Tips for Newbie at Fukuoka Tournament

[sabledragonrook 3]

Hello all! Sorry if this is in the wrong forum again. :-S

I posted a while back about which day would be the best to go if I've never seen sumo before. I'm excited to report that I did in fact get a ticket for the final day of the Fukuoka tournament-- it's on my desk in all its happy Japanese glory. :-D

So I'm excited and everything, but I want to make sure I make the most out of the day, and I know nothing about anything regarding sumo -- what the stadium looks like or what is in it, what times I can expect to get there and leave, and how I might be able to see the participants other than in the ring.

Can anyone chime in on things you think would be helpful for a complete sumo newbie to know?

Thanks!

P.S. I'm living in Hikone at the moment, so I'll be taking the shinkansen, but I'm trying to get there as cheaply as possible. I think the shinkansen takes like 3 hours or something. Do I need a hotel for the night if I stay till the actual end of the tournament (i.e. will I be hitting last trains)?

[Benevolance 2,511]

The tournament is over at 6 pm, and the venue was about a 20-25 minute walk to Hakata station, so I think you'll be okay for catching a train home.

[Masumasumasu 902]

Get there early (10am) and stay until the end (6pm). You will see many Oyakata (coaches) early in the day. Most of them are extremely friendly and happy to pose for photographs. A good rule of thumb is, if they're wearing a blue jacket, they'll be friendly. Former Chiyonofuji and former Kitanoumi (the top dogs) however, will flatly refuse a photo; but they are the only two. (And they wear western-style suits.)

The rikishi arrive later; but with the newfound popularity of sumo, it might be hard to get close to them at that point (unless you're willing to spend two hours standing in the same place). The best thing to do (if you want to meet the rikishi) is to wait in the parking lot during Juryo and Macuuchi. Following their bouts, the rikishi take a shower and leave the venue. And most of them exit the side door that leads to the parking lot.

Have a good time. It is a wonderful experience to say the least.

[sabledragonrook 3]

Thank you for the input, everyone! I've heard that you can't leave the stadium and come back in on one ticket, or that it depends. Does anyone know about Fukuoka specifically? And are the stalls where there's food and stuff in the stadium such that I don't need my ticket to go and walk around and see them?

[Mark.Buckton 68]

for food you don't need tickets to walk around but I would suggest going behind the main arena before you enter. The arena is basically on the shore. Head over to the left (as you are looking at the front of the arena) and you will see a port perhaps 100 - 200 metres away.

Over where the boats dock, if any are in, there is a small market selling individual sushi pieces for 70 - 150 or so yen apiece. Massive range, absolutely outstanding and fresh, and better than anything in the stadium. You can take it in. Well worth the 10 mins it will take.

[sabledragonrook 3]

Over where the boats dock, if any are in, there is a small market selling individual sushi pieces for 70 - 150 or so yen apiece. Massive range, absolutely outstanding and fresh, and better than anything in the stadium. You can take it in. Well worth the 10 mins it will take.

Ah, beautiful! Exactly the sorts of things I'm looking for. Can anyone tell me about intermissions? I'm assuming there are short periods of time between "leagues" (I don't think that's what you call them, but...) where I could wander around. I suppose I could always take a walk during a the pre-match preparations, since I'll have been sitting for a while.

Also, I'm in B section because I don't have that much money. My understanding is that all the seats are close enough to the ring that I'm not going to need something outrageous like binoculars or something, right? (Laughing...)

[Gurowake 4,108]

The lower divisions really aren't segregated at all; the only thing that would let you know they've moved on to a higher division is an announcement that says roughly "this is the first <division> bout" that is made right after they announce the rikishi on the PA. There's about a minute and a half of warm-up before each match and you might get around five minutes when they change shimpan, which occurs roughly ever 90 minutes. If you're not interested in seeing any of the dohyo-iri, you can get a few more minutes for the Juryo one and a fairly significant chunk of time for the Makuuchi one, although at that point there's a pretty decent length of time between matches as it is.

[sabledragonrook 3]

Hello again, all! I'm planning my shinkansen tickets, and it looks like I can hit up a shinkansen straight from Maibara (a 30 min. bike ride from my apartment) to Hakata. However, I might not get to the stadium until like 11 instead of 10. Conversely, if I get up really early (read: get on the Maibara train at 5AM, after biking there), I can not take a shinkansen and take regular local trains to Shin-Osaka and take a shinkansen from there. That will let me arrive in Hakata at 9:30.

The long and short of it is this: how much am I going to miss if I'm not there at 10 and get there at 11 instead? I understand there are coaches around who might be willing to take pictures -- will they be gone by then? Will I be queuing in a line for an hour because I got there later-ish?

[Asojima 2,874]

I assume you are aware that the start of the day's matches is delayed about 2 hours on days 13-15. The first matches begin at about 10:30 AM.

[Asashosakari 19,667]

I assume you are aware that the start of the day's matches is delayed about 2 hours on days 13-15. The first matches begin at about 10:30 AM.

More like 10am on the final day though.

[sabledragonrook 3]

Yes, I am aware that the tournament starts at 10 / 10:30ish. I just don't know how important it is that I get there at that time.

[Doitsuyama 1,192]

Arriving at 11 is totally ok. Many customers arrive at 14 or even 16...

[krindel 675]

Yes, I am aware that the tournament starts at 10 / 10:30ish. I just don't know how important it is that I get there at that time.

I think that getting up before dawn to not miss 15 matches of the lowest divisions is just not worth it. Your day will be long enough as it is, and don't forget the really "good" matches (and most of the interesting "ritual" stuff) are all at the end of the day, so you don't want to be exhausted by then, so you can enjoy them.

To be frank, unless you are a very dedicated fan, the lowest divisions can get a bit boring, and there are a lot of matches there...

[Asashosakari 19,667]

Also, all the fan service type of stuff usually takes place later in the day, I would guess from noon onwards - they're not going to post an oyakata for meet-and-greet duty for the 20 people who actually go see the lowest three divisions. (Although I suppose it might be possible to meet some informally at that time.)

[Andonishiki 170]

Hi,

why dont u check night busses?

JR offers them, but other companies do as well.

You very likely arrive in Tenjin, right in the center of Fukuoka very early.

take a local bus to Kokusai center (15min gurai).

night bus - I guess - is about 8000 Yen from Maibara, while Shinkansen is probably double.

Spend the saved cash on sumo souvenirs :)

e.g. on the 2015 sumo calendar which is normally on sale at the kyushu basho.

outside the hall on the left, there used to be a souvenir container, better serviced then inside.

if u want to extend your stay to 2 days,

queue for day tickets at 7:15am, sale starts about 8am,

tickets used to be 2100 Yen.

cheap hotel central is from about 5-6k Yen, check jalan or yahoo.co.jp;

capsule even cheaper., maybe youth hostel ?

dont miss the yatai nagahama ramen, the Yahoo dome on mainohama beach and probably Dazaifu Tenmangu temple,

many rikishi stay in that area during Kyushu basho..

enjoy Kyushu !

[Umigame 82]

for food you don't need tickets to walk around but I would suggest going behind the main arena before you enter. The arena is basically on the shore. Head over to the left (as you are looking at the front of the arena) and you will see a port perhaps 100 - 200 metres away.

Over where the boats dock, if any are in, there is a small market selling individual sushi pieces for 70 - 150 or so yen apiece. Massive range, absolutely outstanding and fresh, and better than anything in the stadium. You can take it in. Well worth the 10 mins it will take.

Thanks for the tip! Went there this morning and the sushi was fantastic. Here's the place in Google Maps in case anyone's interested: https://goo.gl/maps/DxUwE

Really enjoyed the arena in Kyushu. It was easy to see the rikishi up close while they are warming up in the corridor before their bout.

​

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[sabledragonrook 3]

Just a bit more than a week till I'll be at the tournament! That being said, I've got two questions --

1. How hard/inconvenient for others is it for me to stand up and walk around every now and then? Is it like a movie theater where I'm going to be slinking past everyone while they give me dirty looks? Umigame's experience seeing them as they warm up is neat, but obviously I'll need to not be in my seat for that! :)

2. Anyone know about less expensive, portable meibutsu from Fukuoka? I'm looking at needing 5 or 6 omiyage to bring back with me from the trip for the Japanese folks around me (above me, not same rank, if that makes a difference in your recommendations), but the only local specialties I know of are the ones that you have to eat while you're there, like the ramen.

Thoughts?

[sabledragonrook 3]

Well, tomorrow's the day, and I'm polishing off the last of my itinerary. My only question now is which shinkansen to get on. I'm looking at three in particular, arriving in Hakata at 12:30, 1:15, and 1:30, respectively. Plus the 20 minute walk to the stadium from the station, and also I'd like to stop and see if there's still sushi around at that time.

For a newbie like me, which do you think is the best time for me to get there? I know some of you brought up earlier that I shouldn't spend too much of my energy on the lower divisions so as not to tire myself out on my first time.

Thoughts?

You guys have been so helpful :D

[Asashosakari 19,667]

I'd guess the last two arrival times will cut it pretty close, depending on how much you want to see - with the extra time needed for the final-day ceremonies later on, the juryo dohyo-iri is scheduled for 1:35 already.

[sabledragonrook 3]

Thanks for the help, everyone! Because of all your tips I was able to enjoy Hakuho's victory over a lovely box of fresh sushi and ebi tempura from the pier. Lots and lots of videos and photos, but I did learn one thing: I suck at choosing the winner. I chose the winning rikishi about 20% of the time. Oh darn, now I just have to practice by watching more sumo... ;)

Also, Hakuho could build the Taj Mahal out of all the trophies he won.

On a side note, the only thing that I basically didn't understand was what the banners were for. Can anyone enlighten me? You know, when they walked around the ring carrying those colorful vertical flags.

[Mongolith 51]

They are just advertisements. They sponsor Kensho aka a bonus payment to the match winner. Usually just seen in the Yok and Ozeki matches, but some sponsor popular guys like Endo. BTW why did kisenosanto get that weird prop that looked like arrows with his Kensho on the last day?

[shimodahito 317]

good day,

those are the kensho banner (basically, advertising of a company or sponser). each banner represents a stash of bonus cash given to the winner of the bout (it's in the envelopes the gyoji hands to the winner). the more kensho banners, the bigger the stack of envelopes. See "kensho-kin" in our groovy glossary here: http://www.sumoforum.net/glossary.html

[Gurowake 4,108]

The arrow bundle is always given to the winner of the antepenultimate (third-to-last) match on the final day. Why? Don't ask me. It's tradition. The glossary (www.sumoforum.net/glossary.html) has more information. There are hidden hyperlinks on words to help navigate.

Edited November 24, 2014 by Gurowake

[torquato 1,075]

Lots and lots of videos and photos

Well, lets hve a look...? Pls contribute. ;-)

[Asojima 2,874]

The arrows question comes up about every other basho. Since antiquity, the winners of the last three matches on senshuraku have been awarded a sheath of arrows, then a bowstring and finally a bow. The bow is no longer awarded, but an awardee once performed a dance with the bow he received, and that dance evolved into the bow twirling ceremony performed at the end of each day's matches.