A great experience made even better by a fantastic guide - This was such a great experience. Our guide, Ryoko, was really knowledgeable and friendly. She really helped make the experience an enjoyable one. The sumo stable we went to was incredibly welcoming and we had the opportunity to talk to the wrestlers and ask questions after watching them do their daily practice. After we left, Ryoko went out of her way to provide each group with directions on how to get to their next activity of the day. It probably feels like an expensive thing to book, but I really enjoyed it and felt it was worth the money. My favourite experience in Japan so far!

Excellent tour - Well run tour. Met at Ueno train station then took 2 trains to the countryside to the sumo stable. Stable we visited was small and we had a great view of the training. Guides were knowledgeable and friendly. They spoke English well. Sumos answered questions, posed for pictures, and let us try to push them. Then we ate sumo stew. It was a once in a lifetime experience. Thank you!

Very well organized tour.... - Very well organized tour. Highly recommend. Shout out to all parties involved including Ryoko (tour guide), stablemaster, sumo wrestlers and others that helped put this together

Worthwhile spending time on this - The sumo wrestlers are friendly and the guides are super attentive,educational and very nice. Did a lot of extras in helping on the journey back and forth. Would recomend this experience again with no hesitation. Shout out to Haru and ryoko. Excellent friendly,and helpful guides. Really enjoyed meeting them. Sumo wrestlers were fun to watch and interact with

Excellent experience - A really well organised and interesting insight into a uniquely Japanese sport. I went with my wife and three adult daughters. We all thought it was great. Thoroughly recommended.

A Highlight of Our Trip to Japan - If you're not sure whether you want to go on this type of tour at all, let me say that my girlfriend was also initially skeptical, but she loved the experience and said it was one of her favorite things that we did on our entire trip to Japan. The clips of sumo you may have seen on YouTube do not convey how nimble and powerful and flexible these athletes really are. Watching them practice is eye-opening. Trying to push them is also revealing: I'm taller than many of the wrestlers, I'm not that much lighter than some of them, I lift weights, and I could not push the wrestler at all. At all. It was like running into a brick wall. He was literally laughing and posing for photos while I pushed hard enough that I lost traction and my feet started sliding. His power was unreal, and yet another insight into the level of athleticism on display. We also posed for photos with them while wearing traditional kimonos, and the chanko nabe we had for lunch was also tasty. All of that was as described and well worth the experience. If you're debating between this and other experiences, let me point out a few key differences. First, this tour allows you to sit in a chair and to talk and take pictures during the practice. That makes this tour much more comfortable and informative than the many offerings where you have to sit on the floor in total silence, not understanding everything you are seeing but unable to ask questions about it. Some of the lunch shows are demonstrations, not practices with current professional sumo wrestlers. They might be fun, but it would be a very different experience. Many offerings require you to make your own way to the stable, but many of them require separately ticketed transfers on different train lines. The process would have been difficult but for our wonderful guide, Haru, who met us in Ueno, helped us acquire tickets and navigate the trains, and used the time during the commute to explain much about the history and rules of sumo. The commute was therefore a significant benefit in a way that I did not understand before we took the tour. Haru also answered all of our questions during the practice, helped us into kimonos that we wouldn't have known how to put on, and took pictures and videos for us. One of the most interesting benefits of this particular tour was the opportunity to have lunch with a sumo wrestler who speaks fluent English (as well as Japanese, Hebrew, Arabic, and Russian). He was an incredible athlete with a fascinating story, and we will continue to follow his career with great interest, rooting for him and remembering the rare opportunity to have lunch with him. You can have an experience like this! And if you've read this far, then you absolutely should. You're clearly interested enough that you're considering it, and I've highlighted the advantages this tour offers relative to its competitors. It's worth it. You should go. It will be a highlight of your trip to Japan as well, an unforgettable experience that I will remember forever and recommend to everyone.

Great experience - The guide and wrestlers were all very nice and friendly. Awesome to see up close. Like watching 50 sumo matches in a row.

Fantastic experience at the sumo wrestling stable! - Haru was a phenomenal tour guide! I was part of a small tour group that visited a sumo stable. The experience was fantastic. We were able to watch the amateur and professional sumo wrestlers train. We had a small meal and were even able to connect with the woman who helped to run the stable.

The real thing - Many sumo tours are entertainment based whose purpose is to put on a show for the tourists. This tour is the real deal! As a martial arts enthusiast, I appreciated the knowledge gained from this tour! I highly recommend!

Superb Sumo Spectacular! - Both guides were fantastic and eager to share their knowledge with us. The power and strength of the wrestlers was impressive and very worth seeing!