I had the chance to finally see Sumo in person on Sunday May 15. The tournament is kind of different, not being a full grand tournament but a technical examination, so they did not sell normal tickets but gave upper seat tickets away for free. But first come first served, and if you got there later than 0700 you were out of luck for the day! I know because I tried it the day before but came too late. So I planned to gt there on time Sunday morning.
So I got to see a nice sunrise and enjoy uncrowded trains, and then I got to Ryougoku Kokugikan, the Sumo stadium, where I joined a queue of lots of differet people, waited in line for an hour and a half and at 0800 got my ticket!
I then went back to Kokubunji for church, but then returned to Ryougoku at about 1330 to take in as much as I could. The day ends at 1800 with the highest ranking bouts in the last three hours, but all of it was great to experience.
The photos above show how the crowds got bigger as the day progressed, until the house was just about full. I can't wait to take my whole family in September which is when the next tournament occurs in Tokyo.
