Ryogokyu is Tokyo’s best district for witnessing Japan’s traditional and oldest martial art known as sumo wrestling. This is also the country’s national sport and centered profoundly on the Shinto religion. Before the 20th century, sumo matches were held outdoors at temples or shrines, until an exclusive sumo stadium came to be built at Ryogoku in 1909.

Try and catch the thrill of a live sumo match in the Kokugikan, Tokyo's National Sumo Hall if you are visiting the city during the months of January, May and September, when 15-day tournaments are held with sumo bouts scheduled throughout the day. If you are visiting in the other months, you can still enthrall yourself by witnessing the sumo action, only this time in the beya or the sumo stable, where sumo wrestlers take part in early-morning training sessions.

In fact, you can sense the flavour of sumo wafting through the entire town of Ryogoku. It’s easy to bump into sumo wrestlers while strolling through the narrow backstreets of the town or sampling chanko nabe, a wrestler’s staple stew, at one of the restaurants and stalls spread all around the town.