Ryōgoku Kokugikan, also known as Ryōgoku Sumo Hall, is an indoor sporting arena located in the Yokoami neighborhood of Sumida, one of the 23 wards of Tokyo in Japan, next to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. It is the third building built in Tokyo associated with the name kokugikan. The current building was opened in 1985 and has a capacity of 11,098 people. It is mainly used for sumo wrestlingtournaments and hosts the Hatsuhonbasho in January, the Natsuhonbasho in May, and the Akihonbasho in September. It also houses a museum about sumo. The venue is also used for other indoor events, such as boxing, pro wrestling, and music concerts. In past years, it has hosted the finals of New Japan Pro Wrestling's annual G1 Climax tournament as well as the Sakura Genesis and King of Pro-Wrestling events and the WWE's The Beast in the East event in 2015. In 2017 it hosted Ferrari's 70th anniversary celebrations.
History
The growing popularity of Sumo during the Meiji period led to the building of the original Kokugikan in Ryōgoku in 1909. The Japanese army appropriated the facility in World War II, and some tournaments were held outdoors at a baseball stadium. During the occupation of Japan, SCAP saw sumo as less threatening than other martial arts, and allowed a tournament there in November 1945. The occupation forces subsequently took over the area, however, and turned it partially into a skating rink. One more tournament was held in November 1946, but tournaments were thereafter held on the grounds of the Meiji Shrine until 1954. Tournaments were subsequently held in the Kuramae Kokugikan, which opened in 1954, until it was replaced by the current Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Yokoami in 1985. It will host the boxing competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
In other media
In the anime seriesHajime no Ippo, some of the characters participate in boxing matches in the Ryōgoku Kokugikan. In the manga and anime series Aah! Harimanada, the Ryōgoku Kokugikan is featured prominently and all the sumo tournaments are held there. In the manga seriesHinomaru Zumō, some of the tournaments are held at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan. In the manga series Prison School, some of the characters attend a student sumo tournament in the Ryōgoku Kokugikan.
