How to Buy Sumo Tickets in Japan and When They Go on Sale

If you want to watch a Grand Sumo Tournament in Japan, buy from the Japan Sumo Association’s own English ticket site, Ticket Oosumo English, on the day general sales open. Tickets for each of the six annual tournaments go on sale roughly five to eight weeks before the first day, and popular dates can disappear quickly. Everything else — konbini machines, tour packages, the members’ lottery — is either a backup or closed to most visitors.

This guide covers the tournament calendar, the exact on-sale dates published by the Japan Sumo Association, what each buying channel actually offers a foreign visitor, what seats cost, and why the Association tells you to stay away from resale sites.

When do sumo tickets go on sale?

Grand Sumo runs six 15-day tournaments (honbasho) a year, in January, March, May, July, September and November. Three are in Tokyo at the Ryogoku Kokugikan; the other three rotate to Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka.

The Japan Sumo Association publishes advance-sale dates years ahead on its official schedule page. Here is what it lists for 2026 and 2027, as of September 2026.

Two things to notice. The lead time is not a fixed “one month” — it ranged from about five weeks (January 2026) to roughly eight weeks (July and November 2026). And sales almost always open on a Saturday at 10:00 Japan time.

One date is published inconsistently. The Association’s schedule page gives February 6, 2027 for the March 2027 tournament, while Ticket Oosumo’s English site lists “Sat. Feb. 8th, 2027” — and February 6 is the Saturday, February 8 the Monday. If you are targeting Osaka in March 2027, check both pages again closer to the time rather than trusting either date alone.

Where can tourists actually buy sumo tickets?

There are four realistic routes, and they are not equally open to you.

For almost every visitor, the first row is the answer. The Japan Sumo Association’s own “How to Buy” page points English speakers to Ticket Oosumo English as its ticket site.

How buying on Ticket Oosumo English works

The mechanics are the same for every tournament, and they are unusual enough to catch people out. Details below are as listed on Ticket Oosumo’s November 2026 tournament page, checked September 2026.

• Sales open at 10:00 Japan time on the published Saturday. All times on the site are Japan time.
• Credit card only. There is no bank transfer or convenience-store payment option on the English site.
• A service fee of ¥2,000 per ticket is added on top of the seat price.
• A special sales fee of ¥550 per ticket applies if you buy through the advance lottery.
• Collection is only at a Seven-Eleven inside Japan. The ticket is printed in-store; instructions arrive on the purchase completion screen and by email.
• No changes, no cancellations, no refunds — the site states this applies whatever the reason.
• Lose the printed ticket and you cannot enter. Your seat number is only confirmed when the ticket is issued.

The Seven-Eleven step is the part worth planning around. You cannot hold the ticket before you land, so build in time between arrival and your match day, and keep the confirmation email reachable — you will need it at the machine. That means having working mobile data or offline copies from the moment you clear customs, not from the moment you reach your hotel WiFi.

If you are buying in person at a konbini instead, Ticket Pia’s official guide describes the flow: use the in-store multi-copy machine, search by P-code or keyword, choose the date and seats, enter your name in katakana and a phone number, then take the printed payment slip to the register within 30 minutes. Payment there accepts cash, nanaco and major credit cards, and the machines run 24 hours — though Ticket Pia notes that handling on the first day of a general sale starts at 10:00.

How much do sumo tickets cost?

Prices vary by venue and by whether the day is a weekday or a weekend. The table below shows the November 2026 Fukuoka tournament, as listed on Ticket Oosumo in September 2026. All prices include tax; the ¥2,000 per-ticket service fee is extra.

Tokyo is more expensive. For the January 2026 Kokugikan tournament, Ticket Oosumo listed Chair Seat C at ¥3,500 on weekdays and ¥4,000 at weekends, Chair Seat B at ¥5,000 and ¥5,500, and Chair Seat S at ¥9,000 and ¥9,500 (page checked September 2026). The Association’s general “How to Buy” page quotes the same ballpark for arena seats and adds that prices may vary depending on the venue.

Note that ringside seats and Box Seat S are marked “Only Ticket Oosumo (JPN)” — they are not offered on the English site at all. If you specifically want ringside, the English channel will not get you there.

What is a masu box seat, and is it right for your group?

A masu-seki is a Japanese-style box on the floor. You take your shoes off and sit on square cushions inside a railed-off square, and the boxes are sold as whole units — the standard is four people per box.

That matters for the maths. A weekday Box Seat C in Fukuoka at ¥32,000 works out around ¥8,000 per person for four, which is more than a Chair Seat S. For a pair, the Special C Box and pair-seats-with-table options at ¥19,000 for two open a four-person box to just two of you, which is why they sell out.

Arena or chair seats are ordinary stadium-style seating on the upper level. They are cheaper, they have backs, and for a first visit they are a reasonable place to start.

Why you should avoid sumo ticket resale sites

The Japan Sumo Association is blunt about this. Ticket Oosumo’s pages carry the warning “Be careful of ticket resale sites!” and state that resale or transfer of tickets to third parties without the organiser’s permission is strictly prohibited, including through internet auctions or similar methods. Transfers to family, friends or business contacts are allowed only where they are not for profit and not conducted as a business.

The same notice says anyone who obtains tickets in order to engage in prohibited resale or transfer — including organising tours or packages without permission — may be refused entry. That language is drawn from the Association’s Sumo Spectator Contract Terms, whose Article 4 bans unauthorised commercial resale outright.

Ticket Oosumo also posts a standing notice that it is not responsible for any unauthorised ticket sold from another website. In practice: if a third-party seller’s ticket is refused at the gate, you have no recourse through the official channel. Stick to the official site, and be sceptical of any operator promising certain sumo seats after the official sale has closed.

What happens if the tournament sells out?

It happens, and it happens completely. For the September 2026 Tokyo tournament, Ticket Oosumo’s English site posted that tickets were sold out on all dates and that there would be no tickets sold on the day.

Same-day general-admission tickets have been part of the Kokugikan’s arrangements in the past, but availability is announced per tournament and cannot be counted on. Do not build a trip around turning up at the box office in the morning.

Your better options are the official site’s availability page, which is updated at 11:00 and 17:00 on weekdays and shows per-day status by seat class, and simply choosing a weekday in the first week. Opening days and the middle weekdays are consistently easier than the final weekend.

What about the fan club lottery?

The Japan Sumo Association’s official fan club runs advance lotteries well before general sale, and they are the reason the best dates thin out early. For the November 2026 Fukuoka tournament, the fan club’s Japanese-language notice set a first lottery on August 14–17, 2026 for the higher membership tiers with results on August 19, and a second lottery on August 21–24 for a wider set of tiers with results on August 26.

General sale did not open until September 19, 2026 — around a month after members had already drawn. Applicants also need a separate Ticket Oosumo account registered with the same email address as their fan club membership.

The fan club site and application flow are in Japanese, and membership is annual and paid. For a one-off trip it is not a practical route. Knowing it exists explains why you should be at your keyboard when the general sale opens.

A realistic booking timeline

• Three to six months out: check the Association’s schedule page and lock your travel dates onto a tournament. Weekdays in the first week are the easiest tickets.
• The week before the on-sale date: create your Ticket Oosumo English account and check that your credit card will work from abroad.
• On-sale Saturday, 10:00 Japan time: be online and ready. Convert that to your own time zone the night before.
• After arrival in Japan: collect the printed ticket at any Seven-Eleven, well before match day rather than on the morning itself.
• Match day: for the November 2026 Fukuoka tournament, Ticket Oosumo lists doors at 8:45 on most days — 10:30 on November 20–21 and 10:00 on November 22 — with top-division bouts from around 2 p.m. and the day finishing around 6 p.m.

Frequently asked questions

Can I buy sumo tickets before I arrive in Japan?
Yes. Ticket Oosumo English sells online and takes credit cards. But the ticket itself can only be printed at a Seven-Eleven inside Japan, so you will not physically hold it until after you land.

How far ahead do sumo tickets go on sale?
Between roughly five and eight weeks before the first day, depending on the tournament. The exact date for each tournament is published on the Japan Sumo Association’s schedule page, and sales open at 10:00 Japan time.

Do I need a ticket for the whole day?
One ticket covers the entire day’s programme. Bouts run from the morning through to about 6 p.m., with the top-division matches from around 2 p.m. Re-entry rules vary by venue and tournament — Ticket Oosumo listed unlimited re-entry until 17:00 for Fukuoka in November 2026, but only one re-entry for the January 2026 Tokyo tournament.

Is it cheaper to buy a box seat or a chair seat?
Per person, chair seats are usually cheaper. Boxes are sold as whole units of four, so a Box Seat C only makes sense if you actually have four people — or if you take one of the two-person box options where offered.

Can I resell a ticket I cannot use?
Not commercially. The Association prohibits resale or transfer without its permission and warns that people who buy tickets in order to resell them may be refused entry. Passing a ticket to a friend or family member at no profit is the stated exception. Tickets bought on the English site also cannot be cancelled or refunded.

Sources

• How to Buy — Japan Sumo Association (accessed 2026-09-23)
• Grand Tournament Schedule — Japan Sumo Association (accessed 2026-09-23)
• Ticket Oosumo English (official ticket site) — Japan Sumo Association / Ticket Pia (accessed 2026-09-23)
• November Grand Tournament ticket information — Ticket Oosumo (accessed 2026-09-23)
• January Grand Tournament ticket information — Ticket Oosumo (accessed 2026-09-23)
• November Grand Tournament ticket sales information (Fukuoka) — Ticket Oosumo (accessed 2026-09-23)
• Sumo Spectator Contract Terms — Japan Sumo Association (accessed 2026-09-23)
• How to purchase at Seven-Eleven — Ticket Pia (accessed 2026-09-23)
• November tournament advance ticket lottery — Official Grand Sumo Fan Club (accessed 2026-09-23)