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October 11, 2025
 

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John Gunning
SUMO
Jan 26, 2019
Sumo 101: Tickets
Sumo tickets go on sale roughly about six weeks before the start of every tournament.
Japan Times
SUMO
Jan 25, 2019
Sumo 101: Sumo's birthplace
Ryogoku is the center of the sumo world.
Japan Times
SUMO
Jan 24, 2019
Sumo 101: Koenkai
On the surface sumo generates income the same way as most other sports —through ticket sales, merchandising and sponsorships.
Japan Times
SUMO
Jan 23, 2019
Sumo 101: Trading cards
With a sport as ancient as sumo, trading cards aren't the first things that spring to mind when you think of memorabilia.
SUMO
Jan 22, 2019
Sumo 101: Keshō-mawashi
One of the first orders of business for a rikishi promoted to sumo's second-highest division (jūryō) is getting a keshō-mawashi (ceremonial apron-style belt).
SUMO
Jan 21, 2019
Sumo 101: Pre- and post-bout rituals
From once they are called to mount the dohyo, makuuchi division wrestlers have four minutes to prepare for their bout.
SUMO
Jan 20, 2019
Sumo 101: Akeni
Sekitori (wrestlers in the top two divisions) have a lot of accouterments.
Japan Times
SUMO
Jan 19, 2019
Sumo 101: Championship portraits
One of the most striking features of Ryogoku Kokugikan is the ring of giant portraits hanging from the rafters.
SUMO
Jan 18, 2019
Sumo 101: A wrestler's typical tournament day
The six annual honbasho (tournaments) are the fulcrum around which the sumo world turns.
SUMO
Jan 17, 2019
Sumo 101: Retirement ceremonies
Now that Kisenosato has retired, one of the first orders of business for him will be arranging a retirement ceremony.
SUMO
Jan 16, 2019
Sumo 101: Stable locations and layout
The majority of sumo stables are concentrated in a couple of locations not far from Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan.
Japan Times
SUMO
Jan 16, 2019
Despite injuries, Kisenosato embodied rikishi ideals
Kisenosato's retirement, while both inevitable and expected, casts a pall over the ongoing tournament.
SUMO
Jan 15, 2019
Sumo 101: Banzuke
All professional sumo wrestlers are listed on a 58x44 cm sheet of paper that is released about two weeks before the start of each tournament.
SUMO
Jan 14, 2019
Sumo 101: Sanyaku
Sanyaku is the collective noun for the three ranks below yokozuna.
SUMO
Jan 13, 2019
Sumo 101: Becoming a rikishi
How does a person go about becoming a professional sumo wrestler and what is the initial process like once you sign up?
SUMO
Jan 10, 2019
Hakuho and rivals seeking to taste success in opening tournament of new season
After one of the best years in the ring the past couple of decades, sumo heads into the final January tournament of the Heisei Era poised on the edge of its own era change.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jan 10, 2019
In-arena experience provides thrills for fans
Why do people attend sumo tournaments?
Japan Times
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jan 2, 2019
Scandals allowing sumo to ID, rid sport of bad elements
It's that time once again to make predictions, and state hopes and wishes for the year ahead in sumo.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Dec 26, 2018
Sumo's young guns ready to make big impact in 2019
Last December, when looking ahead to 2018, I wrote that this would be the year when a new generation of sumo talent would rise to glory.
Japan Times
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Dec 19, 2018
Passion and technology behind English sumo coverage
Sumo fans around the globe are spoiled for choice these days when it comes to following their favorite sport.
Takaichi's PM bid faces further headwinds with coalition split
LDP leader Sanae Takaichi and Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito attend a party leaders' meeting on Friday in Tokyo.
Powerful earthquake strikes off southern Philippines
Authorities inspect a damaged wall and a car outside a mall in Butuan, Philippines, on Friday, after a major earthquake struck the area.
Japan to move toward five-year integrated bachelor's-master’s programs
Japan plans to introduce nationwide five-year bachelor's-master's programs to raise graduate school enrollment and train more highly skilled professionals amid a shrinking workforce.
Tokyo named world’s best big city for second straight year
Tokyo was ranked the world's best large city for the second year in a row in the Conde Nast Traveler's 2025 Readers' Choice Awards.
Chemistry Nobel winner Kitagawa says downtime helped him think up new material
Susumu Kitagawa speaks to reporters at Kyoto University on Wednesday after receiving the news that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry the same day.
A Japanese comedian walks into an Aussie bar … and stays there
Takashi “Waka” Wakasugi stopped by the Tokyo Comedy Bar in Shibuya Ward last month following his stint at Edinburgh Festival Fringe performing his show “Comedy Samurai.”
Chemistry Nobel winner Kitagawa says downtime helped him think up new material
Susumu Kitagawa speaks to reporters at Kyoto University on Wednesday after receiving the news that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry the same day.
University of Tokyo lands its highest spot ever in global higher education ranking
The University of Tokyo in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward
Tokyo named world’s best big city for second straight year
Tokyo was ranked the world's best large city for the second year in a row in the Conde Nast Traveler's 2025 Readers' Choice Awards.
With nuclear sub proposal, Japan faces array of political and tech challenges
The Jingei, the third of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Taigei-class submarines, was commissioned in March last year. It is equipped with lithium-ion batteries, enabling it to have a longer diving time and cruising distance than older models with lead-acid batteries.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo
Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo

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