Check the tournament schedule. Sumo tournaments are not year-round events in Japan – they occur only 6 times a year, every 2 months, and for only a couple weeks at a time. There are tournaments in January, March, May, July, September and November.
Purchase your ticket, which can range in price dramatically depending on how close it is to the action–weekends and final days sell out rapidly. More importantly, you will need to order in Japanese and from within Japan– tickets cannot be sold in advance otherwise.
Consider buying a general admissions ticket – these tickets are available first thing in the morning of a tournament, on a first-come, first-serve basis. They are the cheapest seats, in what is usually called "the nosebleed section."
Show up the day of your ticket, either early enough to get in line for general admission or with ticket already in hand. Each tournament day builds momentum slowly: the lowest-ranking wrestlers compete first, and the arena may even be mostly empty for these contests. The evening is reserved for the highest-ranking competitors, who often play to a packed crowd.
Watch and learn. The average sumo match lasts mere seconds. Furthermore, sumo wrestlers don`t compete by weight class, but by rank. Consequentially, a competitor can wrestle a man twice his size, and often win.
