Tokyo

Tokyo Sumo Early-Morning Practice Tour in Ryogoku

Tokyo, Japan

Ryogoku Sumo Morning Practice Tour in Tokyo

3 hours (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Get an inside look into Japan’s ancient, traditional national sport: sumo wrestling. Travelers can find it hard to gain access to the wrestlers’ stables without local help. On this morning training tour you’ll see the athletes practicing, close up. Enjoy this exclusive insight into Japanese culture and history through this fascinating sport.

See the wrestlers in an unstaged practice setting
Tour photos are included
Get insider access with your local guide
Sports enthusiasts will especially love this tour

What's Included

Entrance fee of Sumo practice
Tour photos
A local guide fee

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Re.Ra.Ku Ryōgoku Ekimae
Japan, 130-0015 Tokyo, Sumida City, Yokoami, 1-chōme3５ JR両国駅東口高架下
Right outside of JR Ryogoku Station East Exit Please note that there are two Ryogoku stations and the meeting point is the JR Ryogoku station, (NOT Toei-Oedo line Ryogoku station). Your guide will be holding an orange/red board saying "Magical Trip".

Start time

08:30 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
Available for those who are only over 12 years old since those who are younger than 12 years old are not allowed inside the sumo morning practice.
As Sumo stables has the right to adjust their schedule in the last minute based on their tournament schedule and wrestlers’ condition, please note that there is a possibility that we will cancel your booking due to the sudden change or cancellation of the practice by sumo stables. In that case, we will fully refund your booking shortly. You do not need to pay for Sumo morning practice entrance fee.
The sumo stable has the right to refuse guests who offend the rules of the stable and in this case, we will not be able to refund.
Sumo stables decide if the audiences are allowed to take the photos of sumo wrestlers or the photos with sumo wrestlers. Please note that there is the possibility that you cannot take those photos in the case the sumo stables rejected for whatever reasons.
In the case that your group is large, the group may be split into the different groups and each may visit different stables.
You may not be allowed to go to the toilet during the practice, so please make sure to go to toilet before the tour starts.
Out of respect for our other guests and to ensure the best tour for everyone, we must start the tour on time. Please note that if you are late for more than 15 minutes than meeting time (10 mins before the tour starting time), you will not be able to join the tour, get refund or rescheduled.
We might ask you to change the time/date depending on the availability of the Sumo morning practice schedule.

Please be aware that guests may have to sit on the floor as most of stables do not usually offer chairs.
The sumo stable has the right to refuse guests who offend the rules of the stable and in this case, we will not be able to refund.
Sumo stables decide if the audiences are allowed to take photos of the sumo wrestlers or the photos with sumo wrestlers. Please note that there is the possibility that you cannot take those photos in the case the sumo stables reject for any given reason.
In the case that the group is large, the group may be split into the different groups and each may visit different stables.
You may not be allowed to go to the toilet during the practice, so please make sure to go to the toilet before the tour starts.
The duration of sumo practice may prolong sometimes, which may cause the tour to end later than the estimated time.
Out of respect for other guests and to ensure the best tour for everyone, we must start the tour on time.
You will not be able to join the tour, get a refund or reschedule if you are late for the tour and miss the group.
We may request you to change the time/date depending on the availability of the Sumo morning practice schedule.
The itinerary for this tour includes some locations that are not accessible by a wheelchair or stroller.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 7 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

5.0

207 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 207 reviews

Chance of a lifetime!!

Patricia_K, May 2024

This experience is something that very few Japanese people have witnessed. We had a very informative guide who told us about the rules of sumo wrestling as well as the way of life for the wrestlers. We watched a morning practice that was very intense. It was the real thing! We were also treated to a little side trip to a very interesting modern/traditional temple (Ekōin) that honors the dead. Highly recommended—just be aware you will be sitting on tatami mats on the floor for quite some time.

Poor planning

Linda_W, May 2024

The planning of the entire tour was rather bad. First of all, the introduction of the sumo history and the stable that we were going was done outside the station (meet up point) , where there were quite a lot people and cars kept passing by and the noise did not help with that. Secondly, no agenda or rundown was actually given to any of us, not on the website nor shared by the tour guide on the day and I’d suggest the tour guide should add that in the future. I’m suggesting this as when the sumo practice finished, we were standing outside the stable while the tour guide tried to answer any questions we had and after that, he didn’t let us know he was actually taking us to another place thus a few other tourists left half way when we were walking as I believe we were all thinking the tour guide was just bringing us back to the train station for departure. The tour guide did not do anything to elevate the experience. The whole tour could have been done by any other person. The tour itself was great fun but I wish the tour was led by a more organized, experience and thoughtful person instead.

I would do it again

gokhan_a, Oct 2023

It was amazing experience, we did have a lot of fun, i would suggest anyone for this trip, it was a rainy day but still it didnot spoil our tours much, tour guide did her best to give us a lot of informations

Fantastic tour of the...

David_C, Aug 2023

Fantastic tour of the grounds and front row seats of the wrestlers training. Masao is a great tour guide and made for a memorable trip.

Great way to experience sumo culture!

Riya_B, Jun 2023

A great and memorable experience. Masao was very informative and prepped us by informing us about Sumo culture. Practice ran a little longer than usual - two hours as opposed to the typical one hour, so beware that that might happen. Other than that, it was a great experience.

Sumo Training

Joe_K, Jun 2023

I wasn’t really sure what to expect when we booked this, I thought may be gimmicky, that was not the case. Masao was a great guide and explained all of the intricacies you would not know such as how many stables, how they are ranked, etc. The practice is real training and practice for upcoming tournaments. It was a pleasure and the hot pot food at the end was really delicious.

Not sure this was a tour… could have done it for free

C_B, May 2023

We were given instructions by our guide- must wear a mask, had to sit a certain way and no pictures were allowed until after the practice. We arrived to the stable and were ushered in and there were 3 other people already there- not part of our group. None of them was wearing a mask- they were sprawled comfortably on the floor and were taking pictures and video of the practice. They had just called the stable directly to see if they could come and watch and were told “sure”! Not sure why we paid $300 to do the same thing with restrictive rules that no one else seemed to need to follow. Next time - I’d forget the tour and just call the venue directly myself.

Response from Host, May 2023

Thank you for your feedback. We are aware of that incident and are very sorry that this has happened to you. We are instructed by the stable to not take any pictures but sit quietly during the practice simply because this is their daily training and it's not meant for entertainment. We respect that and follow the rules. We heard that the practice had to end earlier than usual because there was an injured wrestler. We don't know why and if ever they welcomed the said other guests for free and allowed them to behave like that. We've spoken with the stable and will make sure incidents like this won't happen again. We are very sorry that this happened to you. MagicalTrip Support Team

Excellent and informative

caroline_b, Apr 2023

I feel that taking the tour gave you a much better understanding of the history, culture and the process of becoming a Sumo.

Fantastic Insight

Martin_T, Apr 2023

Great close up insight into Sumo - It was really interesting to see how intensely the guys train and live.

Waste of money, totally soured our trip.

Mariana_L, Apr 2023

Terrible experience and absolutely insuffersble staff. It was also imposdible to reach them by phone on the morning of the tour, that resulted in us losing money and the experience. When I was finally able to reach them, Yuki from customer support wss not helpful at all. If you want to get tricked out of money than book this tour, otherwise run like hell.

Response from Host, Apr 2023

I'm sorry to hear about your negative experience with our tour. We understand that you were unable to join the tour because you arrived late, and we regret that we were not able to accommodate you. Our policy clearly states that we cannot allow latecomers to join the tour because it would disturb the sumo practice, and we have already made costs to pay for the sumo stable and our tour guide. As such, we do not offer refunds or allow for rescheduling last minute, as these costs are already incurred. Regarding your concerns about reaching us, we apologize if you had difficulty contacting us by phone. However, please note that our customer support team is always available to assist via chat and email. It's important to reach out to us as soon as possible if you have any concerns, as we cannot accommodate late arrivals due to the nature of the tour. We understand that you overslept and even if you had contacted us by phone, you still would have been late for the tour. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. We understand that you were looking forward to the tour and it's disappointing when things don't go as planned. Regards, Magical Trip Support Team

You have to see Sumo

Stephen_H, Dec 2022

Such an intimate experience being only a few feet away from current sumo wrestlers genuinely taking part in morning practice. The guide was very engaging and the wrestlers were very talkative and friendly when they posed for photos with us after practice ended.

Amazing Tour

S_L, Dec 2022

Tommy san and Kate were so amazing. They introduced us to the world of sumo that we knew nothing about. Overall, they were kind, patient and very informative! So glad we went. It was the perfect ending to our first Japan trip.

Amazing experience

Vicki_T, Mar 2020

This Sumo practice was a highlight of our trip to Tokyo. Our guide Ayaka was lovely, gave us lots of information about the visit before we walked to the stable. We recommend this tour to anyone visiting Tokyo.

Superb sumo

angelabowens1, Jan 2020

A great experience ! We learned so much. Our guide was so friendly and enthusiastic. We have recommended this trip to our friends as we know they will love seeing these athletes up close !

Great Experience

Subhash_Roy, Jan 2020

I booked this tour to learn a bit about sumo wrestling. Yumiko was a fantastic guide, she met us early at the location by the JR train station and then took the time to explain what we were going to see when we went to the Sumo stable. She then took us with a few to the Sumo stable. Additionally, during the practice she wrote additional notes to help us understand what we were seeing. It was an overall fascinating experience.

Good experience

diana_b, Dec 2019

The tour was very interesting. We saw the wrestlers practice for over an hour. There was a brief introduction beforehand. All in all, I recommend. There is no lunch or other activities with the tour.

Very Interesting

Lawrence_D, Oct 2019

We enjoyed watching the training. It was a rare opportunity to see the life of Sumo wrestlers. We were allowed to photograph the training and the wrestlers, and had a posed photo opportunity with them at the end of the session.

Amazing Experience

chrismead2019, Oct 2019

If you can't get to one of the 6 official Sumo Tournaments then the morning training tour is a well worthwhile alternative - it was an amazing experience. We were able to watch the wrestlers warm up and do general exercises but also take part in actual fights to practice their techniques. We had hoped that we may see some wrestling but was surprised how much we did get to see. It wasn't a display for tourists but full on fighting with their peers. Just amazing and highly recommended!

Unique Insight

Eliot_w, Aug 2019

I can't think of a better way to experience Sumo in some small way other than to get ringside seats at a Grand Tournament, We were sitting on thin cushion pads inches from the student wrestlers and they were giving their all. They are clearly pushed hard and this is no 'put on for tourists show' as they were at times reduced to tears. Be aware that our timing was brought forward without much notice - check emails the day prior.

Experiencia recomendada

Virginia_M, Jan 2024

Fue una muy buen experiencia, atípica de los lugares turísticos. El tener la oportunidad de ver a los luchadores de Zumo tan cerca y comprender la dinámica fue genial. La comida estaba deliciosa y el lugar precioso. Muy recomendada la experiencia para quien viaja a Tokio.

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