Lunch or dinner at Tokyo Sumo Beya
The historic sumo house near Kiyosumi-shirakawa is the one show where the clock decides the menu. It runs at 8:30, 11:00, 15:00 and 19:00, and chanko comes only with the 11:00 and 19:00 shows. That makes 11:00 a lunch show and 19:00 a dinner show, while the 8:30 and 15:00 slots are shows without food. A guest who praised the food there wrote that there was plenty of it; another, giving three stars, said the breaded chicken came straight from the fridge while the soup was good.
Diets and allergies
If you eat vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free or halal, the choice narrows quickly. SUMOLAND in Ryogoku is the only show here whose listing offers vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free food on request. The Asakusa Sumo Club cooks a vegetarian meal when it has two days' notice, but neither it nor its ANNEX offers halal or gluten-free food. The ANNEX listing says nothing about vegetarian meals, and the Ginza show and Tokyo Sumo Beya do not mention special diets at all. For any of these, send your request through the booking platform right after booking and wait for a confirmation before you rely on it.
Drinks and seat classes
The Asakusa show includes one drink. At the ANNEX the drinks depend on the seat class: Business and First come with free-flow drinks. Both Asakusa venues seat guests at shared tables, so a couple may share with another party. SUMOLAND seats guests in boxes for up to six, which keeps a family or a small group together.
Geisha dance and mochi
Two shows add something to the meal that has nothing to do with wrestling. The Asakusa Sumo Club includes a geisha dance, and one guest mentions it at the ANNEX as well. At SUMOLAND the guests pound mochi, the sticky rice cake, after the chanko. If you only want sumo and a quick look, the shorter shows in Shinjuku and Shibuya serve water and no meal, and the full show comparison has every venue.
The stables are only one corner of Tokyo's food. For tours of the markets, izakaya streets and cooking classes, tokyo-food-tours.com sorts what is bookable in the city.
