikishi” 6 Raiden. This is the burden of Hakuho’s dominance: He is no longer competing with his peers; he’s competing with the peerless. Hakuho trains in 2014. A quarter-millennium of Sumo evolution Hakuho vs.

Raiden isn’t a story of a sport that has stayed the same for hundreds of years, allowing us to make clean, crisp comparisons between the two champions. But it isn’t a story of a sport changing every couple of years either. Although there have been significant structural changes — like the setting of tournaments at 15 matches long, the introduction of tiebreakers, and the treatment of yokozuna as an official rather than ceremonial rank — the sport is always fundamentally about knocking the other guy down or getting him to step out of the ring first. Many trends happen over decades or centuries, caused by whims of history that can be hard to pick up in a data set. But some simple metrics — like wrestler height and weight — can tell a pretty interesting story. And to understand how Raiden and Hakuho match up with each other, it helps to understand how they compare physically to their eras. Tegata are collectible autographs featuring a wrestler’s name and handprint. The one on the left is allegedly Raiden’s; on the right is Hakuho’s. These are not necessarily to scale. Raiden’s hands are said to have been 9.4 inches from palm to tip.

Hakuho — born Monkhbatyn Davaajargal and given the shikona Hakuho Sho — is the son of a six-time Mongolian wrestling champion and Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling. Despite his pedigree, Hakuho was an undersized sumo prospect — weighing only 137 pounds when he started training at age 15 — and almost went unrecruited. Although he would eventually reach 6-foot-4 and competes at around 330-340 pounds today, he is lighter and thinner than the majority of his opponents. Taller, heavier wrestlers win (a little) more often — hence sumo wrestlers tend to be, well, big. But the relationship between size and success isn’t nearly as strong as you might think, and it gets weaker if you control for division and era. 7 However, the sample sizes are large enough to pick up meaningful trends. For this chart, I’ve compared the relative importance of height and weight for predicting top-division wrestlers’ win-loss rate in a given tournament. Values above 2 are roughly “ significant ” for a given five-year period.

8 Before around 1900, height and weight had a fairly tenuous relationship with winning. It has gotten stronger in the past century, but size advantages have never been much of a guarantee of success. For a modern example: In the 1980s and 90s, Konishiki — an ozeki who topped 600 pounds — often faced off against Wakanohana, a future yokozuna who was an inch or so shorter and more than 300 pounds lighter. Konishiki went 2-8 against him. Sumo styles can broadly be broken down into two types: Oshi-sumo, or “thrusting” style, and Yotsu-sumo, or “grappling” style. The former is about brute force and pushing your opponent out of the ring; the latter is more about forcing your opponent to the ground or using their momentum against them. As one might expect because of their sizes, Raiden preferred the Oshi-sumo style, and Hakuho the Yotsu.

The trade-off for height and weight is pretty basic: Being big makes a wrestler harder to move, but less agile; being small can make it easier for a wrestler to maneuver but leaves him vulnerable. In the 20th century, there appears to have been a period in which larger-than-average wrestlers were more successful than they had been in the past (or are today), at a time in which the average wrestler was growing larger than ever. In this chart, I’ve plotted the height and BMI for each of the top-division wrestlers for each tournament, colored by country of origin: The average height of sumo wrestlers appears to have declined between the mid-1700s and late 1800s but has been rising fairly steadily since. 9 In the latter half of the 20th century, this upward trend has been aided by the arrival of non-Japanese wrestlers, who have tended to be tall. Note the non-red dots on the charts; they tend to be well above the overall trend. For BMI, we see a similar rise for all rikishi, but with a clear divergence between the tall and heavy Americans and the tall but relatively slender Mongolians.

The American (green) wrestlers, all from Hawaii and of Pacific island ancestry, have tended to be huge — both tall and hefty for their height — and had a pretty good run for a while between 1989 and 2002. Konishiki won a few tournaments and then yokozuna Akebono and Musashimaru solidly contended for top honors (becoming the first two non-Japanese yokozuna in the process). But the Mongolians — who have had four yokozuna — tend to be less hefty than their Japanese counterparts, defying the trend of the past 50 years. Compared with the other top-level sumo wrestlers who have been active during his career, Hakuho, at 6 foot 4, is about 3 inches taller than average, but his top tournament weight (in our data) of 340 pounds is 5 pounds lighter than average (putting his BMI well below par). This painting of sumo wrestlers by Utagawa Kuniteru II, shown in full on the lower right, is from 1867.

In the closeup views at left and top right, Raiden, who is without a yokozuna rope, is pictured among several of the top-ranked wrestlers. Raiden, on the other hand, was well above average in height, weight and BMI. At 6-foot-6, he was just about 6 inches taller than his typical opponent, and his 373-pound weight gave him an 80-pound advantage. But there’s an important factor here: Relatively speaking, Raiden isn’t that much bigger than Hakuho. Raiden was about an inch and a half taller and 25 to 35 pounds heavier. Hakuho, by virtue of being less massive than many opponents, is especially strong and/or skilled for his size. In other words, because of the size difference across eras, Hakuho has the advantages of a smaller, more agile fighter without the disadvantage of being that much smaller than Raiden. Note that this is a minor variation from the standard “people get better over time” argument, because it applies relative to their era.

It’s not only that Hakuho has been as dominant as he has been in a likely tougher era, but also that his dominance is a product of qualities (strength/speed/skill) that also would be likely to advantage him against Raiden. Hakuho and fellow sumo wrestlers train. Tim Foley The growing international talent pool If a hypothetical tale of the tape across a couple of centuries is a little too abstract for you, consider that the dramatic shift in the balance of power in sumo’s demographics that has been taking place of late also has implications for our matchup. Before 1972, no non-Japanese wrestler had ever won a basho. The first was Takamiyama, a Hawaiian sekiwake (the third rank, behind yokozuna and ozeki) who otherwise had a relatively undistinguished career as a sumotori. But he then founded the Azumazeki stable — one of the regimented groups of wrestlers who live and train together and to which all active rikishi belong.

There he recruited and trained Chad Rowan — a former high school basketball all-star from Hawaii — who took the shikona Akebono, became the first non-Japanese yokozuna and won 11 Emperor’s Cups. Today, international wrestlers have taken over the sport. In January 2016, then-31-year-old Japanese ozeki Kotoshogiku won his first tournament. This might have been an unremarkable event, except that it was the first tournament won by any Japanese wrestler since January of 2006. Of the 58 tournaments in between, 56 were won by Mongolians; the other two were won by a Bulgarian (Kotooshu) and an Estonian (Baruto). Here’s how this has played out since 1970: Note that Japan’s share of champions will improve by at least a tick in 2016, while Mongolia’s will decline, after the country’s three-year stretch of winning all the tournaments. Mongolia has had all this success with only a small fraction of the sport’s wrestlers — around a quarter of those in the top (Makuuchi) division and less than 5 percent of those who compete overall.

This likely is because the Nihon Sumo Kyokai (the sport’s governing body) limits each stable to one non-Japanese wrestler, so the standards for foreign prospects are extremely high. This carries some likely implications: Most obviously, the non-Japanese pool of sumo talent is likely growing faster than the number of slots for non-Japanese talent. This probably advantages Hakuho’s strength of competition in our matchup because it implies that he could be the best of a much bigger talent pool than sumo wrestlers of the past. It also implies that while the non-Japanese wrestlers make the talent pool stronger than it was, limited roster slots for them keep it weaker than it could be. On the other hand, the sumo talent from Japan may be declining. Sumo requires major physical (putting on weight) and time (years of non-stop training) commitments. Sumotori lead rigid and structured lifestyles year-round, the potential for fame and fortune isn’t that great, and Japan has an advanced economy that may afford better opportunities to athletic Japanese youth . But even a relatively weak Japan today could be stronger than a relatively strong Japan more than 200 years ago.

The population of Japan is now about five times the size of what it was when Raiden was active, making the pool of potential sumotori that much richer. 10 Hakuho has won 36 grand tournaments, more than any other professional sumo wrestler in history. TIM FOLEY Fish scales of greatness There is perhaps no more intricate ritual among sports fans than debating the relative merits of greats across eras. Over time, athletes get stronger, faster and better-trained, and benefit from accumulated institutional knowledge . NFL kickers, for example, have been getting better at a nearly constant rate for 80-plus years . So we have meta-debates about whether athletes should get more credit for dominating the competition in an earlier, top-heavy era or for excelling in a mature sport with a broader talent pool . For example, who’s the more impressive outlier, Dan Marino or Peyton Manning ? If we want to imagine athletes from different times competing, do we assume they would have enjoyed all the advantages and disadvantages of the comparison era, or do we focus on strict time-traveling scenarios?

And, crucially, in time-traveling scenarios, are you bringing present-day athletes into the past, or are you snatching past legends and bringing them to the present? From what we know about his career, Raiden won more often than Hakuho on a bout-by-bout basis. Yet though Raiden’s career was longer in years, it was short on matches. Here’s every Makuuchi division sumo career for comparison: Tournaments grew in size, length and quantity throughout the 1900s, and in 1958 , sumo adopted the current structure of six grand tournaments per year (one every two months), with 15 matches each. Both Raiden and Hakuho are clearly the top wrestlers in their given eras, but how good are they relative to how good we expect top wrestlers in their eras to be?

For this chart, I’ve plotted historical win percentages for wrestlers ranked ozeki or higher, with the number of years they competed at those ranks represented by bubble sizes: Also, each bubble is colored to show how many “wins above replacement ozeki” (WAROZ) each wrestler would be expected to win over the course of their career, based on their win percentage relative to their era and projecting as if they’d wrestled 90 bouts per year as healthy wrestlers do today. By this metric, Hakuho leads all with 182 WAROZ (and counting), with second-place going to Tachiyama (who had 115 wins and eight ties in 128 bouts between 1909 and 1918) at 175. Raiden finishes eighth with 143 WAROZ. Here we can see that top ozeki winning a huge percentage of their matches seems to have been almost expected hundreds of years ago. This is consistent with a number of things we know about sumo tournaments back then: With less focus on “winning,” they were a bit more like exhibitions. And we know that opponents were sometimes literally picked out of the crowd.

11 Hakuho, however, competes in an environment in which losses for top-level wrestlers are considerably more common than they were in Raiden’s time, but he has maintained an extremely high win percentage nonetheless. Behold the henka Yokozuna face a lot of pressure to retire the instant they start to decline. It’s considered dishonorable to hold the rank of yokozuna and not be among the best in the sport. 12 So although we’ve made the argument that Hakuho might have an advantage over Raiden in both prowess and résumé, recent events raise a third, more fraught point of comparison: legacy. After Hakuho’s win by henka at the Haru basho, Mark Buckton of The Japan Times — a former amateur sumo wrestler who has covered professional sumo for 18 years — called for the White Peng’s exit . Addressing Hakuho directly, he writes: At its lowest ebb, following the hazing death of Tokitaizan and former yokozuna Asashoryu feigning injury the only yokozuna worth his salt in both performances on the dohyo and behavior off it was yourself.

True, you are still the best there is in a mawashi. And that is how you should be remembered. Not as a man who resorts to a final day henka against a fellow yokozuna, on his way to yusho No. 36. Go now and you go in true Japanese fashion, falling on your sword for that Day 15 performance so unworthy of your name. In a phone interview, Buckton said that he thought Hakuho’s henka was disgraceful and that he was confident most Japanese sumo fans felt the same way. He said he believes the move was akin to an act of desperation — Hakuho sees his skills slipping and is resorting to dirty tactics in a last-ditch effort to stay on top of a sport that isn’t merely competitive exhibition but has its roots as a martial art in Shinto. That’s fair enough. But for cold-blooded empiricists obsessed with win-maximization , this may all seem strange. If henka aren’t banned, not using them is just bad game theory, right? Unfortunately, henka are hard to analyze with data. They aren’t considered a winning move themselves, and only winning moves are recorded.

Hakuho’s win was scored as a tsukiotoshi (“thrust down”). What even constitutes a henka is not clear-cut — particularly in instances in which they fail. However, what little evidence we have suggests that they work. Lon Howard of Sumo Fan Magazine attempted to crowd-source some henka data by having readers nominate matches that contained possible henka and then asking the readership to vote on whether they actually were. Overall, the possible henka led to victory 63 percent of the time; among a subset of moves that voters were certain were henka, 13 that figure rises to 92 percent. Although that data isn’t conclusive, it makes sense. If you’re playing rock-paper-scissors and your opponent does nothing but throw rock for 250 years, throwing paper may be very effective. Stigma-based policing of the sport’s standards is defensible. Normalizing the henka might fundamentally change the sport’s dynamics too much, but outlawing it may create a havoc of gray areas. But such a defense should anticipate that sternly discouraging the move may not prevent its selective employment by a wily rikishi with a New England Patriots-style commitment to winning.

In a tear-soaked post-match interview , Hakuho appeared to express regret for the tournament ending the way it did. But he did not clarify his side-step’s strategic underpinnings, such as whether it was planned, or a response to something he saw while the wrestlers were getting set, or a reflexive reaction to Harumafuji’s charge itself. But regardless of premeditation, consider the story told on the faces of the competitors: Blog: First European Sumo Champion? First European Sumo Champion? By Sidney Raphael A Bulgarian who uses the nom du sumo Kootooshu is within reach of becoming the first European tournament winner in the history of the ancient sport. To make the story even more interesting, before the Basho, or tournament, presently going on in Tokyo, he was in danger of being relegated to a lesser rank. Commentators have referred to him as the Beckham of sumo since he is considered quite attractive -- he is a bit thinner than the usual sumo wrestler and radiates a classically European-handsome winning smile. A Basho is a fifteen day tournament. The schedule of who fights whom is contemporized as daily results come in.

Usually there are a couple of prohibitive favorites who meet on the last day to decide the winner. This year the usual schedule has been seriously disrupted by the unexpected emergence of the Bulgarian. This Basho may already be over before it is over. The story of sumo tournaments in the last few years has been dominated by two men, both from Mongolia: Asashoryu, 27, and Hakuho, 21. One or the other of the two have dominated the crown and headlines of the sport for about four years. Asashoryu has been the "bad boy" who was suspended for 'faking' a medical condition. Hakuho is the "fresh breeze" who compensates for his countryman's excesses by his orthodoxy. Native Japanese have been fading into the background of the sport as these Mongolians shared the headlines. Quite a few of the lesser sumo rikishi or wrestlers have come from Eastern European countries, including Russia and Georgia. But few thought they were top calibre. Kotooshu rattled around in the middle ranks for the past few years. He had a surprisingly good start to a Basho a few years ago, going 12-0 before sinking.

He struggled since that Basho and had his fighting spirit questioned by most commentators. Sumo has a unique ranking system. If a rikishi loses more bouts than he wins within a 15 match tournament he is in danger of demotion or relegation. Because Kotooshu limped along in the midranks he was warned that this tournament was make or break: win more than you lose, or be demoted. Win he did. After 12 matches to date, Kotooshu has a perfect 12-0 record. His last two wins were eye openers. In two consecutive days he whupped the favorites, first Asashoryu than Hakuho. Both of these recent losers now have 10-2 records, and are unlikely to catch the leader. Barring the unexpected, Kotooshu will be the first European to win a Basho. Expect Kotooshu to appear in the news. and perhaps to appear in commercials. He is very likely to change the world's perception of sumo. A Bulgarian who uses the nom du sumo Kootooshu is within reach of becoming the first European tournament winner in the history of the ancient sport.

To make the story even more interesting, before the Basho, or tournament, presently going on in Tokyo, he was in danger of being relegated to a lesser rank. Commentators have referred to him as the Beckham of sumo since he is considered quite attractive -- he is a bit thinner than the usual sumo wrestler and radiates a classically European-handsome winning smile. A Basho is a fifteen day tournament. The schedule of who fights whom is contemporized as daily results come in. Usually there are a couple of prohibitive favorites who meet on the last day to decide the winner. This year the usual schedule has been seriously disrupted by the unexpected emergence of the Bulgarian. This Basho may already be over before it is over. The story of sumo tournaments in the last few years has been dominated by two men, both from Mongolia: Asashoryu, 27, and Hakuho, 21. One or the other of the two have dominated the crown and headlines of the sport for about four years. Asashoryu has been the "bad boy" who was suspended for 'faking' a medical condition.

Hakuho is the "fresh breeze" who compensates for his countryman's excesses by his orthodoxy. Native Japanese have been fading into the background of the sport as these Mongolians shared the headlines. Quite a few of the lesser sumo rikishi or wrestlers have come from Eastern European countries, including Russia and Georgia. But few thought they were top calibre. Kotooshu rattled around in the middle ranks for the past few years. He had a surprisingly good start to a Basho a few years ago, going 12-0 before sinking. He struggled since that Basho and had his fighting spirit questioned by most commentators. Sumo has a unique ranking system. If a rikishi loses more bouts than he wins within a 15 match tournament he is in danger of demotion or relegation. Because Kotooshu limped along in the midranks he was warned that this tournament was make or break: win more than you lose, or be demoted. Win he did. After 12 matches to date, Kotooshu has a perfect 12-0 record. His last two wins were eye openers.

In two consecutive days he whupped the favorites, first Asashoryu than Hakuho. Both of these recent losers now have 10-2 records, and are unlikely to catch the leader. Barring the unexpected, Kotooshu will be the first European to win a Basho. Expect Kotooshu to appear in the news. and perhaps to appear in commercials. He is very likely to change the world's perception of sumo. Nagoya Basho 2010 — a tournament that will live in infamy | The Japan Times Nagoya Basho 2010 — a tournament that will live in infamy SHARE For two months sumo has been rocked to its core by evidence of illegal gambling on baseball games, involvement with the Japanese underworld, and more recently claims by the man on the street that those in positions of power within the sumo association did precious little to stop this. Documented in recent weeks in media around the world, sumo’s long standing links to those involved in organized crime did, at first, look like they could derail the sport permanently. At the very least it appeared as if the tournament scheduled to begin on July 11 would be cancelled.

Dismissals of one ozeki and one stable master, house arrest for some, forced absence from the basho for others, and a huge helping of humble pie for all connected to sumo has pacified many and the latest is that the basho will still go ahead, though, in a huge blow to fans, NHK will not broadcasting the event live. Down in Nagoya, tickets sales are hardly looking promising. This, coupled with the organizers’ offer of full ticket refunds for those now not wishing to attend, could prove devastating, not only in terms of income generated from ticket sales, but also for local businesses including hotels, restaurants and the like for whom the basho coming to town each summer is a financial godsend. In as far as the rikishi go unaffected — at least directly so — by the penalties dished out, preparations have been a lot quieter than they might normally be. PR events at which rikishi might spar with kids from a local kindergarten or neighborhood association have largely been cancelled. Opportunities to meet and greet the local population have all but vanished and the media is essentially ignoring training reports from the stables. When all is said and done, the show will go on.

The 650 or so men in six divisions that will attend are getting their heads down and working as hard as they can in the stifling heat. Regardless of opponent or tabloid headlines they’ll be be giving their all once the tournament gets underway on Sunday morning. The Japanese tendency to accept group responsibility will be something the global media are looking for when the usual welcome speeches are made later the same day. This time, though, we won’t be hearing from sumo assocation head Musashigawa Rijicho, as two of his senior wrestlers have been implicated in the gambling hullabaloo and what many have termed sumo’s darkest hour. For those in the changing rooms though the hopes will be high that they can take advantage of absent seniors and fill the empty slots. 0-0-15 records will indeed guarantee some major nosedives down the banzuke come the Aki Basho in September. Seven definite vacancies in the top makunouchi division will need to be filled daily to keep the program running as normal as possible for the fans, although it is likely that a reduced number of senior flight bouts will take place and there will be some utilizing of a number of rikishi promoted from juryo for the day.

Juryo has a similar problem as this much smaller division of just 28 men will also have four rikishi absent, likely giving some of those at the top of the third makushita division the chance to appear in the final bouts wearing an oicho — the form of hairstyle only reserved for sekitori salaried rikishi that resembles a ginkgo leaf. Ironically, despite all the fuss being made over penalties and absences, not many sumo fans think it will have affect the decision of the eventual winner, in either the top division or juryo. The names of those absent are “big” in as far as sumo goes but none have proven real ground-shakers of late. (The joke going around the circuit in Japan that they were too busy focusing on baseball.) Perhaps the biggest — or saddest — shock of all came with the announcement that Okinoumi of Hakkaku Beya and Goeido of Sakaigawa Beya were both involved and will thus end with the pre-determined 0-0-15 record no rikishi ever wants on his career record.

The former will drop down a division after Nagoya, and latter may survive at the foot of makunouchi, but both are young and strong enough to eventually bounce back, hopefully free of their gambling issues, and able to lead from the front in the years ahead. However, how this will affect any subsequent promotions in sanyaku, where form as well as stats is an issue is anyone’s guess. Japanese sumo scandals threaten to topple Nagoya tournament - CSMonitor.com Japanese sumo scandals threaten to topple Nagoya tournament Recent scandals involving Japanese sumo wrestlers and gambling threaten to cancel a major tournament. Sumo wrestlers are pictured in Tokyo. Newscom View Caption of Tokyo — The uncovering of an illegal mob-run gambling ring in sumo has further tarnished Japan 's centuries-old national sport after a string of recent scandals and may lead to the first cancellation of a tournament in the postwar era. Sponsors have pulled out of the Nagoya Basho (tournament) – due to start July 11 – after dozens of wrestlers, senior officials, and others involved in the sport admitted gambling on baseball through a syndicate run by yakuza, or mafia.

Japan 's public broadcasting network, NHK , added to the sport's woes Friday by announcing it might drop coverage of the event. The network said it had received 8,200 public comments, only about 10 percent of which supported going ahead with airing the Nagoya Basho. "We will wait until after the Sumo Association announces its measures and decide what to do after that," said NHK spokesman Yuichiro Ishii. "We will weigh viewers' opinion about whether it should be shown." Recommended: Could you pass a US citizenship test? The Japan Sumo Association (JSA) is set to make a decision on disciplinary action on July 4. It is considering suspending or expelling 14 wrestlers and 13 coaches, but announced this week that it would hold its next tournament as planned. Photos of the Day Photos of the day 02/08 Blackmail over gambling debts The latest scandal began May 20 when a weekly magazine claimed that senior wrestler Kotomitsuki was being blackmailed over his gambling debts.

Ironically, the source of Kotomitsuki's troubles appears to have been his winnings: Having complained to his bookmaker about not receiving 5 million yen ($55,000) in payments on bets, he was approached by a mob-connected ex-wrestler who extorted 3.5 million yen in hush money. The mobster is alleged to have demanded a further 100 million yen ($1.1 million), which Kotomitsuki refused to pay. Kotomitsuki confessed, leading to investigations – and the confessions of more wrestlers as well as stable-masters, who are supposed to act as mentors to wrestlers. One of the main middlemen is said to have been a hairdresser for the wrestlers' distinctive topknots. "If the investigation is thorough, it will show that this is widespread and goes back as far as anyone can remember," says longtime sumo observer Mark Schreiber. Legal gambling in Japan is restricted to on-site betting on horses, speedboats, and cycling – all government-controlled. In addition there is the huge gray area of pachinko, a kind of vertical pinball game.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, which oversees sumo, has held crisis meetings with the JSA, and there have been calls to put sumo on the same financial footing as other professional sports. More than just another sport But despite its recent troubles and relative decline in popularity, sumo is still more than just another sport to many Japanese, steeped as it is in ancient rituals tied to the Shinto religion. In 1854, when American Commodore Perry's Black Ships sailed into Tokyo Bay demanding Japan open up to trade, sumo wrestlers were paraded as symbols of the country's potency. Many previous scandals of recent years have been centered round foreign wrestlers, much to Japanese relief. In 2008, three Russian grapplers were expelled for drug use, though a Japanese national also later tested positive. This year, grand champion Asashoryu – the third-most successful wrestler in sumo history and a Mongolian – had to retire after allegedly beating someone while on a drunken night out during the Tokyo Basho (which he went on to win).

But foreigners can't always be blamed: In May, as the betting scandal unfolded, it emerged that stable-masters had given ringside seats to yakuza bosses at tournaments. The mobsters allegedly wanted to be seen by incarcerated gang members on the NHK broadcasts. The JSA took the unprecedented step of disbanding one of the sumo stables involved. Yet some say this still won't be enough to stop the Nagoya Basho, or deprive sumo of its privileged status. "It's hard to believe the ... tournament will be canceled, since the most prominent miscreant, Ozeki Kotomitsuki, is being punished with a suspension rather than an expulsion, while the other wrestlers are getting similar slaps on the wrist," says former NHK sumo commentator Mark Schilling . "A cancelation would result in a huge loss of money and face." One fan says Nagoya must at least set an example. "They have to get rid of all ... who gambled on baseball," says Koichiro Ohara . "If the Nagoya Basho is ...

held, none of those wrestlers can be in it, even if it means the competition is not so strong." Related: FanXT Daily Fantasy Sumo Wrestling - May Basho Mid-Tournament Plays - YouTube FanXT Daily Fantasy Sumo Wrestling - May Basho Mid-Tournament Plays Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on May 14, 2016 Jason Harris helps recap what has been a thrilling May Grand Sumo Tournament thus far, and provides some value plays that could help you win on FanXT.com's Daily Fantasy Sumo game. Sumo Sumo More... Sumo Sumo is a Japanese style of wrestling and Japan's national sport. It originated in ancient times as a performance to entertain the Shinto deities . Many rituals with religious background, such as the symbolic purification of the ring with salt, are still followed today. In line with tradition, only men practice the sport professionally in Japan.

The rules are simple: the wrestler who first exits the ring or touches the ground with any part of his body besides the soles of his feet loses. Matches take place on an elevated ring (dohyo), which is made of clay and covered in a layer of sand. A contest usually lasts only a few seconds, but in rare cases can take a minute or more. There are no weight restrictions or classes in sumo, meaning that wrestlers can easily find themselves matched off against someone many times their size. As a result, weight gain is an essential part of sumo training. Pre-match ritual Tournaments and Ranking Hierarchy The governing body of professional sumo is the Japan Sumo Association. Six tournaments are held every year: three in Tokyo (January, May and September) and one each in Osaka (March), Nagoya (July) and Fukuoka (November). Each tournament lasts for 15 days during which each wrestler performs in one match per day except lower ranked wrestlers who perform in fewer matches. All sumo wrestlers are classified in a ranking hierarchy (banzuke), which gets updated after each tournament based on the wrestlers' performance.

Wrestlers with positive records (more wins than losses) move up the hierarchy, while those with negative records get demoted. The top division is called "Makuuchi" and the second division is called "Juryo". At the pinnacle of the sumo hierarchy stands the yokozuna (grand champion). Unlike wrestlers in lower ranks, a yokozuna cannot be demoted, but he will be expected to retire when his performance begins to worsen. Kokugikan, the sumo stadium in the Ryogoku district of Tokyo, where tournaments are held How to see a sumo tournament The best way to see sumo is to attend a sumo tournament. Tickets are sold for each day of the 15-day tournaments. They can be purchase in advance through the official vendor or via buysumotickets.com . Alternatively, they can be purchased at convenience stores (some Japanese skills required) or at the stadiums. Three types of seats are available to regular visitors: Ringside seats: Located closest to the ring, ringside seats are most expensive and most difficult to get. Ticket holders sit on cushions on the floor and are exposed to the risk of injury due to wrestlers flying into the spectators.

Box seats: The rest of the stadium's first floor consists of Japanese style box seats, which generally seat four people (although there are a few with higher and lower capacities, as well). Shoes are removed, and spectators sit on cushions. Tickets are sold for entire boxes regardless of whether they are fully occupied or not, i.e. two people using a 4-seat box will still have to purchase all four tickets. Box seats are further classified into A, B and C boxes according to distance to the ring. Balcony seats: On the second floor balcony, there are several rows of Western-style seats. Balcony seats, too, are further classified into A, B and C seats depending on distance to the ring. Furthermore, there is one section for exclusive use by holders of same-day tickets, the cheapest ticket type that can only be purchased on the day at the stadium. The stadium often sells out, especially on weekends and national holidays . But even if a day is sold out in advance, a limited number of same-day balcony seat tickets are sold on the day at the stadium. Sumo tickets go on sale roughly one month before the start of each tournament.

Box seats at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium A tournament day Lower division matches start from 8:30 (from 10:00 on days 13-15), second division (Juryo) matches from 15:00 and top division (Makuuchi) matches from 16:00. Ring entering ceremonies between divisions are also interesting to watch. The highest ranked wrestlers have their matches just before 18:00. On the last day of each tournament, the schedule is shifted forward by 30 minutes to accommodate the victory ceremony at the end. The stadium atmosphere improves with the arrival of more spectators as it gets later in the day when the most spectacular matches happen. Intervals between bouts also lengthen as they include longer preparation times and more pre-match action between the high-ranked wrestlers. We recommend spectators with limited time to be present at the stadium at least for the top division action between 15:30 and 18:00. Inside the Kokugikan stadium in Tokyo Other sumo events For those visiting Japan between sumo tournaments, there are a few other ways to see sumo matches.

They include exhibition tournaments that are held across the country in between official tournaments and occasional retirement ceremonies of prominent wrestlers. Retirement ceremonies usually include an exhibition contest, some light-hearted performances by wrestlers and a time-consuming hair cutting ritual to sever the top knot that is symbolic to an active wrestler. See the official website for a calendar. Outside the professional sumo world, there are some universities and high schools that maintain sumo clubs, some of which may be able to accommodate visits by tourists. Furthermore, there are occasional sumo pereformances or contests at some shrines and festivals . Visiting a sumo stable Perhaps the best way to appreciate sumo besides attending a tournament is to visit a sumo stable to witness a morning practice session. Sumo stables are where the wrestlers live and train together and where all aspects of life, from sleeping and eating to training and free time, are strictly regimented by the stable master. There are about forty stables, all of which are located in the Greater Tokyo Region, especially in Tokyo's Ryogoku district. However, sumo stables are neither public places nor sightseeing spots.

Only a small number of stables accept visits by tourists, and they insist that tourists are accompanied by a person who is fluent in Japanese and closely familiar with the customs of the sumo world. Furthermore, visitors are expected to follow the house rules strictly and not disturb the training session. Expect to sit silently on the floor for two to three hours. In practice, it is virtually impossible for foreign tourist to visit a stable on their own. Instead, the recommended way to witness a morning practice is to join a guided tour. Various organizations and companies offer such tours and typically charge around 10,000 yen for a single person and around 4000 yen for additional group members. Morning practice at a sumo stable Other sumo-related attractions Tokyo 's Ryogoku district has been the center of the sumo world for about two centuries. The district is home to many sumo stables and the Kokugikan sumo stadium where three of the six annual tournaments are held. Below are a few more of Ryogoku's attractions that could be of interest to sumo fans: Sumo Museum Closed: Weekends, national holidays and in between exhibitions Admission: Free This small museum is located inside the Kokugikan sumo stadium.

It houses rotating exhibitions about sumo, including a collection of portraits of past and present yokozuna, pictures of significant events in the history of sumo, and ceremonial aprons worn by retired prominent wrestlers. During Tokyo tournaments, the museum is only accessible to tournament ticket holders. Ekoin Temple Before the first sumo stadium was built in 1909, sumo tournaments were held outdoors at Ekoin Temple, just a short walk from Ryogoku Station. Today, visitors to the temple can see a stone monument on the temple grounds that honors past wrestlers and stable masters. Chanko Nabe Restaurants Chanko nabe is the staple food of sumo wrestlers. It is a hot pot dish that comes in many varieties and contains vegetables , seafood and meat. There is a high concentration of chanko nabe restaurants in the Ryogoku area, many of which are managed by retired wrestlers. Some restaurants even have a dohyo ring in them, which patrons can take pictures with or enter for the experience.

Another district in Tokyo with a strong connection to sumo is located around Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine, a couple of kilometers south of Ryogoku: Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine Hours: Always open (Treasure House from 10:00 to 15:30) Closed: No closing days (Treasure House on New Year holidays) Admission: Free (Treasure House 1st floor: 200 yen) Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine was the site where sumo tournaments were held for about a hundred years during the mid Edo Period (1603-1867). At the shrine grounds today are monuments on which the names of past and present yokozuna and ozeki (the second highest rank of sumo) are inscribed. There is also a small treasure house which displays some sumo-related items such as woodblock prints of wrestlers and old ranking publications on the first floor. Advertisement What Is Sumo? - Sumo - Virtual Culture - Kids Web Japan - Web Japan Kids Web Japan What Is Sumo?

Two wrestlers start a bout (Japan Sumo Association) In sumo, two people who are wearing nothing but a mawashi (loincloth), face each other in a dohyo (circular ring) and push, grapple, and try to throw each other. The one who forces his opponent to the ground or pushes him out of the ring is the winner. Even if you have seen it on TV, there may be many things that you don't know about sumo. Here you can find out more! A sumo ring (Japan Sumo Association) Sumo began many centuries ago and developed into its present form in the Edo period (1603-1868). Rikishi (wrestlers) wear their hair in a topknot, which was a normal hairstyle in the Edo period. The referee, meanwhile, wears the same kind of clothes as a samurai of 600 years ago. Many aspects of Japan's traditional culture can be seen in sumo. For example, the wrestlers throw salt into the ring to purify it before they begin their match, as the dohyo is considered a sacred place.

Sumo has a long history, and it has been called Japan's national sport. Although many professional sports are played in Japan, such as baseball and soccer, sumo is the nation's oldest professional sport. Koto-oshu after his promotion to ozeki, He is holding a banzuke. (Japan Sumo Association) Professional sumo is broadcast live on TV. The bouts are intense, as well-trained wrestlers who weigh an average of 150 kilograms grapple with their bare hands. The shouts of support from fans cheering on their favorite wrestler can reach fever pitch. As of January 2007, there are 702 professional sumo wrestlers in Japan. There are six basho (tournaments) a year, each featuring bouts over 15 days. The wrestlers' rank, which is called banzuke, can change depending on their performance in each tournament, with their new rank announced before the next tournament. The top rank is yokozuna, which is followed by ozeki, sekiwake, komusubi, and maegashira. These are the ranks of the top division of wrestlers, which is called makuuchi.

Below the makuuchi division is the juryo division, and these two tiers, known together as sekitori, include all of the ranked wrestlers. There are four divisions below these, but every wrestler aims to reach the level of sekitori. Yokozuna Asashoryu (Japan Sumo Association) Sumo wrestlers used to be all Japanese, in recent years there have been more and more foreign wrestlers. Of the 42 wrestlers in the makuuchi class, 13 come from foreign countries. Asashoryu, who is the only yokozuna at present and is by far the strongest wrestler, is from Mongolia. Koto-oshu, ozeki, is from Bulgaria. There are a total of 60 foreign sumo wrestlers in Japan now, including 34 from Mongolia, 6 from China, 5 from Russia, and 3 from the Eastern European country of Georgia. Tokyo Sumo Tickets – BuySumoTickets.com 1,200 yen 5,300 yen * ‘A’ Boxes are for 4 people. ‘B’ Boxes are in sizes for 1, 3, 4, 5 or 6 people.

‘C’ Boxes are in sizes for 1, 2, 3, 4 or 6 people. 5-person Boxes require an extra fee of 1,400 yen per Box. 6-person Boxes require an extra fee of 1,600 yen per Box. 2-person Box ‘C’ are designed for 4 people, but sold only for 2 people, so you get more space. You can’t buy just part of a Box. Arena seats are for 1 person. Almost all Boxes in the building are for 4 people. Other sizes are rare and difficult to get, so please understand if they are not available. Please click here for a list of order types that we can accept. **Ticket cost is the price we pay for the ticket, plus a small mark-up (about 4%) for Paypal fees. Family/Senior Tickets Information about Family/Senior Tickets: 1. A Family/Senior Ticket (just called “Family Ticket” from here on) is for 4 people. If there is at least 1 child (15 or younger) or 1 senior (60 or older) in the group, you qualify. Groups of all children do not qualify. 2.

We will send you a voucher for your Family Ticket. This is not the entrance ticket! The voucher must be exchanged for your tickets between 9:00AM-5:00PM on the day of the event. The exchange is made at a tent-structure to the right of the main box office at the arena. You must have every member of your group present to get the tickets. If you arrive without any children/seniors, they may not give you your tickets. 3. We accept Family Ticket orders for weekdays (Monday-Friday). They have very limited availability. Please consider which ticket type you’d like if we can’t get one for you, and tell us your alternates when you contact us. Family Ticket Type 1,200 yen 21,500 yen *Ticket cost represents the price we pay for the ticket, plus a small mark-up (about 4%) to cover Paypal fees. Accepted Order Types Below is a list of order types we accept. Other types sell out immediately, so we don’t take orders for them. Please understand that even if a ticket type is in this list, it may not be available. Weekends and holidays sell out extremely quickly.

We strongly recommend that you plan at least one weekday when you can go to sumo and use this as one of your date choices. *January 9th is a holiday and is a weekend date* Monday-Friday

Question: A "basho" is a tournament for what sport?
Answer: Sumo wrestling