Grand Sumo January Tournament 2028 (Hatsu Basho) - Ticket Oosumo advance lottery

Key dates

1. ~Wed, 24 Nov 2027Ballot opensfree Ticket Oosumo account needed; window projected from the confirmed general sale, not yet publishedNext
2. ~Sun, 28 Nov 2027Ballot closes
3. ~Tue, 30 Nov 2027Resultsrecent cycles publish from about 18:00 JST via MyPage and email
4. Sat, 4 Dec 2027General sale opensconfirmed on the JSA English year schedule; a Saturday, first come first served. The schedule gives the date only; recent cycles opened at 10:00 JST
5. Fri, 24 Dec 2027Banzuke (rankings) announcedconfirmed on the JSA English year schedule; after the general sale opens, so tickets are bought before the card is known
6. 9 to 23 Jan 2028Tournament runsRyogoku Kokugikan

~ estimated from the last cycle, updated when the organizer confirms

Where it stands

As of 24 Aug 2026

As of 24 Aug 2026 the tournament is fixed and organizer-confirmed: 9 Jan 2028 to 23 Jan 2028 at Ryogoku Kokugikan, general sale from 4 Dec 2027, banzuke on 24 Dec 2027.

All four come from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai's own English Grand Tournament Schedule, which publishes three years ahead. Still unpublished: the free Ticket Oosumo advance lottery.

This record projects it at 25 Nov 2027 to 28 Nov 2027 with results about 30 Nov 2027, so treat those three dates as estimates. The projection is no longer a guess from the sale date alone: it now follows the free round's actual published shape in the 2026 cycle.

The Kokugikan basho of the 2026 cycle (January, May and September) all ran the free round from 9 days before the Saturday general sale to 6 days before, with results 4 days before, so this record uses that shape. sumo.pia.jp/sumo01.jsp publishes the real ladder once the paid Fan Club rounds are scheduled, which in the 2026 cycle was 3 to 5 weeks before the general sale, so check it from about 20 Oct 2027. The paid Fan Club rounds run shortly before the free draw and are not scheduled yet either.

How to enter

Register free at sumo.pia.jp; apply online during the window; random draw; results ~18:00 JST via MyPage/email; automatic card charge between close and results.

Your odds

No official odds published; fully random draw; weekend/final-weekend days heavily oversubscribed.

Good to know

• The tournament itself is already official. The Japan Sumo Association publishes its English Grand Tournament Schedule three years ahead, so 9 Jan 2028 to 23 Jan 2028 at Ryogoku Kokugikan, the general sale on 4 Dec 2027 and the banzuke on 24 Dec 2027 are organizer-published dates, not projections. The advance-lottery window is the only estimate on this page.
• The free Ticket Oosumo draw is an earlier rung than the general sale, not an alternative to it. Entering costs nothing and the draw is random, so the 4 Dec 2027 general sale is the fallback if the draw does not come through, and the lottery window is the part still to be announced.
• Tickets go on sale before anyone knows the card. The banzuke that decides who fights is published on 24 Dec 2027, which is 20 days after the general sale opens on 4 Dec 2027, so you pick your day before the matchups exist.

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