Sumo ticket question for Jan tournament
 

I'm headed to Tokyo for the first time in a few weeks and wanted to get tickets to the sumo tournament. However, the English web site seems to have turned off as of January 4th. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on how to get advance tickets from the US without knowledge of Japanese (we want to make sure we get in on a particular day)?

I've googled a bit and found buysumotickets.com -- does anyone have experience with them and are they reliable?

Thanks for any advice!!

If you are staying at a good hotel, i.e., one with a concierge, the best way would be to contact them and ask them to get tickets for you.

Regarding the website, I know nothing about it but it does say that they buy their tickets at the box office. That's fine if you want one of the less expensive tickets, but no good if you want to sit right down on the main floor in a good seat (A or B box, or ringside). Most of those tickets are not controlled by the box office, they are controlled by sumo "tea houses" which you, or someone acting on your behalf, has to have been introduced to before you can get tickets from them.

If the website is legit, the service charge of Y1200 per ticket isn't that bad for the midrange tickets, although they do add shipping in addition. It is a bit mysterious why shipping costs go up as a function of the value of the tickets you buy since tickets are not very heavy!

I would feel a LOT more comfortable about this site if they had some real contact information on it, like who was running it, an actual address, and a phone number. When you pay thru paypal I would guess it's a lot harder to protest charges if these folks turn out to be fake.

If you go midweek and aren't picky about seats, you can probably buy something yourself on the morning of the match. Alternatively, if the box office is sold out, there are always ticket touts out front of the arena, and I have managed to buy tickets from them without understanding or speaking Japanese. The language of money and sign language is international! There isn't a problem with counterfeit tickets purchased from touts, AFAIK.

If you will be in Japan "in a few weeks," you may be out of luck for sumo. The January Grand Sumo Tournament starts tomorrow (Sunday January 9,) which is actually today in Japan, at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. It runs for 15 days, ending on January 23. If you will actually be in Tokyo in the next 2 weeks, I'd say you would have an excellent chance to purchase weekday seats at the door. Due to a variety of reasons, ticket sales have been way down recently. I suspect the only days they will sell out will be Saturdays and Sundays and maybe not even the last weekend if the yokozuna runs away with the basho again. Go in the morning to buy tickets for that afternoon. Take a lunch - or better yet, buy a special bento package at the stadium. You can rent a small radio and headset to hear the english-language simulcast of the NHK broadcast.

The next basho will be in Osaka in mid-March.

EDIT TO ADD - although attending in person can be fun, I have found that you actually see the action a LOT better just staying at the hotel and watching the broadcast on tv. Most hotels now offer multilingual tvs so you can hear the broadcast in English. It starts at 4:00 pm and they only show the top-level makanouchi division bouts on tv. At the venue, you can go earlier in the day and see the up-and-comers in the lower divisions.

The last few times I caught sumo on TV, the English commentary from 4pm on seemed to be gone -- and I thought I checked both the non-cable and the cable channel NHK that broadcast sumo.

Thanks for the replies! I'll actually be there during the tournament (arriving a week from tomorrow) so I've emailed our hotel concierge as a first step. Hopefully they'll be able to help.

Good to know that if this fails we might be able to get tickets once there. We're not so picky about seats and figured we'd go midweek -- we're going more for the cultural experience and to learn more about sumo; we're not huge fans (yet)!

Yeah I went there with some friends 3 years ago. Since we didn't want to pay for the expensive first row or special box seats, and just went there for the experience, we just went to the venue in the morning. Every morning they sell a certain amount (enough for everybody) of special discounted tickets - 3 years ago it was 1500 yen, I believe.

There is not much of an audience in the beginning of the day (because the less popular fights are during that time) so you get to sit wherever you want - in the back or in the front row or somewhere in between - and get to take awesome photos.
We had a sumo lunch at the venue, then left and did some other stuff in the early afternoon and then went back later that afternoon (to our assigned seats in the last row) and were actually surprised about how many people were there.

My one friend and I were walking (front rows) around during some of the major fights because we wanted to take some awesome photos and some Japanese people happened to invite us (just because we were white, I assume!) to sit in their box. They fed us and even gave us sake and beer... Just awesome! :)

No longer true. This used to be the case but recently the NSK has changed policy and are now prohibiting the practice of seat swapping early in the day. Even if you come early enough for the lowest division matches in jonidan or jonokuchi, you will be stopped and directed upstairs to your ticketed seats. There has been a firestorm of protest and the thinking is they will have to back down on this but for now, no front row seats even if they are all empty. :td: :td:

Oh, sorry... thanks for pointing this out @:-)

If you have a chance to go see the bouts mid-week, I would, it is a great experience. If you miss it this time, the next time you come to Japan you can always contact one of stables, and go see them practice. I have done that, and it is really interesting as you get to see the Sumotori up-close.

This is somewhat true for ringside seats, not at all true for the box seats. A and B boxes are indeed available from regular channels.

[QUOTE=RichardInSF;15615927}
It is a bit mysterious why shipping costs go up as a function of the value of the tickets you buy since tickets are not very heavy!
[/QUOTE]

Not a mystery at all. The site says they ship with insurance.

[QUOTE=RichardInSF;15615927}
When you pay thru paypal I would guess it's a lot harder to protest charges if these folks turn out to be fake.
[/QUOTE]

This is not at all true. When you pay by credit card with Paypal, you are protected by both Paypal and your credit card company as usual. Paypal also verifies seller accounts themselves.

You have three posts on Flyertalk - all supporting this company. Could you let us know if you represent the company?

Sumo tickets question
 

This thread is quite interesting to me, although fraught with some inaccuracies and mistaken conjecture. I'd like to take a moment to address some of them.

I have been attending sumo tournaments in Japan for the past 15 years. All 15 days of each tournament, all six tournaments during at least five years of the 15. I have traveled to off-season tournaments held in S. Korea, Canada, Mongolia and Taiwan, and to each of the 3 tournaments held in the US during those 15 years. I have been editor of an online English-language sumo magazine and have contributed to French- and Spanish-language sumo websites. I was the creator of a very popular sumo blog, now, unfortunately halted do to the dismantling of the vox.com blogsite. I am somewhat well known in the Japanese sumo community and have been privileged to be invited to victory celebrations, sumo wrestlers' wedding parties and other limited participation events. So much for my very abridged sumo credentials.

Until about 6 years ago, I had two ex-pat friends in Japan who were kind enough to procure my tickets. Sadly, one person, who was an English language sumo commentator on Japanese TV moved back to the South Pacific; the other moved away from Tokyo and was unable to take the time necessary to get my tickets. Although I have had the pleasure of receiving some really good seats gratis from two or three sumo stables, I did not want to "overstay my welcome" by asking for what I really needed - a ticket a day, sometimes more if friends from the states were also visiting. I don't remember who referred me to buysumotickets.com about 6 years ago, but I have been using its services to buy some of the best seats in the house for any of the six annual grand sumo tournaments since that time. That merchant has been very successful in getting the area seats I wanted, whether a box for one or 4 on the ground floor, or any of the chair-seat sections upstairs. It is true that some boxes and choice seats on both floors are owned by the tea houses, but with the economy and recent scandals, the tea houses are relinquishing more and more of those tickets for sale to the general public; however, I don't recall buysumotickets ever having problems getting me what I needed anyway. The only seats that cannot be purchased by buysumotickets.com or any other merchants are the pillow seats that are directly ringside, directly on the floor for about 5 rows until the boxed seating areas begin.

Now, I will state this unequivocally as a regular customer and a very satisfied and grateful one at that. I have NEVER had a less than excellent experience with buysumotickets.com. I have had the tickets sent to me at my NYC home or delivered to me at whichever hotel I'd be in while in Tokyo. I will also say this: I have stayed both at the Imperial Hotel in the heart of Tokyo and a smaller hotel a block from the sumo arena. I tried a few years ago to get a ticket from both, with no success. When the sumo tournaments were not held earlier this year due to resolution of scandals, buysumotickets.com PROMPTLY refunded all moneys sent for purchases. They keep their customers totally apprised of the status of sales and shipping. Yes, as one poster mentioned, you can line up in the morning and get "same day" cheap tix for about 2100Y each (today's going price), or even for reserved seats the same day or in advance, but be aware, if, on any particular day, there is an especially competitive or popular matchup, or a good promo giveaway, chances are the seats will be gone by 9-9:30AM. And forget about the middle weekend or the last three days, which are nigh near impossible to get as the days draw closer. Most last two days of the tournaments are totally sold out the day tickets go on sale - everyone wants to see the winner raise the Emperor's cup (and sometimes see the Royal Family themselves or the prime minister in their special box!)

So, Mr. RobertSF, I think you might just owe buysumotickets an apology for your allegations above. I would (and have) recommended that merchant to anyone and everyone, particularly from out-of-Japan or non-Japanese speaking) who inquires. Oh, and I should mention that it is illegal to purchase or sell tickets near the venue except from the box office or approved outlets. The merchant's shipping costs and commission are reasonable and the tickets are insured (that's probably the extra few pennies you referenced - as in the U.S., insurance charges depend on the value of the contents).

I am not in anyway, shape or form affiliated with buysomutickets.com, except as a very satisfied customer, and I certainly can have other satisfied customers attest to the trust we have in this merchant. I can also refer anyone to my articles on sumo in the online magazine or to my photo website.

Buysumotickets.com - I haven't been to your website recently, but if you are reading this thread and don't have one already, you might want to have a section for customer's ratings and comments! That would certainly take care of naysayers who have never used your service.

NYsumobaba, how were crowds at the Nagoya tourney?

I guess Robert is me! Welcome to FT, NYsumobaba! Even if it does turn out that you were invited to post here by the owners of the site, it's still a positive recommendation. If we had a few more testimonials from people who may not have quite as much sumo experience as you, but are well-known on this site, it would be even more helpful.

I have also suggested to the people who run the site that they post real contact information to instill additional confidence that they are a legitimate business. This they have refused to do, claiming that there are genuine reasons why they can't (but not giving those reasons).

I further suggested direct credit card acceptance rather than just using paypal, but they claim that makes no difference. That could be right, but if a merchant name appears directly on my statement, I at least can delude myself that I have a somewhat better likelihood of finding them if need be.

In the end, this is not about sumo, it's about whether one can trust a merchant 5,000 miles away. I would like to believe the answer is yes, but would feel a lot more comfortable if I knew that the merchant had taken every possible step to inspire confidence in advance of my purchase decision.

P.S. While it may strictly be illegal to purchase tickets near the sumo venue from touts, certainly you will admit that it's overwhelmingly common for it to happen and rarely, if ever, is any action taken against either party.