Tickets for the Grand Sumo Tournament in Ryogoku, Tokyo, starting on January 12 next year, went on sale at 10 a.m. today. I aimed for the cheapest tickets, the 2nd-floor seats for 2,500 yen, and accessed the site right at 10 a.m., but I couldn’t connect at all. About an hour later, I finally got through, but all seats for the 15-day event were sold out. What a disappointment!
In Tokyo, the Grand Sumo Tournament is held three times a year in January, May, and September. Until now, I’ve always been able to buy weekday tickets easily, but I couldn’t buy tickets for the September tournament because they sold out quickly. What’s going on? The popularity of sumo has definitely increased, and people of various generations are paying more attention to it. At the same time, there’s an unprecedented rise in the number of foreign tourists interested in sumo. Additionally, it seems that resellers are playing a significant role behind this surge.
When searching online, I quickly found 2,500 yen tickets being sold for over 8,000 yen. This time, the Japan Sumo Association’s website included the following notice:
Be careful of ticket resale sites!
The sites listed below are not official sites to purchase sumo tickets. Please be aware that our organization is not responsible if you are denied entry to the arena or face any other issues. Only tickets issued on paper or as QR codes will be accepted. E-tickets from unofficial sites may be fake.
- viagogo
- BuySumoTickets
- StubHub
- ticketstreet
- ticket ryūtsū center
- Others, Yahoo auctions, internet purchases via Mercari
TROUBLE CASES:
- “The ticket I bought on these sites was fake.”
- “I couldn’t receive my ticket.”
- “They couldn’t accommodate cancellations.”
- “The price is more than twice as much as on the official website.”
- “I purchased the Masu Box (for 4 people) from this site and ended up sharing the box seat with other customers.”
When watching from the 2nd-floor seats, the “Sold Out” banner is displayed, but empty seats are noticeable. It seems that people who bought tickets for resale purposes sold them to dealers at high prices, but not all seats were sold, as the prices are far higher than the original ticket cost.
It’s a troubling situation. However, for overseas tourists benefiting from the weak yen, many may be willing to pay a premium on top of the original ticket price. As a result, tickets are being bought from these sites, and resellers are cornering the market in a vicious cycle.
I was looking forward to watching sumo, but once again, I’ll have to settle for watching it on TV.
I have organized the Sumo Viewing Preparation Tour for those who have purchased sumo tickets. For inquiries, please contact me here.