The key Ingredient to start a day!

Sumo in Japan is like Celtic football in Ireland or Basque ball in Basque country in Spain. A traditional sport practised only in one country with its rules and traditions. The main rule is pretty basic, just throw out the adversary from a circular ring.

To admire the big boys in action, you just need to go to one of the tournaments or watch one of the training practises.
In real life you should attend one of the training practises because getting a ticket for one of the tournaments is as easy as getting a ticket for the champions league final, in theory it’s possible, but in reality that never happens.

The Arashio Stable (training centre) accepts visitors as long as they cooperate being silent and not annoying the rikishis (the sumo wrestlers) during their training.
The training premises are rather surprising because their address is in one of the most family friendly neighbourhoods of Tokyo. But you can easily spot it because of the big group of tourists standing outside which like me are there because of their obsession for big bodies crashing over a sand ring.

 

The training consists in a series of mini encounters between the rikishis. Meanwhile, we as tourists can now get to tell other people that we were able to watch a sumo wrestling match for real. (forbidden to people with a cardiac condition).

The coach is always silent and only speaks to the rikishis from time to time and only to give specific advice.

My suggestion is that if you are in Tokyo you should at least try to see this once, because; where else could you see this kind of scene?

The training starts at 7:30 in the morning. The simplest way to get there is taking the line Toei Shinjuku to the stop Hamachō, exit A2.
Once there the easiest way is to ask for directions at the sports centre on the park Hamachō close by. They are used to tourists trying to get there.
The street looks like this:

On google the address it’s here:

https://goo.gl/maps/i2a6q

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