Watch Sumo on 28 October in Kimonos

 To add gorgeousness to the regional tour of sumo in Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture, for the first time in 46 years, a private company in Midori City organised an event to encourage visitors to watch the tournament in kimonos.
The event wants to fill the venue with spectator costumes and promotes the textile town to the rest of the country.
Funds are also being raised through crowd-funding to invite junior and senior high school students to experience kimono and sumo for free on the day of the tour on 28 October.

The event is titled "Kimono de Sumo", and people are invited to watch the matches in their own or rented kimonos. The event is organised by "ELEMENTS", which operates the kimono rental service "Kimondo".

Financial support is being received via the crowdfunding website Ready For, which as of 28 September had reached its target of 1.5 million yen, but has decided to increase the number of invitees from the original first 50, and is accepting donations until 27 October.
The minimum donation is 3,000 yen. As a gift in return, the organisation has prepared works by embroidery artist and contemporary master craftswoman Chieko Araki and an original T-shirt in collaboration with the Kiryu Tournament.

ELEMENTS has worked with the Japan Sumo Association on events such as "Sumo Kimono Dressing Day", and this project has been officially endorsed by the Kiryu Tournament Executive Committee, which organises the regional tournament.

Rika Kumakiri, the president says: "This is a unique Kiryu event that combines kimono, which is Kiryu's culture, and sumo, which is Japanese culture. We want to provide opportunities for people to wear kimonos and to promote textile culture throughout the country."

Visitors in kimonos have their group photo taken by a professional photographer in front of the ring after the end of a sumo match.

For those who bring their won kimono, a spectator ticket with dressing and hairdressing free of charge costs 8,000 yen.
For those who rent a kimono, a pure silk kimono(dressing and hair-set free of charge) costs 27,980 yen, a polyester kimono costs 12,980 yen, etc.

For information on planning, applications for junior and senior high school students to particapate, kimono rental, etc., contact the company (+81-90-6253-1635)