Ryōgoku Kokugikan and Sumo Museum 両国国技館・相撲博物館
Sumo museum in the Kokugikan, since 1954: free outside tournaments, closed Sat/Sun/holidays
The sumo museum opened in 1954, when the sumo association (Nihon Sumō Kyōkai) made its collection public at the old Kokugikan in Kuramae. The first arena named Kokugikan had been built in Ryōgoku itself in 1909, in the grounds of Ekō-in temple, where sumo bouts had been held since the eighteenth century; it burned down in 1917, was rebuilt twice, and in 1954 the association moved to Kuramae. In 1985 sumo returned to Ryōgoku, to the arena still in use today, and the museum followed it: it now occupies a room on the ground floor of the building.
Tokyo
Higashi-nihombashi, Bakurochō, Bakuroyokoyama, Ryogoku
