Fans attending the first day of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament expressed their displeasure with the sport's recent scandals despite snapping up the last available tickets on Sunday.
A line for the opening day's available tickets began forming at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan early in the morning, with all sold by 8:13 a.m., according to the Japan Sumo Association. Over 160 winners' prizes for bouts in the elite makuuchi were provided by sponsors, a number the association said was more than it ever gets for the first day of the tournament.
For much of the past two months, the scandal-hit sport has been reeling. High-profile competitor Harumafuji assaulted a fellow Mongolian wrestler in October, leading the then-yokozuna to retire, while sumo's senior referee tendered his resignation over a sexual harassment incident that occurred in December.