How to buy Grand Sumo tournament tickets

The short version: six tournaments run every year (Jan/Mar/May/Jul/Sep/Nov), each with its own advance on-sale date about a month before the tournament starts. Tickets for popular tournaments can sell out within a day or two of going on sale.

Before the sale

• Use Ticket Oosumo, the Japan Sumo Association's own English-language ticket site — it's closest to face value. Klook and Viator also carry official inventory in English if Ticket Oosumo is sold out for your dates.
• Decide which day of the 15-day tournament you want — weekends and the final days (when championship contenders are decided) are the most competitive.
• Check the official year schedule for the exact on-sale date of your target tournament — this shifts tournament to tournament and isn't the same date every time.

On sale day

• Popular days can sell out within 24-48 hours of going on sale, sometimes faster for a headline tournament — don't wait a week to decide.

If you miss it

• Third-party English-language resellers (e.g. BuySumoTickets.com) offer marked-up access with more support — a fallback, not a first choice, since face-value official inventory is always better if you can get it.

Sources

Japan Sumo Association official English ticket site and year schedule. Verified 2026-07-04.