キョウチカKYOCHIKA TOKYO

Ryogoku (Kokugikan, Sumo Museum and Sumida Hokusai Museum) guide: history, hidden spots and events nearby

Ryogoku packs Tokyo's sumo stadium, the Ryogoku Kokugikan, a free Sumo Museum, and the Sumida Hokusai Museum, built in the neighborhood where Katsushika Hokusai was born, into about ten minutes' walk from the station. Counting from the 76 years of tournaments held in the grounds of Ekoin temple in the Edo period, Ryogoku has been sumo town for nearly two centuries.

Kyochika's tips

Events near Ryogoku (Kokugikan, Sumo Museum and Sumida Hokusai Museum) now and coming up

Within 1.5 km, nearest first. Checked against official pages.

Visiting info

Sumo Museum (Kokugikan 1F)10:00–16:30 (last entry 16:00). Closed Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays (with some exceptions) and over New Year. Free. During the Tokyo tournaments it opens daily 12:30–16:00 and you need a sumo ticket (no access to the arena)
Tokyo sumo tournamentsThree a year at the Kokugikan, in January, May and September. Capacity 11,098
Sumida Hokusai Museum9:30–17:30 (last entry 17:00). Closed Mondays (the next weekday if Monday is a holiday) and December 29 – January 3
Hokusai Museum admissionThe permanent "Learn about Hokusai" room: adults ¥400. Special exhibitions vary (the 10th-anniversary show "Best of the Sumida Hokusai Museum," September 15 – November 23, 2026: adults ¥1,500, 65 and over ¥1,000, high school and university students ¥1,000, junior high ¥500, elementary age and under free)
Kyu-Yasuda Garden9:00–18:00 (until 19:30 April–September; only part of the garden after 16:30). Closed December 29 – January 1
AddressKokugikan and Sumo Museum: 1-3-28 Yokoami, Sumida-ku, Tokyo. Sumida Hokusai Museum: 2-7-2 Kamezawa, Sumida-ku, Tokyo
Getting thereSumo Museum: 2 min on foot from the West Exit of JR Ryogoku Station (Sobu Line), 9 min from Exit A3 of Ryogoku Station on the Oedo Line. Hokusai Museum: 5 min from Oedo Line Exit A3, 9 min from the JR East Exit. No parking at the Kokugikan

Checked on 2026-10-27 against the official pages. Hours and fees can change; please check before you go.

Sources: Japan Sumo Association: About the Sumo Museum (Japanese) / Japan Sumo Association: Kokugikan overview (Japanese) / Sumida Hokusai Museum: Plan your visit (Japanese) / Kyodo News PR Wire: Best of the Sumida Hokusai Museum (Japanese) / Sumida City: Kyu-Yasuda Garden (Japanese)

How long has Ryogoku been sumo town?

After the Great Meireki Fire of 1657, the 4th shogun Ietsuna founded Ekoin temple to bury its more than 100,000 victims. Two years later, in 1659, a bridge was built across the Sumida River. Because it joined two provinces, Musashi and Shimosa, it was named Ryogoku Bridge, "the bridge of two provinces." The open firebreak squares at its ends became Edo's busiest entertainment district.

Charity sumo in Edo began when tournaments were permitted at Fukagawa Hachimangu shrine in 1684. From the Kansei era (1789–1801) they were held more and more often at Ekoin, which became the fixed venue in 1833. The era of "Ekoin sumo" lasted 76 years, until the first permanent sumo hall, the Kokugikan, opened in a corner of the temple grounds in 1909.

The first Kokugikan, designed by Tatsuno Kingo and Kasai Manji, was nicknamed the "great iron umbrella." After the January 1944 tournament it was taken over by the army, and after the war it was requisitioned by GHQ. Sumo moved across the river to Kuramae in 1950 (the Kuramae Kokugikan was completed in 1954) and came back to Ryogoku in 1985, after 39 years. That is today's Kokugikan, and the Sumo Museum moved with it from Kuramae.

Sources: GO TOKYO: Ekoin (Japanese) / National Diet Library: Ryogoku Bridge (Japanese) / National Diet Library: Sumo in Edo woodblock prints (Japanese) / Sumida City: Ryogoku walking newsletter No. 5 (Japanese) / Japan Sumo Association: About the Sumo Museum (Japanese)

How did the Kokugikan get its name?

For the first permanent sumo hall, opened in 1909, the sumo-loving statesman Itagaki Taisuke proposed the name "Shobukan." It was turned down in favor of "Kokugikan," hall of the national sport.

No law makes sumo Japan's national sport. A Gendai Business article puts it the other way round: professional sumo calls itself the national sport because it is held at the Kokugikan. The reference work imidas likewise explains that the idea of "sumo as the national sport" spread through newspapers and radio after the hall was given that name. The name came first; the meaning followed.

Sources: Gendai Business (Norihiro Nukii): The sumo ticket teahouses (Japanese) / imidas: The 'national sport' (Japanese)

Before the Kokugikan, rain stopped play

Until the permanent hall was built, professional sumo had always been held outdoors, and rain meant postponement.

The four tokudawara, the straw bales set slightly outward at four points of the round ring, were originally there to drain rainwater. Even indoors, the ring still carries that trace.

Sources: Gendai Business (Norihiro Nukii): The sumo ticket teahouses (Japanese)

The sumo teahouses around the stadium

Twenty sumo teahouses line the outside of the Kokugikan. Their official name is "sumo information offices," and they began by holding seats for regular patrons.

When the stadium was at Kuramae, each of the twenty grilled its own yakitori over charcoal with its own seasoning. Today a small box from the basement kitchen, three meat skewers and two meatball skewers, costs ¥750.

Sources: Gendai Business (Norihiro Nukii): The sumo ticket teahouses (Japanese) / Gendai Business (Norihiro Nukii): The yakitori factory under the Kokugikan (Japanese)

Hokusai moved house 93 times

Katsushika Hokusai was born in 1760 around Honjo Warigesui (today's Hokusai-dori street) and is said to have moved 93 times before his death in 1849, mostly within today's Sumida Ward.

A Sumida City newsletter says Hokusai's mother descended from Kobayashi Heihachiro, a samurai who served Kira. Hokusai's Chushingura prints include a two-sword warrior thought to be based on him. The raided mansion and Hokusai's birthplace are both in Ryogoku.

Sources: Internet Museum: Sumida Hokusai Museum opens (Japanese) / Sumida City: Ryogoku walking newsletter No. 7 (Japanese)

A scroll lost for a hundred years

Hokusai's hand-painted scroll "Both Banks of the Sumida River" was exhibited in Ueno in 1892, was in Paris with the art dealer Hayashi Tadamasa until 1902, and then disappeared.

It resurfaced more than a hundred years later and was acquired by Sumida City in 2015. It is one of the museum's treasures, and in the 10th-anniversary exhibition (September 15 – November 23, 2026) it is on show throughout, with the section on view changed partway.

Sources: Serai.jp: Sumida Hokusai Museum (Japanese) / Kyodo News PR Wire: The Hokusai exhibition (Japanese) / Kyodo News PR Wire: Best of the Sumida Hokusai Museum (Japanese)

The museum stands on a daimyo's estate

The Sumida Hokusai Museum opened on November 22, 2016. Its silver building was designed by Kazuyo Sejima.

According to Serai.jp, the site was once the residence of the Tsugaru family of the Hirosaki domain, and Hokusai painted a screen of horses for that lord. The collection of about 1,800 items is built around the collections of Peter Morse and Narasaki Muneshige.

Sources: Internet Museum: Sumida Hokusai Museum opens (Japanese) / Serai.jp: Sumida Hokusai Museum (Japanese)

Getting there by taxi and bus

🚕 Taxi

🚌 Bus

Other ways to get around

On tournament days buses and roads get crowded. The train is the default (JR Ryogoku is a 2-minute walk, Toei Oedo Line a 5-minute walk); use a taxi for rain or heavy luggage. RIDE. The rear-left door opens automatically, so do not pull it yourself. You can also book a taxi by app: GO works in English with foreign phone numbers and cards, Uber books licensed taxis in Tokyo, and since early 2026 visitors can call S.RIDE taxis through DiDi in the 23 wards and nearby.

Sources: eplus: Ryogoku Kokugikan venue info (Japanese) / BTIMES: Access to the Kokugikan (Japanese) / Edo-Tokyo Museum: Access / Lonely Planet: guide to taking a taxi in Japan / Tabimania Japan: How to Use Taxis in Japan (2026 Guide) / Japan Taxi Apps for Tourists (Oct 12, 2026)

Our suggested route

  1. JR Ryogoku Station, West Exit Look up at the 1929 station building before you set off.
  2. Kokugikan and Sumo Museum 2 min from the station. The museum is a single 150 m² room on the ground floor of the stadium, with a themed exhibition changed three times a year. Allow 20–30 minutes.
  3. Kyu-Yasuda Garden Just north of the Kokugikan. About 15 minutes around a garden modeled on an Edo-period tidal pond.
  4. Ekoin Head back to the south side of the station; the temple is 3 min from the West Exit. Pay respects at the Rikizuka. About 10 minutes.
  5. Kira residence site (Honjo Matsuzaka-cho Park) Southeast of Ekoin. See the head-washing well and the seated statue of Kira.
  6. Along Hokusai-dori to the Sumida Hokusai Museum Walk the street near Hokusai's birthplace to the museum. About an hour for the exhibition and the "Learn about Hokusai" room.

We found no source giving visit times. The walking and viewing times are our estimate: about 2.5 hours for the full loop. The Sumo Museum is closed on weekends and holidays (and needs a sumo ticket during Tokyo tournaments), so a weekday works best.

Sources: Japan Sumo Association: About the Sumo Museum (Japanese) / GO TOKYO: Ekoin (Japanese) / Sumida City: Kyu-Yasuda Garden (Japanese) / Sumida City: Ryogoku walking newsletter No. 7 (Japanese) / Kyodo News PR Wire: Best of the Sumida Hokusai Museum (Japanese)

Through the seasons

January, May, SeptemberTokyo sumo tournaments. The Sumo Museum opens daily during them (12:30–16:00, sumo ticket required)
November 22The Hokusai Museum's anniversary. 2026 is its 10th year, with the special exhibition "Best of the Sumida Hokusai Museum" running to November 23
Late November – December"SUMIDA Night Garden of Light" at Kyu-Yasuda Garden (November 21 – December 28 in 2025) and the Kokugikan-dori illumination (November 29 – February 7 in the 2025 season). 2026 dates will be added once announced
December 13–14Ryogoku Kira Festival and Genroku Market (9:00–17:00 at Honjo Matsuzaka-cho Park in 2025). The 14th, anniversary of the raid, brings the Gishi festival
December – MayLighting of the 1929 Ryogoku Station building (December 1 – May 31, 17:00–23:00 in the 2025 season)

Sources: Japan Sumo Association: Sumo Museum schedule (Japanese) / Japan Sumo Association: Kokugikan overview (Japanese) / Kyodo News PR Wire: Best of the Sumida Hokusai Museum (Japanese) / Sumida City: Ryogoku walking newsletter No. 7 (Japanese)

Sumo Museum, Hokusai Museum or Edo-Tokyo Museum?

The Sumo Museum has a single 150 m² room with no permanent display, showing a free themed exhibition that changes three times a year. The Sumida Hokusai Museum holds about 1,800 works and charges for its exhibitions. The Edo-Tokyo Museum near the Kokugikan reopened on March 31, 2026 after renovation, with more large-scale models.

Our take: with 30 minutes, the Sumo Museum; to look closely at Hokusai one print at a time, the Hokusai Museum; to understand everyday life in old Edo, the Edo-Tokyo Museum. Being able to do all three on a rainy day is one of Ryogoku's strengths, in our view.

Sources: Japan Sumo Association: About the Sumo Museum (Japanese) / Serai.jp: Sumida Hokusai Museum (Japanese) / Tokyo Metropolitan Government: Edo-Tokyo Museum reopening (Japanese)

Nearby: combine with

Sources: Tokyo Metropolitan Government: Edo-Tokyo Museum reopening (Japanese) / Japan Guide: Ryogoku / Sumida City: Kyu-Yasuda Garden (Japanese) / GO TOKYO: Ekoin (Japanese) / Sumida City: Ryogoku walking newsletter No. 7 (Japanese)

Little-known highlights

The Rikizuka at Ekoin
A monument raised in 1936 to honor deceased sumo elders. New recruits still come here to pray for strength.
Where the first ring stood
The site of the first Kokugikan has been occupied since 1992 by the Ryogoku City Core complex. Tiles in its courtyard mark the position of the old ring.
The yakitori factory under the stadium
A kitchen under the Kokugikan grills an average of 50,000 skewers per tournament, starting at 5 a.m. Chicken is lucky in sumo: a two-legged bird never puts its hands on the ground, so it never loses.
Ryogoku Station's 1929 building
The station building from 1929 still stands, and in some years it is lit up from winter to spring (in the 2025 season, December 1 – May 31, 17:00–23:00).
Hokusai's lost masterpiece, revived
The museum's "Susanoo Vanquishing the Plague Deities" is a reconstruction, from black-and-white photographs, of a late Hokusai masterpiece destroyed in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake.
The head-washing well at the Kira residence site
Honjo Matsuzaka-cho Park marks the mansion of Kira Kozukenosuke, raided by the 47 Ako ronin. The estate covered about 8,500 m²; the park is about 1/86 of that. In 1934 local residents bought the land around the well where Kira's head is said to have been washed and donated it to Tokyo City.

Sources: Sumida City: Ryogoku walking newsletter No. 5 (Japanese) / Gendai Business (Norihiro Nukii): The yakitori factory under the Kokugikan (Japanese) / Sumida City: Ryogoku walking newsletter No. 7 (Japanese) / Internet Museum: Sumida Hokusai Museum opens (Japanese)

FAQ

What are the opening hours of Ryogoku (Kokugikan, Sumo Museum and Sumida Hokusai Museum)?

10:00–16:30 (last entry 16:00). Closed Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays (with some exceptions) and over New Year. Free. During the Tokyo tournaments it opens daily 12:30–16:00 and you need a sumo ticket (no access to the arena)

How do I get to Ryogoku (Kokugikan, Sumo Museum and Sumida Hokusai Museum)?

Sumo Museum: 2 min on foot from the West Exit of JR Ryogoku Station (Sobu Line), 9 min from Exit A3 of Ryogoku Station on the Oedo Line. Hokusai Museum: 5 min from Oedo Line Exit A3, 9 min from the JR East Exit. No parking at the Kokugikan

How long has Ryogoku been sumo town?

After the Great Meireki Fire of 1657, the 4th shogun Ietsuna founded Ekoin temple to bury its more than 100,000 victims. Two years later, in 1659, a bridge was built across the Sumida River. Because it joined two provinces, Musashi and Shimosa, it was named Ryogoku Bridge, "the bridge of two provinces." The open firebreak squares at its ends became Edo's busiest entertainment district.

What are some little-known spots in Ryogoku (Kokugikan, Sumo Museum and Sumida Hokusai Museum)?

The Rikizuka at Ekoin, Where the first ring stood, The yakitori factory under the stadium, Ryogoku Station's 1929 building, Hokusai's lost masterpiece, revived, The head-washing well at the Kira residence site.

More Tokyo sights & gardens → · This guide in Japanese

Every Thursday we post picks for the Tokyo weekend on Instagram at @kyochika.tokyo. Add this site to your home screen to open it like an app.

We list events we could confirm on the official page or official Instagram of the venue or organiser. Details can change, tickets sell out and venues close, so check the official page before you go. Distances are straight-line and travel times are rough estimates. Photos show the venue or its surroundings, not the event itself. Titles and descriptions are our own translations from Japanese. This site contains affiliate links (ads).