Yasukuni Shrine Honozumo (Ceremonial tournament held in the shrine’s precincts)

Do you know Sumo?  

Sumo is one of national sports in Japan, and has a history of 1400 years.     

Referring to the official brochure prepared by Japan Sumo Association, it is said that “the first Sumo matches were a form of ritual dedicated to the gods, with prayers for a bountiful harvest and were performed together with sacred dancing and dramas within the precincts of the shrine. Since then Sumo has been maintaining its religions protocol and formalities.  And Sumo has managed to survive with its formalized ritual and traditional etiquette intact making it unique among sports.”

If you are in Tokyo April 18th, and if you are interested in viewing Sumo, why not visiting Yasukuni Shrine, and experiencing Hono Zumo! 

The word “Hono” means, dedication to the gods, and Zumo is dullness of Sumo. 

The first Hono Zumo was held at 1869, comforting the Spirit of Yasukuni Shrine, at the enshrined festival.  Since then, this event has been held every year, without interruption.

In this event, you can have very rare opportunity to appreciate Sumo traditions, such as, comic Sumo performances, Sumo Jinku (Sumo Lively Song), Original dividing drums.  

You can see the tournaments given by 200 wrestlers, representing by Grand Champions (highest rank in sumo), Champions (second highest rank in sumo), and all rank will be lined up at this event. 

The Details;  

The dedication  :  Japan Sumo Association 

Date and Time  :  Monday, April 18th 2016  from 9am to 3pm 

Place           :  Sumo amphitheater , Yasukuni Shrine

Admission      :  Free

Program

1.Dohyo (sumo ring) festival     9:00am

2.Tournament starts            10:40am

Comic Sumo Performances,  Sumo Jinku,  Drumming, 

3.Worship                      1:30pm

4.Intermission and Tournament (Yokozuna and higher rank of wrestlers) 

2:00pm

5.End of tournament        3:00pm 

Capacity 

      6000 people, First come, First Served based

Useful information   

1 The main gate of Yasukuni Shrine is open at 6am. 

2. The Sumo ground Amphitheater entrance is open at 8:30am or little earlier, from Central entrance, or South Entrance.   

3. All explanation and announcements are in Japanese only.  

4. Due to “First come, First Served base” , early entry is strongly recommended. These couple of years, all seats are fully occupied by 12:00pm. Once 6000 seats are fully occupied, nobody is allowed to enter the Sumo amphitheater. .

5.  Once the intermission (2pm) , you are not allowed to leave the seat till the end of the event (3pm). 

6.  Nearest station to Yasukuni Shrine is either Kudanshita, or Ichigaya.  

This event is not held within Koto ward, where KEV is located, however, considering the value and richness of this Hono Zumo, KEV introduces this event. 

We hope you could have a chance to see this wonderful event, and enjoy Sumo wrestling.. 

Using this opportunity, we express our appreciation to Public Relations Section, Yasukuni Shrine for their approval and support with regard to Hono Zumo.

Please note that during most of April,  all Sumo wrestlers are on the tour around Japan. For the details, please access their home pages.

by Y. T.