Ryogoku: the sumo town
The wrestlers' district by the river — the arena, the hotpot, an Edo garden, and the Sumida. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Ryogoku Kokugikan
Start at the national sumo arena, the green-roofed hall where the Tokyo tournaments are held. There's no bout on most days — but the building, the banners, and the giant champions' portraits outside set the tone for everything that follows.

2. The stable district
The blocks around the arena are full of *heya* — the stables where wrestlers live and train. You won't go in, but early mornings you can sometimes hear the practice through an open shutter. Walk the side streets and read the nameplates.

3. The chanko-nabe restaurants
*Ryogoku* is where you eat *chanko-nabe* (the sumo hotpot), often in restaurants run by retired wrestlers. Lunch is the affordable way in — a single pot is built for a wrestler's appetite, so come hungry or come sharing.

4. Yokoami-cho Park
A quiet park north of the arena, and a heavy one: it holds the memorial to the 1923 earthquake firestorm and the 1945 air raids, where tens of thousands died on this ground. Walk it with that in mind; the hall and gardens are a place of mourning, not a photo stop.

5. Kyu-Yasuda Garden
A small Edo *teien* (garden) built around a tidal pond, once a feudal lord's, now free and almost always empty. Twenty minutes round the water is the calmest the walk gets.

6. Sumida riverside walk
End on the *Sumida* embankment, the *Ryogoku-bashi* and the bridges strung north and south, pleasure boats below. Follow the river down towards Morishita for the metro.

Ryogoku: the sumo town