The Japan Sumo Association had owned the land at the base of Kuramae Bridge since before World War II, planning a grand new arena since around 1940. The war shelved everything. When peace came, the old Ryogoku Kokugikan was occupied by Allied forces enforcing the budo ban, which prohibited martial arts. Sumo wrestlers were reduced to performing in Shinto shrines and borrowed baseball stadiums. The Association needed a home, but postwar Japan had no steel to spare. The solution was resourceful and blunt: dismantle the naval hangar at Atsugi air base and haul its bones across to Kuramae. Construction began with these salvaged materials, and from 1950 to 1953, tournaments were held inside the half-finished building -- wrestlers competing amid exposed beams and unfinished walls. The arena was officially completed in September 1954, with a target capacity of 11,000 spectators.

Kuramae Kokugikan was not just a venue; it became a stage for sumo's modernization. At the opening ceremony on September 18, 1954, both yokozuna Chiyonoyama and Kagamisato performed a rare ceremonial display. In September 1952, even before the arena's official completion, the four traditional pillars surrounding the ring -- the shihon-bashira, which had framed sumo bouts for centuries -- were removed and replaced by the tsuriyane, a suspended ceiling that cleared sightlines for the television cameras that were beginning to broadcast matches to the nation. It was a quietly revolutionary moment: ancient sport adapting to modern media. A Sumo Museum was established within the building to preserve the historical heritage of the sport, housing centuries of memorabilia. From 1953 to 1971, the arena underwent steady renovations, adding electric scoreboards, air conditioning, and heating -- each upgrade layering modernity onto a structure born from recycled scrap.

Sumo did not have the building to itself. Kuramae Kokugikan became one of Tokyo's premier venues for professional wrestling, hosting sold-out cards for Tokyo Pro, the National Wrestling Alliance, and the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance. On October 12, 1966, Tokyo Pro Wrestling held its debut show at Kuramae, and that night a young Antonio Inoki scored his biggest victory to date, defeating Johnny Valentine. Inoki would become one of the most famous athletes in Japanese history, and Kuramae was where his legend took shape. The arena also hosted the first women's professional wrestling tournament in Japan. Beyond wrestling, the building served as the venue for the first All Japan Kendo Championships in 1953, the inaugural World Judo Championships in 1956, and numerous boxing events. Kuramae Kokugikan was, for three decades, where Japan's fighting traditions -- ancient and modern, choreographed and genuine -- converged.

By the early 1980s, the arena that recycled materials had built was showing its age. Originally assembled from salvaged metal and wartime surplus, the structure had endured decades of heavy use. The Japan Sumo Association debated whether to renovate or rebuild entirely. In 1982, the decision was made: a new Kokugikan would rise in Ryogoku, returning sumo to the neighborhood where it had been staged since the Edo period. Kuramae Kokugikan held its final tournament in 1984 and was demolished. The second Ryogoku Kokugikan opened in January 1985, a purpose-built modern arena with improved seating and facilities. The old Kuramae site was claimed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Bureau of Sewage -- a fate that the wrestling fans and sumo devotees who had filled those 11,000 seats might have found difficult to imagine.