The Grand
Sumo Tournaments are held every two months, usually commencing the second or third Sunday in the month. The Hatsu Basho is in January, Haru Basho in March, Natsu Basho is in May, Nagoya Basho in July, Aki Basho in September and
Kyushu Basho in November. Hatsu, Natsu and Aki are held in Tokyo. The others are obvious except the Haru event which is in Osaka - the one tournament at which the local governor's trophy can't be presented personally by the governor herself, Fusae Ota, since she's a woman - and women may not enter the ﾂ'sacred' sumo ring.
True, ringside prices are pretty steep - about 15000 to be on a cushion right next to the dohyo - certainly within crushing distance. I sometimes see gaijin in those seats - but never big guys like myself. The seats in the stands are not too far away and it's a great place to really appreciate the entire spectacle.
I used to go along for an entire day - starting at 9.30 in the morning. Once you're in the gymnasium tickets aren't checked. You can spend a good five hours sitting right next to the ring watching the low ranked wrestlers fighting. When the actually ticket holders turn up you just stand up, bow politely and leave, being carefully not to have 'soiled' the area too much. Then you move to your assigned, cheap-seats for the last three hours of action. It's a fun day out - the arena is always air-conditioned and if you take a break from the action you can walk around, stand right next to the wrestlers in the hanamichi – the entrance to the main arena, or stand outside and take photos of the top ranked guys as they arrive in their people-carrier limousines (sumo wrestlers are actually banned from driving).