Sumo in Ryogoku

Sumo is older than almost anything else Japan still performs - a wrestling rite with Shinto roots in which two giants collide on a clay ring after minutes of salt-throwing, leg-stamping ceremony - and Ryogoku, east of the Sumida River, is its capital. The Kokugikan arena hosts three of the year's six grand tournaments, in January, May and September: fifteen days each, building from teenage hopefuls at dawn to the top division's silk-aproned ring-entering ceremony and the day's final bouts as the arena fills to a roar. The district wears the sport openly - wrestlers in yukata and topknots cycling to practice, stable buildings on quiet blocks, statues and banner-hung lanes, and restaurants ladling chanko-nabe, the protein stew of the training table. Between tournaments, guided morning visits to training stables show the brutal choreography of practice up close.

What to look for

• A tournament day - salt, ceremony and collisions building to the finale.
• The ring-entering ceremony - the top division's embroidered silk parade.
• Morning practice - stable training watched in disciplined silence.
• Chanko-nabe - the wrestlers' stew served across the district.

When to go

Tokyo's tournaments run fifteen days each in January, May and September - the last hours of each day, roughly 3.30 to 6 pm, carry the top bouts and the atmosphere. Outside tournaments, book a reputable stable-visit tour for morning practice.

Things to know

Good tournament seats sell out fast online - the cheapest arena-top seats are honest value, while ringside means accepting occasional airborne wrestlers. A full day is long; arriving mid-afternoon for the top division is the local's move. Stable practice has strict etiquette - silence, stillness, no flash - and tours enforcing it are worth their fee.

Nearby

The Sumida riverbanks, Tokyo Skytree and Asakusa's temple quarter across the river.