Akinomaki 40,023 Posted August 10 (edited) Ticket sales have started and ended today - complete sell-out after a few hours o, also the chaya site has none left, and no tickets for the day any more - and not even a proper poster yet. In a week, already the first ticket lottery for the Kyushu basho starts. Edited September 8 by Akinomaki Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Asapedroryu 227 Posted August 10 JSA English version website has a big warning regarding ticket websites, including a popular one often mentioned on the forum. Is that something new? I don't visit their site on regular basis to notice before. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BuySumoTickets 27 Posted August 10 7 minutes ago, Asapedroryu said: JSA English version website has a big warning regarding ticket websites, including a popular one often mentioned on the forum. Is that something new? I don't visit their site on regular basis to notice before. At the risk of being told that we aren't the "popular one", I'll assume that you mean us. That message has been there since March 2023, when 2 of our customers showed up at the Osaka venue without their tickets and caused a scene outside. After tiring themselves out by screaming for a while (in English) and making an angry phone call to us, the customers went back to their hotel, found the tickets, and arrived back at the venue to see the basho. A tremendous amount of damage to our reputation had already been done though, and the Kyokai has had enough of all foreign tourists who arrive without their tickets. The day after the basho, that message about us appeared. For the record, despite the claim of that warning, in our nearly 16 years of business nobody has ever missed their event because of "trouble" we made. A few cases have been caused by international postal losses or bad shipping addresses provided to us, but almost all of the cases are customers losing or forgetting their tickets then going to the venue anyway to explain (in English) why their case is special and deserves an exception to the "no ticket, no entry" rule. One customer threatened that he was going to involve his embassy after forgetting his tickets in his country, another threatened to involve the Japan National Tourism Organisation when he decided that after a day out in the city he just didn't have time to go back to his hotel to get the ticket in time for the event. In the eyes of the Kyokai though, all of them are our fault because they were our customers. That's Japan. Anyway, it's not the first time that they've put that message on the site about us over the years, each time instigated by one or more of our customers arriving without a ticket and causing trouble. They've always taken it down after a while, but they seem more determined this time. We brush it off and continue to do what we do. 14 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aderechelsea 124 Posted August 10 Nice one. You won yourselves a customer when i need your services in the future. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tochinofuji 375 Posted August 10 1 hour ago, aderechelsea said: Nice one. You won yourselves a customer when i need your services in the future. I can say, I used BuySumoTickets to purchase tickets for Hatsu 2019, and found their service was excellent. Will definitely use them in the future, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheGunbaiHolder 25 Posted August 12 On 10/08/2024 at 13:13, BuySumoTickets said: One customer threatened that he was going to involve his embassy after forgetting his tickets in his country I would have loved to see that in person. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Itachiyama 113 Posted August 12 (edited) On 10/08/2024 at 08:28, Akinomaki said: Ticket sales have started and ended today - complete sell-out after a few hours o, also the chaya site has none left, and no tickets for the day any more - and not even a proper poster yet. In a week, already the first ticket lottery for the Kyushu basho starts. The online sale (pia) was done after few than one hour! No chance to get a single ticket. These days there are no day tickets anymore as well. For common sumo fans who want to go several days without paying to "reseller" hard times! It's all about contacts at the moment ... Edited August 12 by Itachiyama Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Akinomaki 40,023 Posted August 12 15 minutes ago, Itachiyama said: The online sale (pia) was done after few than one hour! No chance to get a single ticket. These days there are no day tickets anymore as well. For common sumo fans who want to go several days without paying to "reseller" hard times! It's all about contacts at the moment ... It's all about starting early now. To get tickets, I now use the 2nd fan club lottery for makuuchi members (you have to become one for a month, very cheap). All the rest is stress at a very low success rate. Tickets for the day get now sold as D seats. The official resale on sumio.pia is a last chance, you have to register (for sumo.pia and for the resale) and be very quick when they send you a mail that a ticket is available. https://sumo-account.pia.jp/resale/alert/register.do?rbPageType=ticket&rlsCd=006&rb_rlsCd=006&rb_eventCd=2421989&eventCd=2421989 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Itachiyama 113 Posted August 12 23 minutes ago, Akinomaki said: It's all about starting early now. To get tickets, I now use the 2nd fan club lottery for makuuchi members (you have to become one for a month, very cheap). All the rest is stress at a very low success rate. Tickets for the day get now sold as D seats. The official resale on sumio.pia is a last chance, you have to register (for sumo.pia and for the resale) and be very quick when they send you a mail that a ticket is available. https://sumo-account.pia.jp/resale/alert/register.do?rbPageType=ticket&rlsCd=006&rb_rlsCd=006&rb_eventCd=2421989&eventCd=2421989 you can do this without mastering Japanese at a certain level? Anyway I'm very glad I just have to write a message ... otherwise no live Sumo anymore after so many years. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Itachiyama 113 Posted August 12 What's the main reason for this extremely high demand? It started with the Hatsu Basho but then it still was no problem to buy tickets for most of the days via official resale on sumio.pia within hours. Mainly new cooperations between the Kyokai and various agencies? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bunbukuchagama 701 Posted August 12 10 minutes ago, Itachiyama said: What's the main reason for this extremely high demand? It started with the Hatsu Basho but then it still was no problem to buy tickets for most of the days via official resale on sumio.pia within hours. Mainly new cooperations between the Kyokai and various agencies? Tourist industry is booming now (when yen is so weak); a lot of tickets are pre-booked by tourist agencies, I think. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Itachiyama 113 Posted August 12 well, in January I saw many many big groups but most were Japanese. It's quite interesting with the (weak) Yen. The trips to Japan are still very very expensive as the whole travelling has become far more expensive compared to before Covid. Flight costs to Japan have increased a lot and now with the hotels is becomes the same. You may save money on the one hand but at the same time you loose more. Also the Railpass has become significantly more expensive. My total calculation for a Japan/Sumo trip has not become cheaper. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kishinoyama 582 Posted August 13 17 hours ago, Itachiyama said: ….Flight costs to Japan have increased a lot…. A direct flight from Dallas/Ft. Worth airport to Haneda was $1250.00 in March of 2020. The same ticket purchased in March of 2024 is at least $2,500.00. That was what we paid last year. I haven’t looked at this year’s prices…. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Asapedroryu 227 Posted August 13 Flights to Japan are not that high as mentioned. Quick search departing one month from now and returning one week later - London: 850£, Frankfurt 900€. Even the mentioned Dallas is 1150$. Not cheap, but not out of this world... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Morning 75 Posted August 13 Probably also depends upon whether you want to go during cherry blossom season or high temperatures and high humidity season. A pity about tickets, together with more Japanese services requiring Japanese phone numbers and co, I guess I'll think thrice about planning a trip. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kishinoyama 582 Posted August 13 1 hour ago, Asapedroryu said: …. Even the mentioned Dallas is 1150$. I just attempted to book a flight to Japan from Dallas to Haneda. It was 2498.00 in the early part of December (December 3-17) Not exactly a time when people are eager to go to Japan. Let me know where you found that price. Obviously I have been looking in the wrong place. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Morning 75 Posted August 13 I tried Munich-Haneda on Lufthansa for that time frame and am getting 900€ as the cheapest for both flights together. For Dallas-Haneda, they have a similar price to what you are getting. With the issue being the return trip being 2.5 times as expensive as the trip to Japan. Which is very weird, for Munich-Haneda the return flight was the cheaper of the two. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Morning 75 Posted August 13 And lol, the return trip to Dallas would be routed via both Frankfurt and Munich (which may be not unexpected when you are asking Lufthansa). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bunbukuchagama 701 Posted August 13 1 hour ago, Kishinoyama said: I just attempted to book a flight to Japan from Dallas to Haneda. It was 2498.00 in the early part of December (December 3-17) Not exactly a time when people are eager to go to Japan. Let me know where you found that price. Obviously I have been looking in the wrong place. A direct flight from Toronto is 1700 CAD for December 2024, I paid 1500 for my December 2019 flight. Not a dramatic shift (especially considering the rate of inflation over these years). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Benevolance 2,482 Posted August 15 I still regularly see tickets for 1100 to 1300 out of Vancouver. But that said, I can also see prices in the 1600-2500, depending on how close it is to departure. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yamanashi 3,771 Posted August 16 3 hours ago, Benevolance said: I still regularly see tickets for 1100 to 1300 out of Vancouver. But that said, I can also see prices in the 1600-2500, depending on how close it is to departure. Is it less expensive because of the large Nisei/Sansei population in Vancouver and Seattle, or is it just a matter of shorter distance? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Benevolance 2,482 Posted August 16 Both are doubtlessly factors, but I suspect it's also to do with the large Indian population who use the Vancouver /Tokyo route as a stopover on the way to and from India. Lots of consistent traffic. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Akinomaki 40,023 Posted August 20 The NSK held the gomen celebration meeting today - for the chaya and others, with announcement of the schedule - and the gomen-fuda for the basho was put in place o o Another chance to get tickets - at the first timers campaign for the basho, 6 pairs of tickets for free, day 1 or 7, application till 23h JST today - in about 2 hours - retweet this as NSK follower: http://twitter.com/sumokyokai/status/1822467979084182015 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Old Shatterhand is dead 29 Posted August 22 On 12/08/2024 at 14:51, TheGunbaiHolder said: I would have loved to see that in person. And I would like to know which country they were from although I think eventually we all know the answer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yamanashi 3,771 Posted August 22 6 hours ago, Old Shatterhand is dead said: And I would like to know which country they were from although I think eventually we all know the answer. I bet I could name the State! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
