📺
Watching from outside Japan?
NHK and the official streams are geo-blocked abroad. Here's the exact setup overseas fans use to unlock the live Japanese broadcast from anywhere — step by step.
🎌 New to sumo? 30-second primer ▾
- The tournament (basho)
- 15 days, six times a year. Each wrestler fights once a day. Most wins at the end takes the championship.
- Yūshō 優勝
- The championship — and the Emperor's Cup. The wrestler with the best record after Day 15 wins (a playoff breaks ties).
- Kachi-koshi / Make-koshi
- 8 wins = a winning record (kachi-koshi) that earns promotion. 8 losses = a losing record (make-koshi) and demotion.
- The ranks
- Top to bottom: Yokozuna (grand champion), Ōzeki, Sekiwake, Komusubi (the "san'yaku" elite), then the Maegashira rank-and-file (M1–M17).
- Kimarite
- The winning technique — there are 82 of them, from "yori-kiri" (force out) to "hataki-komi" (slap down). We name and translate each one.
- East & West
- The two sides of the ring. Higher-ranked bouts fight last — so the final match of the day is the marquee event.
See it live in Japan
Nothing beats the hush before the tachiai in the arena. Grand Sumo tournament tickets and ringside experiences, booked in English with instant confirmation.
View sumo tickets on Klook → Affiliate links — we earn a small commission at no cost to you.🔗 More Sumo
- How to Watch Sumo Online — full guide for watching from abroad.
- 2026 Tournament Schedule — all six basho dates.
- Most Championships in History · Heaviest Wrestlers Ever
- Futagoyama Stable Tracker