Sumo 4 box seat for 2 people?

Hi,

we (2) are heading to Japan in May and will be in Tokyo for the May tournament. I was looking of the PIA website and saw the options for box seats are:

Box seats A & B: 4-guest box seats
Box seats C & Special B Box seats:4-guest box seats open for use by only 2 guest

I was hoping to get seats in sections A or B, but was wondering are we allowed to just book for 2 people in the 4-guest box seats? Will be we need to also pay for the remaing 2 seats? Or is this frowned upon (I would hate to be "those" people!!)?

Or is section C quite okay in terms on visability?
Tickets go on sale April 8th 2023 - so hoping to snag some tickets and some good seats!


Thanks in advacce

I only tried once to buy sumo tickets for Tokyo a few years ago and although I was calling immediately after sales opened the phone line had collapsed. By the time I got to a conbini (15 min) later there were no more tickets for the days I could go.
So my advise would be to be flexible and be at the conbini when sales open. (Or at the sumo hall, if they sell them there).

As far as I know, if you buy 2 tickets out of a box seat for 4, that means there would be 2 additional people buying the remaining 2 seats. So if you want the space for 4, you�fd have to buy 2 tickets per each of you.

Please check some images of what the seating looks like - and be sure you are OK sitting on the floor. Otherwise there are chair seating available.

Also for overseas visitors, buying tickets through an agency might be easier. PIA requires that you to call, and unless you are in Japan one month in advance, convenience stores sales would simply sell out.

A good site for buying tickets from outside of Japan is buysumotickets.com. I have used it three times and it is mentioned often on another Japan discussion board.

You can certainly buy a box for four people (A or B sections) and just have two people attend - gives more space and is quite common. But, you have to pay for four people.
The popularity of sumo has changed quite a lot in the last two years - getting seats is much easier and the events are not selling out in minutes like it used to. Even today (first day of the January tournament) there are seats available. (And, yes, Jeff and his team at buysumotickets.com is a pretty low stress way of buying.)
As for viewing, the venue in Tokyo provides good viewing from most spots, including the arena seats on the second floor (which are more comfortable than sitting on the floor in a box). I have preferences for which side when attending, but you might not have too much choice.

@JCT
Thanks for that info. I might try to get ticket then. I managed to go to the Fukuoka event 5 years ago and it was definitely an experience, so if I can go back in Tokyo, I�fll definitely give it a try.

Thanks everyone for your help! I have seen a few people go through Jeff on here, so I will check him out. We only plan to come for the mid-ranks to high rank tournaments so we can be flexible with either sitting in chairs or on the mats.. Great to know visibility is good regardless

Happy travelling everyone!

@LikeBike - I included a visit to the Fukuoka sumo in November and the place wasn't even half full - a bit sad in some respects, but the action in the ring was still very good. Second time watching there, but I have also been in Osaka, Nagoya (a couple of times) and most usually here in Tokyo.
In previous years the group of top wrestlers really made for some exciting tournaments and Hakuho was a big part of that contributing to sold-out tournaments one after another. With a "changing of the guard" things have changed a bit, and without being able to cheer and make noise like the old days, the atmosphere is quite different.