Grand Sumo’s Latest Tournament Starts on Sunday
Grand Sumo returns this weekend for the 2026 Nagoya basho. The fifteen tournament goes down at the IG Arena in Aichi, Nagoya, Japan. This is the second year the Nagoya tournament has taken place at the newly build IG Arena (aka Aichi International Arena). Prior to that this tournament took place Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium (aka Dolphins Arena) where there was no air conditioning. This is the hottest month in Japan and Nagoya is one of the hottest places in the country. This meant the Nagoya basho was famous for brutal conditions and a slippery, sweat-coated, fighting area.
This month, though, the cooled off wrestlers will get things started on Sunday, July 11 and wrap things up on Sunday, July 26. The top division (makuuchi) and second division (juryo) wrestlers will be expected to compete on every day of the tournament. The wrestlers ranked lower than that will be expected to compete every other day.
Preview and Rankings
July will hopefully see the return of most of Grand Sumo’s elite performers. The previous tournament, in May, was marred by a series of high injury pull outs. Those included Onosato, Hoshoryu, Aonishiki, Takayasu and Kotozakura. This resulted in Kirishima being the highest rank man to finish the tournament. He looked excellent, throughout, but was pipped at the post by Wakatakakage.
Wakatakakage, sadly, is due to miss this tournament because of emergency surgery for compartment syndrome. Though, the rest of the names above seem geared up and ready to go.
For a complete preview of the Nagoya basho read my Five Things To Watch post below:
Below are the full rankings for the makuuchi.
| East | Rank | West |
| Hoshoryu 🇲🇳 | Yokozuna | Onosato 🇯🇵 |
| Kirishima 🇲🇳 | Ozeki | Kotozakura🇯🇵 |
| Atamifuji 🇯🇵 | Sekiwake | Kotoshoho 🇯🇵 |
| Wakatakakage 🇯🇵 | Sekiwake | Aonishiki 🇺🇦 |
| Yoshinofuji 🇯🇵 | Komusubi | Oho 🇯🇵 |
| Fujinokawa 🇯🇵 | M1 | Takanosho 🇯🇵 |
| Gonoyama 🇯🇵 | M2 | Churanoumi 🇯🇵 |
| Hiradoumi 🇯🇵 | M3 | Hakunofuji 🇯🇵 |
| Daieisho 🇯🇵 | M4 | Ichiyamamoto 🇯🇵 |
| Ura 🇯🇵 | M5 | Oshoma 🇲🇳 |
| Shodai 🇯🇵 | M6 | Fujiseun 🇯🇵 |
| Kotoeiho 🇯🇵 | M7 | Takayasu 🇯🇵 |
| Wakamotoharu 🇯🇵 | M8 | Roga 🇷🇺 |
| Fujiryoga 🇯🇵 | M9 | Tobizaru 🇯🇵 |
| Asanoyama 🇯🇵 | M10 | Chiyoshoma 🇲🇳 |
| Wakanosho 🇲🇳 | M11 | Mitakeumi 🇯🇵 |
| Asahakuryu 🇯🇵 | M12 | Abi 🇯🇵 |
| Nishikifuji 🇯🇵 | M13 | Takerufuji 🇯🇵 |
| Kinbozan 🇰🇿 | M14 | Shishi 🇺🇦 |
| Onokatsu 🇲🇳 | M15 | Kazuma 🇯🇵 |
| Daiseizan 🇨🇳 | M16 | Asakoryu 🇯🇵 |
Broadcast Details
Grand Sumo tournaments are day long affairs. All six divisions compete every single day. We start in the morning with matches from the jonokuchi (sixth division) and work our way up. By the time primetime hits, in Japan, the top division starts to compete. Those top division matches begin around 3 AM ET.
Grand Sumo highlights for the makuuchi, 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. They are about thirty minutes long and include all of the top division bouts.
JME.tv broadcasts live coverage of the tournament and two hour long programs showing all the top division bouts, with some ceremony and coverage 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. These broadcasts feature Japanese commentary.
JME also broadcasts condensed highlights, also 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 on the Abema TV app. Abema costs around $8 a month and is entirely in Japanese with no English translations or commentary. 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 with a single camera angle and without commentary or replays.
More Sumo Coverage on Combat Press
Combat Press will provide more coverage of the 2026 July 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.