Previous parts of this series touched on Why Go, Where We Would Stay, and our visit to Ekoin Temple. In this post, I am going to share my experience of going to a Jungyo event for the first time intersperced with some news about the current Aki 2024 tour.
This October is jammed with dates as the troupe snake their way toward Fukuoka. They start in Adachi, Tokyo and end in Kurashiki just as the banzuke comes out. Terunofuji is participating and doing his dohyo-iri but he is not fighting in the bouts. Oho, Tamawashi, Wakatakakage, and Atamifuji are kyujo. We are watching Oho’s condition, in particular, as he recovers from surgery from that eye injury.
Yesterday, they were in Ashikaga and the local NHK folks shared some great video of the event, particularly the Shokkiri and Jinku routines.
What is Jungyo?
The offical Sumo Kyokai website is very helpful to explain Jungyo. Here, they explain what a day is like, in English. They also have a page that shows the schedule in English.
I must say, Herouth’s article about this topic is gold. Reading through it is an amazing blast from the past. Hoshoryu in Sandanme. Terutsuyoshi. Aminishiki. Goeido. Ryunosuke is 21 years old now! Required reading. If you hadn’t found it on the website, check the menu near the top of the site and hover over the “Jungyo Trail.” This Introduction to the Jungyo article is there. I’ve tried to put other “must read” articles up there, like the mawashi ‘splainer and Josh’s various interviews with sumo luminaries.
For those who like the Cliff’s Notes versions, Jungyo means “Tour”. Musicians do it, authors do it, politicians do it and apparently sumo wrestlers do it. Why? This industry survives on fan support and many fans live in areas that do not have easy access to the main tournaments. Tours generate ticket sales and merchandise sales and other fan support.
Yes, there have even been international tours to France, Los Angeles, Hawaii, etc. Japanese sumo fans also suffer from the same issues as Taylor Swift and Oasis fans: not enough seats available for tournament dates. Tours provide more opportunities for fans to see their favorite wrestlers, especially up-close.
Getting Tickets
We knew that we wanted to get tickets and we also knew we needed to get them early. Unfortunately, we do not live in Japan. Why is that a problem, you ask? Can’t you just buy tickets online? One of the more frustrating aspects of purchasing tickets overseas is that if you use Ticket Pia or other official ticket sources, you have to have a phone number in Japan. Do you have a phone number in Japan? I don’t, either. My brother-in-law does, however. So, he bought two tickets for us and we were all set!
This is why sites like BuySumoTickets exist. And it’s why I went through my little experiment with Ticket Pia but will be getting tickets from BuySumoTickets in the future. I’ve been to a few tournaments before and we generally would get tickets through ochaya but those are pretty darned expensive and it’s a bit of a hassle because we always have to go through one of our intermediaries “in-country”, like my 80-year-old mother-in-law.
When we got to Japan, we met up with my in-laws for lunch and then went to hang out at one of their condos. Their condo happens to be just two blocks from Arashio-beya, so of course they took me over to check it out. When I got back, my wife’s other brother gave me the jungyo tickets and I put them in a white bag full of souvenirs and we eventually went back to the hotel.
Fast-forward a few days and it’s the Day before Jungyo. My wife wakes up and asks, “where are the tickets?” I say, “didn’t you see them in the white bag?” “Yes, I took them out because I gave that white bag to my friend the other day.” A bit of frantic searching later and it became clear the tickets were not in our hotel room. Shhhhhh*t. So, we retrace steps, do more frantic searching…nothing. The morning of we ended up running down to the 7-Eleven and buying tickets from the machine there. Thankfully there were still some tickets available. And then I set off for Tachikawa.
Why am I telling you this? If you buy tickets through any vendor, they’re usually physical tickets. This holds true for Jungyo and for regular tournament dates. When you pick them up, HOLD ON TO THEM. If you lose them, you’re S.O.L. You will not be able to get into the venue, no matter how much you bitch at whichever oyakata is taking tickets at the ticket counter. I’ve heard that the Kyokai is starting to use QR-codes for tickets and that is probably a good thing and will hopefully eliminate some headaches. But I’m sure there will be physical tickets for as long as there are physical chestnuts buried in the dohyo.
The Venue
Tachikawa was a good hour from central Tokyo and the Tachihi Arena lies along the Tachikawa monorail line. The important thing is to get there early in the morning to watch the wrestlers spar and do butsukari-keiko. I was late and in a hurry to make it for the “start” of the basho, so I went straight to Tachikawa and straight to the Arena.
You can tell sumo is in town by the banners in front of the building and the streams of people heading inside. When you get inside, there are booths for food, drink, and merch. Being late, I headed straight for my seat. I did not want to miss anything on the dohyo.
(BIG mistake.)
The Action
The lower division guys go first and then the sekitori. Unless your name is Hiradoumi, much of the action here does not take place at full strength. These are exhibition bouts and while there might be a little kensho, there are no macarons on the line here. So, fans go there more for the engagement and less for the action. I have a picture of some of the “improvised” kensho banners but most of the kensho banners were actually legit. Anyway, back to the task at hand…
“Andy, what are you saying?”
I am saying, “Learn from my mistakes.” Do not get there around lunch time. Get there early, visit the souvenir stands and pick up merch. The Waka brothers were manning the till! Wander around and do not be too shy to ask for pictures with your favorite wrestler. If you can get good seats, get good seats downstairs. You will have more chances to engage with wrestlers if you have better seats.
While at a sumo tournament, I would recommend getting to your seat early and watching as much action as you can. But at these tour events, do the opposite. I would catch the shokkiri and jinku because those are things that you will not see at any of the main tournaments. Maybe watch your favorite wrestler if he is paired up with a great rival…but even then, expect an easy-going bout. Guys are not here to hurt each other*.
In this Tweet from the current Jungyo tour, both Kirishima and Daieisho engage in some hijinx by squishing Hoshoryu, sitting ringside. Hoshoryu is not in sandanme anymore, he is Ozeki. (If you read Herouth’s piece, which I linked to above, he was down in Sandanme at the time.) Now, Kirishima was an Ozeki earlier this year and both he and Daieisho likely have eyes on the rank as the latter rejoins the Sekiwake ranks. Kirishima is probably pretty close to earning re-promotion.
Lessons Learned
It was not until the last few bouts that I thought to get up and walk to where all of the wrestlers were heading when they finished their bouts. It was there that I got as close to any of my favorite wrestlers as I would for almost the entire trip (except for meeting Shohozan and being three feet from Endo as he cycled away from keiko). I’ve got great pics of Hiradoumi, Atamifuji, Daieisho (chatting up a few ladies), Abi, Kotozakura, Onosato, Kenta, Narimasa, ex-Shonosuke, and more. But I missed Shodai!
I am the “no regerts” poster-child.
That said, it was a great event. I wish I had a seat close to the dohyo and I wish I had ventured around more. But I am very glad I went and I will do it again when I have a chance. The shokkiri was fun but I was most impressed with the jinku. The wrestlers who were a part of that group had great voices. The other fans at the venue were very nice and enjoyed chatting about sumo and their favorite wrestlers. Some were very new to sumo and others were long-time super fans, and there was certainly a foreign fan presence. It was a great mix and a nice way to meet other fans.
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Thank you Andy, I enjoyed that read, the links, and the insights into sumo outside the main tournaments. I’d be so excited to meet the guys we follow, especially in a more relaxed environment. One day in the not too distant future, I hope. Planning has now commenced for the trip to Japan.
Congratulations! Definitely let me know how it goes!
Will do! 😊
Wonderful post! I learned a ton.
Also, Atamifuji is kyujo?!? Any idea why?
Herouth was saying arthritis in the hip.
Great Post Andy! Totally jealous! Can you post some pics of the Merch?
Shout out to Herouth – Thanks for the info on Atamafuji. Sorry to hear that.
Thank you! Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures of the merch. I didn’t think about taking pictures there.
You had me empathically laughing at the ticket story! This is everyone‘s nightmare on a journey for a specific event… And giggling to the bowling complot on Hoshoryu and his nicely executed gestic response play. Also it‘s good to know the different strategies for visiting jungyo in contrast to a honbasho.
Thanks sincerely for guiding to Herouth‘s outstanding all-about-Jungyo introduction! I‘m fascinated again and again with the rich cultural details around Sumo.
Hi Andy, glad you enjoyed the Jungyo – we went to our second Jungyo day at Ichinomiya north of Nagoya in early April this year. The first two hours are definitely my favourite part as many of the rikishi are wandering all around the hall rather than gathering around the dohyo, and are generally happy to interact with fans which is amazing. My wife got her picture taken with Tobizaru who was really nice and we then had a brief chat with Kotakiyama who we recognized from the Futagoyama youtube channel. He seemed quite surprised (but pleased) that a couple of Westerners would recognize him – it must be the same reaction you’d get if a Japanese tourist were to recognize a third or fourth division soccer player in England or a minor league baseball player in the States.
As regards tickets – we were worried about not having a ticket in advance (we hadn’t realized that most of the convenience stores stopped selling tickets for collection 48 hours before the event). However, we nervously and hopefully joined the 20 minute-long queue and just before reaching the door where you present your ticket to get in, there was a separate glass door with a sign saying “Same day ticket purchase” in Japanese. To our huge relief, you could go in there, buy whichever tickets you wanted from three or four staff at a table, and rejoin the main queue where you had left it now armed with your means of entry.
It’s good to know that tickets at the door might be an option. Especially if there were first floor tickets. For me, that would have been a last resort. The trip to Tachikawa was over an hour. According to the site, there were only a few tickets left but the door tickets might come from a reserve? I should have tried to get better tickets at the door and seen what happened.
I love the idea of getting to know the low rankers. Many of them are great and talented and have great character but grinding it out in the lower divisions.
Hoshoryu’s laugh, very rare moment seeing in a light mood. He always looks so serious in the fight.