2026– date –

The chonmage is the traditional topknot that sumo wrestlers wear in their hair — a style handed down from Japan's samurai era, when the topknot was ordinary men's dress. Sumo is one of the last places it survives in daily life. The hair ...

The dohyo-iri is sumo's ring-entering ceremony — a ritual procession the wrestlers perform before the day's top bouts begin. The top-division wrestlers file into the ring together in ornate ceremonial aprons, form a circle, and perform a...

In sumo, the dohyo is the ring where every bout is fought — a raised platform of packed clay, topped with a thin layer of sand, with the fighting circle marked out by partly buried rice-straw bales. It is far more than a stage. A new doh...

In sumo, the maegashira are the rank-and-file of the top division, makuuchi — every wrestler in the division who does not hold one of the titled ranks of yokozuna, ozeki, sekiwake or komusubi. They are listed by number, from Maegashira 1...

In sumo, sekiwake and komusubi are the two junior titled ranks of the top division, sitting directly below ozeki and above the rank-and-file maegashira. Of the two, sekiwake is the higher: the order from the top runs yokozuna, ozeki, sek...

Tokyo's east side, where the Sumida River curves through the old downtown, lets you fold two very different sides of the city into a single day: the temple-town atmosphere of Asakusa and the sumo world of Ryogoku, the sumo town. Think of...

Ryogoku is the Tokyo district where sumo lives. On the old-Tokyo east side near the Sumida River, it is the neighbourhood built around the national sumo arena, the stables where wrestlers train, and the hot-pot that feeds them. If you ar...

Watching sumo live in Japan is easier to plan than many first-time visitors expect, once you know the calendar, the seat types, and where to buy. This is a practical planning guide for anyone hoping to sit in the hall for a grand tournam...

Watching sumo live at the Ryogoku Kokugikan is welcoming and easy for a first-timer, but a handful of customs keep the hall running smoothly. Move to and from your seat only between bouts, stay quiet and still while a bout is underway, a...

The former Myogiryu held his retirement topknot-cutting ceremony at the Ryogoku Kokugikan on October 5, 2025, marking his succession to the Furiwake elder name. It fell the day after the retirement ceremony of the former ozeki Takakeisho...