THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
January 6, 2021 at 18:22 JST
A slimmed down November Grand Sumo Tournament held at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo allowed a maximum of 5,000 spectators a day. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
The New Year Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo will go ahead as planned from Jan. 10 even though a month-long state of emergency is scheduled to take effect from Jan. 7 to help contain surging cases of COVID-19 in the capital and neighboring prefectures.
However, the Japan Sumo Association did make some concessions to keep both spectators and sumo wrestlers safe.
Ticket sales ended at 5 p.m. on Jan. 6 and no more will be available for the 15-day tournament, even while it is in progress.
Initially, the JSA had planned to allow up to 5,000 spectators to attend for the first two days of the tournament and increase the number of tickets sold to a maximum of 5,300.
Shibatayama, the stablemaster who handles public relations for the JSA, said the association had taken steps to deal with the health crisis even before the state of emergency was being drawn up.
While not giving a specific number, he said a considerable number of tickets had been sold and that those fans would be allowed into Ryogoku Kokugikan for the January tournament.
Yokozuna Hakuho was confirmed infected with COVID-19 on Jan. 5 and he is now in hospital undergoing treatment. He is expected to sit out the entire January tournament.
Stablemaster Arashio and 11 members of his stable were confirmed infected through a group cluster around the New Year period.
Shibatayama said a variety of steps were in place to ensure that fans do not come into contact with sumo wrestlers during the January tournament.
He said wrestlers would be instructed to not visit the gift shops and concession stands in the Ryogoku Kokugikan during that period.
When the first state of emergency was declared in April 2020, the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament scheduled for May was canceled.
This time around, the JSA is reminding all wrestlers and other association members to implement all possible measures to prevent a spread of infections.
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