I'm going to the March Sumo Tournament in Osaka and I'm looking for a hotel near the sumo stadium. I'll be there for 2 days and would rather not spend a lot of time getting to and from the event. Thanks.

Have you seen this map? Fortunately for you is now shown in English on the sumo site; it used to be in japanese only and we had a heck of a time finding the gym when we went to see the sumo tounament.

http://www.sumo.or.jp/eng/ticket/hon...oho/osaka.html

The perfectural gymnasium is very close to both the Namba subway station and the Nakai Namba station. If you get a hotel that is close to either of thsoe stations, you will be a few minutes by foot from the gymnasium.

Here is a thread on tripadvisor that talks about two places to stay close to the gymnasium. But since this is close to two subway station there are likely many other places you can find by searching for hotels near those two stations.

http://tinyurl.com/2xlrbb

This Toyoko Inn appears to be close to the gymnasium on their english map, and they state they are close to it.

http://www.toyoko-inn.com/e_hotel/00054/index.html

The Swissotel Nankai Osaka (formerly the Nankai South Tower hotel) is located right above the Nankai Namba station, so would be very convenient to the gym, and for eating and shopping and other transportation. It is a nicer hotel. Reviews are consistently very good on tripadvisor, and people say they have stayed there due to proximity to the sumo gymnasium.

topping for doctordec, as I see you are new to this board and I don't know if you know how to fidn your post...

Thanks emd for the info. Just what I needed.

Doc

Just wanted to report that we stayed at the Toyoko Inn in Osaka. It's about a block from the the gymnasium where the Sumo event is held very near Namba station and was reasonably priced. The Swissotel was closer but was way too expensive. Just a piece of advice if you stay there, do NOT plan on using the washer and dryer to catch up on laundry. It took me over 3 1/2 hours and 1000 yen to do one load because the dryer was so pathetic. That's what I get for doing 9 days in Japan with just carry on luggage. The Toyoko hotels seem to be everywhere in Japan so I plan to stay with them next time I go. I couldn't get over the beer vending machines in every hotel.

Thanks for reporting back. I commend you on your traveling in Japan for 9 days with only one carry-on. One pathetic dryer in Osaka shouldn't prevent you from traveling that way next time.

Toyoko is a national chain of inexpensive hotels: http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/

Did you enjoy the tournament?

The sumo tournament was great. I'm glad we went for two days because it took a while to understand what was going on. Our seats were in the regular seating section and I don't think I would have done well on the cushions. Not used to sitting on the floor.
We had four trips on the bullet train and it would have been difficult to get much luggage through the stations and on the train. I bought a railpass and it paid for itself twice. It's been years since I checked a bag.