Tokyo: Sumo Morning Practice Viewing Tour

We loved it so much! We were the first to arrive to the training so we could sit in the front row. Noriko explained the history and rules of sumo to us briefly. The only slight difficulty was finding the meeting point - there could have been a picture uploaded about the exact spot. But we arrived early and so we had enough time to find it. Overall i definitely recommend it!

It was a unique and very interesting experience. Our guide, Miwako, was very knowledgeable, very friendly and helpful. The visit to the stable was well organised and gave us an extraordinary insight into this singularly Japanese sport. We were up-close with the wrestlers in a way we could never have been at an arena, we saw a part of their daily training routine and we got to ask the stable master questions about their life and the sport itself. And we got to have photos with two of the wrestlers! Our guide also gave us a little tour of the surroundings of the stable, which is situated in one of the oldest parts of Tokyo, which was also very interesting. In the afternoon of the same day, we went to see the actual sumo tournament at the Ryogoku Arena, so we were much better prepared for it and enjoyed it much more than we would have done without the better understanding of the sport which we'd gained during the morning practice experience. Strongly recommend it!