Sumo’s Spring Tournament is on Tap!
Grand Sumo goes live this weekend with their second tournament of 2026. The haru basho (spring tournament). The fifteen day tournament will crown the latest slew of divisional champions, the most important being the makuuchi (top division). There will be hundreds of wrestlers competing over these fifteen days, each looking to advance their careers with all important kachi-koshi (winning records).
This tournament will be taking place at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Osaka, Japan from Sunday, March 8 until Sunday, March 22. Here’s everything you need to know about this exciting tournament and how you can tune in.
Preview and Rankings
The biggest story heading into the March tournament involves Aonishiki. The 21 year-old Ukrainian and former refugee will be promoted to yokozuna if he can win this tournament (which would be his third title in a row). There’s also an extremely good chance he earns that promotion with a runner-up finish this month. If this happens he will become the 76th yokozuna and the very first yokozuna born in Europe.
The other yokozuna, Hoshoryu and Onosato, will be keen to make sure he doesn’t claim his third title in a row. They were both banged up in January, but were still able to score double digit wins. Onosato seems still be a little hurt, but he and Hoshoryu should still pose very tough tests for the young Ukrainian.
See below for the complete banzuke (rankings) for the top division for this tournament.
| East | Rank | West |
| Hoshoryu 🇲🇳 | Yokozuna | Onosato 🇯🇵 |
| Aoinishiki 🇺🇦 | Ozeki | Kotozakura🇯🇵 |
| Kirishima 🇲🇳 | Sekiwake | Takayasu 🇯🇵 |
| Wakamotoharu 🇯🇵 | Komusubi | Atamifuji 🇯🇵 |
| Yoshinofuji 🇯🇵 | M1 | Wakatakakage 🇯🇵 |
| Churanoumi 🇯🇵 | M2 | Hiradoumi 🇯🇵 |
| Oho 🇯🇵 | M3 | Fujinokawa 🇯🇵 |
| Daieisho 🇯🇵 | M4 | Abi 🇯🇵 |
| Ichiyamamoto 🇯🇵 | M5 | Ura 🇯🇵 |
| Takanosho 🇯🇵 | M6 | Hakunofuji 🇯🇵 |
| Kotoshoho 🇯🇵 | M7 | Onokatsu 🇲🇳 |
| Tamawashi 🇲🇳 | M8 | Oshoma 🇲🇳 |
| Shodai 🇯🇵 | M9 | Tokihayate 🇯🇵 |
| Gonoyama 🇯🇵 | M10 | Roga 🇷🇺 |
| Shishi 🇺🇦 | M11 | Asakoryu 🇯🇵 |
| Asanoyama 🇯🇵 | M12 | Oshoumi 🇯🇵 |
| Chiyoshoma 🇲🇳 | M13 | Nishikifuji 🇯🇵 |
| Tobizaru 🇯🇵 | M14 | Kinbozan 🇰🇿 |
| Midorifuji 🇯🇵 | M15 | Mitakeumi 🇯🇵 |
| Asahakuryu 🇯🇵 | M16 | Fujiseun 🇯🇵 |
| Kotoeiho 🇯🇵 | M17 | Fujiryoga 🇯🇵 |
Broadcast Details
Grand Sumo tournaments take place over entire days in Japan. They start with the lowest division and then, by the time prime time rolls around, the top division bouts are happening. These top division matches usually start at around 3 a.m. ET.
Grand Sumo highlights (which include all the top division matches), with English commentary, are aired on television channel NHK World (which is included in many cable TV packages), NHK’s JME.tv app, NHK’s official website and NHK’s official YouTube channel. These programs are broadcast on a 24 hour delay.
JME.tv broadcasts live coverage of the tournament, as well as two hour long programs showing all the top division bouts, along with all the ceremony in between bouts. JME broadcasts those programs daily at 2 p.m ET/11 a.m. PT, 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT, 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT.
JME also broadcasts condensed highlights, in Japanese, after the third and fourth airings of the two hour broadcasts. JME.tv costs $25 a month. JME.tv can be viewed on desktop, mobile devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and most other smart TV set-ups.
You can watch sumo live through the Abema TV app. Abema costs around $8 a month and is entirely in Japanese with no English translations. Abema does not offer video on demand for their sumo broadcasts.
Matches can also be viewed on the official Grand Sumo app, which has some English translations. The Grand Sumo app features unavoidable spoilers. The free version includes ads, which are often twice as long as the actual bouts.
The Japan Sumo Association’s official YouTube channel uploads the top matches from each day, almost immediately. These are presented without commentary or replays.
More Sumo Coverage on Combat Press
Combat Press will provide more coverage of the 2026 Spring tournament. We will have results at the mid-way point and end of the tournament!
For more sumo news, and a daily results/recap newsletter (with lots of full bout videos) , subscribe to Sumo Stomp! on Substack.