oliver

Yes I think you're right - or to put it more charitably, it is a very rare chance to see an official JSA tournament featuring "proper" professional wrestlers outside of Japan, even if it is a "friendly" or exhibition tournament and not a honbasho. Using the term "Grand" is where it gets complicated, but that's not a big deal to the average attendee of this tournament, so the misdirection and exaggeration is annoying to us but a relatively minor sin as no-one is realistically going to hold back from buying tickets when they learn it won't affect the standings in November. I imagine it will be marketed as more of a cultural event than a sporting event. As a UK resident I am very excited by it - I hope there will be lots of fringe activities during the week of the event as well. I don't know to what extent the JSA and organisers are partnering with other Japanese cultural and tourism bodies like Japan House London.

Idle question: do some sumo fans belong to more than one heya's koenkai, or is that frowned upon (like being a fan of two football teams)? Do they tend to stick with their heya through thick and thin, or flip back and forth depending on which have the rising stars? Just interested to know how far it can be compared to being a fan of a sports team.

VICE article by Hanako Montgomery on violence in sumo: https://www.vice.com/en/article/epzwkp/sumo-wrestling-abuse-japan

Flew to Tokyo from the UK and bought day 3, 5 & 6 tickets especially to enjoy watching hakuho before he likely retires this year... Need to check the terms and conditions of my travel insurance As a silver lining the torrential purple rain was a majestic sight. My wife saw one guy running around grabbing other people's cushions and throwing one after the other. A really visceral sense of the changing of the guard.

Thank you both, that is very helpful - yes I think the upper seats are probably better bet as she will likely want to move around a bit! And thanks for the tips on purchasing tickets, I may well just outsource the whole thing to buysumotickets.

Hello - Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere, it didn't come up in my search. I am planning to attend the January 2020 basho with my wife and 2yo kid, having visited the Kokugikan in 2009 & 2011. I've just noticed the "Family / Senior Box Chair B" seats listed on the tickets website - basically box seats on the 2nd floor, which I didn't notice last time. Just wondering if anyone has used these - and would they provide a better experience / view than just buying 2 x Chair Seats B tickets? (Y15,600 vs Y10,200) Also, how quickly to tickets tend to sell out online these days? (Bearing in mind I haven't bought them for 8 years!). Should I be sitting by my laptop as soon as sales open? What time is that Japan time? Thank you so much in advance Oliver

I'm really enjoying this tournament. I started following sumo after a trip to Japan in 2009, and basically I've been a massive Hakuho fan since then. He's basically kept me hooked on the sport. About a year or so ago, when Hak was first starting to creak a bit, I started to wonder whether I'd still carve out the time to follow sumo after he retired. This basho has convinced me that I will. I enjoy watching Abi, Ichinojo, Takayasu, Endou, and a few others - not saying it's brilliant sumo all the time, but it's keeping me entertained.

After Hakuho beat Harumafuji there was a light drizzle of purple rain - any reason or just random/drunk fans?

what do people think would be a reasonable price? it's a long shot but if the international sumo community could come to a consensus target price and petition the JSA on that basis, perhaps it might have more impact than simply complaining that it's too high. I'd personally pay at most about £1 / $1.50 per day for live stream plus a Moti-style highlights package - £15 / $22.50 per basho.

I have some questions about the Hak-Kise bout that I'm hoping some more experienced hands might be able to shed light on... - I know that Kise is famous for messing about at the pre-taichi-ai and causing mattas etc, although I don't quite understand what it is he does in order to do that. Was he doing it this time? - Following on from that, I noticed that Hak slapped him in the face quite a few times during the bout - I know this is a legit move, but does it carry any extra implication of irritation or disrespect? (perhaps occasioned by taichi-ai antics? IIRC Hak once henka'd Kise because he was so fed up) Or was this more likely due to Hak's injury, i.e. he had to try scrappier, more surprising tactics. - Why the purple rain, isn't that usually for when a non-ozeki beats a yokozuna? (I've asked this on Moti's youtube video, apologies for cross-posting). Was it the Japanese crowd rubbing it in Hak's face on nationalistic grounds? Anyway I've enjoyed this basho even if it hasn't been a classic, especially some of Hak's narrow escapes.

I've just caught up with Days 8-13 today - as the previous commenter said, not the best basho but not the worst either. Quick questions for more experienced fans: - What's wrong with Kak? He's gone off the boil since that amazing run a couple basho back. Injury? Other guys figured out his moves? lack of confidence? - Kintayama made a comment in his video today about Harumafuji's victory being a little rough - it's the second time this basho he's pushed at the other guy's face. Just wondering, is that considered totally legit in sumo or a little ungentlemanly? - How freaking good is Hakuho?? Wait I'll answer that myself: he's really, really, really good. Hak-Haru final is going to be amazing.

Curious basho. I find myself rooting against the Japanese rikishi for some reason - partially I guess because of allegations on the other forum, but also because they just seem so boring compared to Kak, Haramufuji and Hakuho. I haven't been paying attention to Kise's pre-taichi-ai antics - what is he doing exactly, pulling out at the last minute or something? And further to the previous discussion about sumo's popularity among the young, is the pricing an issue? Hard for me to judge as everything in Japan seems expensive as a tourist, but even the cheap seats at the sumo were around US$50. Presumably that's a lot of money for a 24-year-old graduate working in 7-11.

I probably haven't been following sumo long enough to judge the quality but today's bouts certainly seemed especially entertaining! Seemed like quite a variety of styles, even for a budding yotsu purist like myself ;). Also re: Kotooshu, is it just me or do the European wrestlers always seem to make more naive mistakes? I remember this making Baruto frustrating to watch for a while, before he tightened up his act. I might just be paying more attention to them though because they stick out. Anyway, hugely enjoying this tourney here in London thanks to Kintamayama's diligent work!

would be great to be able to listen to past recordings too, maybe consider a podcast?

Well done Baruto! I'm glad to see him come good, he seemed to stumble a bit after becoming ozeki. I'm a Hak fan but it's nice to see Baruto win. Nice to discover this forum as well, I've already learnt a lot :)