Earlier this year, Kokonoe Oyakata, former yokozuna Chiyonofuji, was appointed head of the Nihon Sumo Kyokai's (NSK) Public Relations Department.
At the time, many in the sumo following world likely breathed a collective sigh of relief as the second most successful yokozuna in sumo history taking up the post meant the stepping aside of Takasago Oyakata. To date, however, under Kokonoe, nothing has really changed, and if anything, the issue of ticket sales and putting bums on seats has only gone downhill.
Imagine you want to buy a ticket to watch sumo. Perhaps as part of a day out with the family or an outing with work clients. You are told that ticket sales are scheduled to start on a given day at a given time, and so, cash or credit card in hand, you head down to the main sumo arena in Tokyo — the Ryogoku Kokugikan — only to be met by the sight of thousands of other folks with the same goal in mind.