⚡ Key facts
📅 Tournament schedule and the day's timetable
The Kyushu Basho (十一月場所, the November tournament) is the sixth and final honbasho of the year. In 2026 it runs from Sunday, November 8 to Sunday, November 22. The new rankings (banzuke) were published on Monday, October 26 and are reflected in the "Who to watch" table below. Each wrestler in the top two divisions fights once a day for all fifteen days; wrestlers in the lower four divisions fight seven bouts spread across the tournament.
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 8:45 | Doors open (10:30 on November 20–21, 10:00 on November 22). Lower-division bouts begin in the morning. |
| Around 2 p.m. | The main matches of the top divisions begin, preceded by the ring-entering ceremonies (dohyō-iri). |
| 17:00 | Last time to re-enter if you have left the building (re-entry is allowed before this). |
| Around 6 p.m. | The final bout of the day and the bow-twirling ceremony (yumitori-shiki) close the day. |
The arena is quiet and half-empty in the morning — which is exactly why early arrival is the cheapest way to sit close to the ring for a while before the ticket-holders of the lower seats arrive. See the full 2026–2027 tournament schedule for the other five tournaments.
🎫 Tickets: official seat types, prices and the sold-out situation
For reference — and for planning the next tournaments — these are the official Kyushu Basho 2026 prices (tax included):
| Seat type | Weekends & holidays | Weekdays | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ringside seats (tamari) | ¥20,000 | ¥20,000 | per person · sold only via Ticket Oosumo (Japanese site) |
| Box seats S (4 people) | ¥56,000 | ¥52,000 | per box · Ticket Oosumo (Japanese site) only |
| Box seats A (4 people) | ¥52,000 | ¥44,000 | per box |
| Box seats B (4 people) | ¥40,000 | ¥38,000 | per box |
| Box seats C (4 people) | ¥34,000 | ¥32,000 | per box |
| Special C box (2 people) | ¥19,000 | ¥19,000 | 2 people in a 4-person box |
| Pair seats with table (2 people) | ¥19,000 | ¥19,000 | chair seating with a table |
| Chair seats S | ¥6,000 | ¥5,500 | per person |
| Chair seats A | ¥5,000 | ¥4,500 | per person |
| Chair seats B | ¥3,000 | ¥2,500 | per person |
| Chair seats C | ¥2,500 | ¥2,000 | per person |
- A service fee of ¥2,000 per ticket is added (plus a ¥550 special-sales fee for lottery sales). Payment is by credit card only.
- Tickets bought on the English site are printed at Seven-Eleven stores in Japan; they cannot be changed, cancelled or refunded, and a lost ticket means no entry.
- Box seats are sold per box (four people). Children aged four and over need their own ticket.
- Ringside seats and S boxes are sold only through the Japanese-language Ticket Oosumo site.
If you still want to be in the arena
Check Fukuoka sumo tour packages on Klook
English-language listings for Fukuoka sumo experiences, including tour packages that bundle a tournament ticket when operators have stock. Availability for November is not guaranteed — check the listing dates before booking.
See Fukuoka sumo listings on Klook → Affiliate link — we earn a small commission at no cost to you. Tour packages cost more than face-value tickets bought from the JSA.📍 Getting to Fukuoka Kokusai Center
Fukuoka Kokusai Center (福岡国際センター) stands on the waterfront at 2-2 Chikko-honmachi, Hakata Ward, next to Fukuoka Sun Palace and Marine Messe. It is a multipurpose hall rather than a dedicated sumo arena, which is why the Kyushu Basho feels more intimate than Tokyo's Kokugikan.
| From | Route (approximate) |
|---|---|
| Nearest subway station | Gofukumachi (Hakozaki Line) — about a 12-minute walk to the hall. |
| Hakata Station (shinkansen) | Subway Kuko (Airport) Line one stop to Nakasu-Kawabata, change to the Hakozaki Line for Gofukumachi, then walk. Or a Nishitetsu bus from the Hakata Station bus stops toward Hakata Wharf / Central Wharf, getting off at Kokusai Center Sun Palace-mae. |
| Tenjin | Hakozaki Line from Nakasu-Kawabata (one stop from Tenjin on the Kuko Line) to Gofukumachi, then walk. |
| Fukuoka Airport | Kuko Line to Nakasu-Kawabata, then as above. The airport is unusually close to the city centre. |
The hall is only open on event days. Fukuoka's Hakata and Tenjin districts both work well as a base — Hakata for shinkansen and airport access, Tenjin for food and nightlife — and either is a short subway ride from the venue.
🥢 What a day at the Kyushu Basho looks like
Sumo is an all-day event, and most ticket-holders arrive mid-afternoon. If you have the time, arriving early gives you a near-empty hall, the lowest divisions in action, and a view of the wrestlers of the future — including the lower-ranked members of stables such as Futagoyama, whose results we track every day of the tournament.
- Morning: jonokuchi, jonidan, sandanme and makushita bouts in a quiet arena.
- Early afternoon: the jūryō ring-entering ceremony, then the jūryō bouts — the lowest salaried division, and usually tight, fast sumo.
- Mid-afternoon: the makuuchi ring-entering ceremonies (east and west sides), followed by the yokozuna's own dohyō-iri, then the top-division bouts in ascending rank order.
- Around 6 p.m.: the final bout, then the bow-twirling ceremony.
Food and drink are sold inside; in box seats you remove your shoes and sit on cushions, and leaving and re-entering is allowed until 17:00. For what to wear, what you can bring, and how to behave ringside, see our sumo watching etiquette guide.
📺 How to watch from outside Japan
Most readers of this page will not be in Fukuoka — and the tournament is still easy to follow.
- NHK WORLD-JAPAN (free, English, no VPN). NHK's international service covers GRAND SUMO with a daily highlights program during the tournament and live coverage on selected days, available online and on its TV channel worldwide. Details and schedules are in our guide to watching sumo online.
- ABEMA (Japan only). ABEMA streams every bout live, free, in Japanese — but only to viewers inside Japan. Fans abroad who want the full stream connect through a VPN with a Japanese server; our VPN for sumo guide explains the honest trade-offs. NordVPN is the service we link to (affiliate link — we earn a commission at no cost to you).
- Daily results and standings. Our live scores page shows the top-division standings and every bout result, updated through the day, and the Futagoyama stable tracker follows all eighteen wrestlers of that stable.
Fukuoka is on Japan Standard Time (UTC+9). The top-division bouts around 2–6 p.m. JST fall at roughly 5–9 a.m. US Eastern, 2–6 a.m. US Pacific, 5–9 a.m. UK time and 4–8 p.m. in Sydney (AEDT).
⭐ Who to watch in November
Ranks are from the official November 2026 banzuke announced on October 26 (checked against the Japan Sumo Association's rikishi profiles on October 27); the result column is each wrestler's September 2026 Aki Basho record (source: sumo-api.com, official results). The only special prizes in September were Fighting Spirit Prizes for Fujinokawa and Churanoumi, who enter November as the new East Sekiwake and East Komusubi.
| Wrestler | Rank in November 2026 | September 2026 result |
|---|---|---|
| Onosato | Yokozuna (East) | 12–3 — won the Aki Basho, his 6th championship |
| Hoshoryu | Yokozuna (West) | sat out the whole Aki Basho (0–0–15); whether he competes in Fukuoka depends on his condition |
| Aonishiki | Ozeki (East) | 11–4 |
| Kotozakura | Ozeki (West) | 9–6 |
| Kirishima | Ozeki (East, second slot) | 8–7 |
| Atamifuji | Sekiwake (West) | 8–7 |
| Hakunofuji (formerly Hakuoho) | Maegashira 3 West | 5–10 at Komusubi |
| Rohga (Futagoyama stable) | Maegashira 8 East | 6–9 at a career-high E. Maegashira 5; down three ranks for November |
Onosato enters Fukuoka as the reigning champion with six titles; Hoshoryu's participation after a full absence in September is the open question of the tournament. You can follow every day of the tournament on the live scores page.