The 2014 Grand Sumo Tournament Begins at Ryōgoku Kokugikan (両国国技館)
For more photos and videos from the Grand Sumo Tournament, explore the Ryōgoku Kokugikan (両国国技館) location page.
Another year of the Grand Sumo Tournament began a week ago at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan (両国国技館) in Tokyo, Japan.
The tournament, called honbasho (本場所), is a series of six seasonal tournaments, each of which lasts 15 days. The opening tournament in January, known as hatsu basho (初場所), as well as the third tournament in May (natsu basho – 夏場所) and the fifth tournament in September (aki basho – 秋場所), all take place at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan sporting arena. During the tournament period, Sumo wrestlers compete once a day to win a majority of the matches, which will ensure their promotion to a higher wrestling rank and their advancement to the next tournament.
The honbasho tournaments are the only opportunities for sumo wrestlers to gain their rights and ranks as professional wrestlers. For them, winning the tournaments is the most significant goal of their wrestling careers.