There is one way to do it. If you go at the start of the tournament, most of the front seats are empty and you can watch it from as close as you want. You can also take as many photos as you want. I won't get too close to the stage, though, since I don't want to get crushed :-p.

The catch is that the place gets full when the big names start playing, at around 4:00 pm. At the time, you will have to go back to the seat allocated for you. Well, you can't have everything.

When you are done watching and come out, there is a box in which you can drop your ticket for a lucky draw. If you win, you get two free tickets to watch a future tournament. I went to see my first tournament on a ticket won by a friend.

Thanks for sharing! I haven't been to a tournament yet, only to a training session. Seeing a sumo tournament is definitely on my list of things to do in Tokyo!

Join a good volunteer group. They regularly arrange sumo tours, and are able to get some tickets at lore rates or for free.