There's no other country in the world where sumo is performed on a professional level except for the country of Japan, where it originated from, thousands of years ago.

That's why anyone who's planning on visiting Japan should at least consider having a go at this one-of-a-kind cultural experience.

But what if you don't really follow sumo?

Or know anything about it?

Or you're just not really into sports?

Look at how cool the shape of these trees are.

Isn't that great?

Will the experience still be worth it?

I'm going to give you an overview of what it was like when I went to see the grand sumo tournament in a tour group.

What to expect, what you get for the price you pay for, the viewing experience from the seats I got, and the stores and facilities inside the sumo arena.

Throughout the video, I'll be sharing things you'll want to know before going to see sumo wrestling live.

That will help your viewing experience tremendously if you ever decide to go.

Grand sumo tournament tickets actually start selling months before the tournament and same-day tickets are no longer being sold.

So unless you've planned to watch sumo wrestling months in advance, getting tickets while the tournament is ongoing can prove to be quite difficult.

That's why during my last-minute trip to Japan, I had to purchase my tickets through a tour group.

And as expected, the tickets were pricier than they would be if I had purchased them in advance through the official ticketing websites.

I ended up paying a staggering 35,000 yen, which is around $233.

I know.

But I was able to press that button to purchase it because they were tickets to the final day and they were for premium seats on the first floor of the arena.

Final day tickets to the grand sumo tournament are always hard to come by, just as it would be for the final title match in any other sport.

Besides that, seats on the first floor get usually all sold out for every day of the tournament.

So being able to get final day tickets on the first floor is really quite rare.

But of course, it is still a lot of money.

But ticket prices and tour prices aren't normally this bank-breaking.

There are guided sumo tours that go as low as $80 that give you seats on the upper floor of the arena.

Our tickets included a guide booklet that explains sumo wrestling, a brief overview of sumo history and how the tournament works.

This is very helpful for people who don't know anything about sumo wrestling.

They also gave us a banzuke, which is the official ranking chart of all the sumo wrestlers for the season.

This is a popular souvenir for sumo fans.

As well as, we also had our own tour guide who provided translations and answered our questions during our viewing.

This is great if you don't know any Japanese.

At the entrance where we handed our tickets, we were given a map of the arena and had the It also showed their current win-loss record and who they are fighting for the day.

For those new to sumo, all of the handouts could seem like information overload.

But there is plenty of time in between matches to read the sumo booklet, ask your tour guide some questions and to know which match is coming up next.

So were our seats really premium?

Yes, they were.

For our tour group, we were sequestered to a corner on the first floor that had the same point of view as television cameras.

Our area had two types of seating, Japanese-style floor cushions with a small table, which isn't normally provided with the box-type seats, or regular seats in what looks like a stadium box area that had a TV that showed a live close-up of the match and slow-motion replays.

I chose the floor cushions to get the full Japanese experience, and my vantage point from there was spectacular.

And to be honest, my camera makes it look like I was farther than I was.

My footage also makes the ring and the wrestlers smaller than they really were.

But from where I was, the ring was very visible and I could see the wrestlers do their thing without any obstructions.

The distance was close enough to see what was happening during the match clearly.

But what surprised me the most is the sound that I can hear from where we were seated.

I could still hear the slaps, the collision of the wrestlers' bodies, grunts and all in my seat with my open view of the ring.

Plus the crystal clear sound of the fights.

I was able to be completely immersed in the action.

But what made the experience really special to me was the atmosphere of the tournament.

It was just completely enthralling.

Everyone from kids to seniors, men and women, were cheering, shouting, laughing and gasping.

It felt more like a festival inside the arena than a serious sports tournament.

There were families with their kids, friends having drinks and men jesting with each other in box-type seats that created an energetic yet intimate vibe.

Lively is an understatement for the atmosphere inside the arena and is just impossible to capture on live TV.

I was also surprised to see that there were even more Japanese tour groups seeing sumo than ones with foreigners.

There I realized that watching sumo is as much of an exciting must-see event to the foreign tourists.

The people in my tour group weren't exactly sumo fans and the live sumo tour was their first real introduction to the sport.

And they were quite bewildered by the experience as the electrifying atmosphere is far from the serene temples and breathtaking gardens tourists usually go to in Japan.

Nonetheless, even if some of them haven't watched a single sumo match before, my tourmates walked away with an understanding of the immense athleticism and technical prowess it takes to become a professional sumo wrestler thanks to the great view that we had from our seats.

There are multiple souvenir shops, food and drinks booths to choose from which is consistent to the festival atmosphere of the Grand Sumo Tournament.

People usually dip in and out of their seats to go around and buy from the shops.

I bought myself two boxes of kohugikan curry as a souvenir, the pictorial banzuke that features the sumo wrestlers and their ranks in a unique Japanese art style, and some support towels I can wave around when my favorite wrestlers come up.

And even with thousands of people inside the arena, the toilets were surprisingly clean.

As you would expect, it features cool Japanese toilets that have an automatic bidet function.

So was the $233 ticket worth it in the end?

I say yes.

The atmosphere created inside the arena alone was so great and so one-of-a-kind that I felt like it was worth every dollar I paid for.

But I don't think I'll ever be buying those tour group tickets again.

I think I could still get the same experience without having to pay that much money so long as I plan ahead and buy tickets early on the official ticketing website.

However, for those who don't follow sumo wrestling but want an authentic cultural experience in a vibrant, highly energetic environment, I recommend going with a tour group that will provide the guide booklets and an English-speaking tour guide, or going with a friend who has gone to watch sumo before.

The problem with watching sumo live is the accessibility, and not having a clear idea what to do and being confused about what's happening while you're at the event.

So will the experience still be the same on cheaper seats on the upper floor?

With what I saw, the arena was designed so all seats, no matter what placement, could still provide a good viewing experience, as well as the lively atmosphere can still surely be felt anywhere you are inside.

So that's it for my experience and what it was really like watching live sumo wrestling in Tokyo, Japan.

I hope you liked the video and see you again soon.

Bye!