6/6/2023 0 Comments Schoology ikunaThere may be quite a lot of restrictions in place, but there are actually a few perks for visitors. ▼ Ikuna was happy to see both staff and spectators fully masked up at all times. In fact, Ikuna says she felt safer here than walking out on the street, due to the fact that there are so many coronavirus countermeasures in place around the venue. The attitude of everyone around her put Ikuna at ease as she watched the rest of the bouts for the day, and she was truly grateful for everyone’s joint cooperation to make the experience as safe as possible. Everyone appeared to be consciously watching their manners, and no matter how exciting a bout was, people refrained themselves from shouting or making any noise. Ikuna was happy to forego all that during the pandemic, though, instead walking around the hall to catch a view of the ring from different seating areas.Īfter investigating the spectator seating, Ikuna took her own seat in a spacious box and was pleasantly surprised to see the people around her behaving themselves incredibly well. In fact, there’s usually so much to do at the venue that some spectators can spend a whole day there without taking a seat inside the main hall until the afternoon. ▼ Signs and announcements around the stadium highlight the importance being placed on safetyĬurrently, drinking, eating, sitting next to each other, cheering, and stopping to wait for wrestlers or coming into contact with them are all prohibited in the National Hall.įor many, taking a photo with their favourite wrestler is a highlight of the day and well worth the price of admission. Others use sumo matches as a way to entertain contacts and business clients.Īll these drawcards are off the table during the pandemic, though, as drinking, loud talking, and contact with wrestlers are now prohibited, which means a day out at the sumo has become a more staid affair. Some people attend sumo specifically to interact with the famous wrestlers, while others like the experience of drinking while watching the bouts. The reason for the low number of attendees at sumo matches isn’t just due to people wanting to avoid crowds. ▼ Signs on every second seat indicate they’re required to remain vacant, to keep spectators apart. Of course, the number of spectators choosing to stay home has increased during the pandemic, but the empty seats around her really made Ikuna realise the true extent of those numbers. ▼ Spectators can sit at empty seats near the ring before going to their allocated seat once the big matches start in the afternoon. While the reduced seating capacity initially made her think tickets would be hard to secure, it was actually the opposite, because unlike previous years, Ikuna had no problem securing a good seat with a great view. ▼ …And the usually crowded stores and hallways were eerily empty ▼ Once inside, all visitors had their temperature checked… ▼ Hand sanitisation stations with automatic sensors were in place for visitors to use before entering the building. The entrance looked very different to the one she was used to seeing pre-pandemic, with covered walkways now set up to keep crowds separated. ▼ After a short two-minute walk she found herself outside the Kokugikan (National Hall), the venue for the current 14-28 March tournament. ▼ Ikuna boarded a train at Shinjuku and alighted at Ryogoku, the closest station to the sumo stadium. So what exactly are those countermeasures, and are they enough to make spectators feel safe during the pandemic? Our Japanese-language reporter Ikuna Kamezawa was keen to find the answers to these questions, so when tickets were released for this month’s Osaka tournament, which has been moved to Tokyo once again by the Japan Sumo Association, she booked herself a seat on opening day and headed out to investigate. The events in Tokyo went ahead with spectators reduced to 2,500 people, or around a quarter of the venue’s capacity, before being gradually increased to 5,000, with countermeasures in place to safeguard visitors from coronavirus transmission. After that, fans in Aichi and Fukuoka missed out on attending their local tournaments in July and November respectively, as these were moved to Tokyo to keep wrestlers from travelling outside of the capital during the pandemic. While the Osaka tournament in March 2020 went ahead without spectators for the first time in history, the Tokyo tournament in May was called off completely due to the state of emergency. Last year was a tough one for Japanese sumo, with the coronavirus pandemic throwing a spanner in the works for the sport’s annual indoor tournaments, which are traditionally held six times every year–three times at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan and once each in Osaka, Aichi and Fukuoka prefectures. We take you through a day at the sumo, with all-new procedures, restrictions and perks for spectators.
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