Street Fighter is back in the spotlight in Japan. With the latest entry in the franchise, SF6, Capcom has rekindled the passion of an entire country, propelling the title to a level of popularity only seen in the 90s.
Amid this resurgence, the company decided to celebrate the game's most important event of the year, Capcom Cup 11, at a historic venue, perfectly encapsulating what Street Fighter 6 has been able to accomplish: the Ryōgoku Kokugikan Arena.
The Ryōgoku Kokugikan is a storied arena that's the centerpiece of what's popularly called Japan's Sumo Town. Located in the Sumida area of Tokyo, the Ryōgoku district lives and breaths the sport. The neighborhood is widely popular among enthusiasts as it houses many sumo stables, essentially a unique training ground for all aspiring sumo competitors. You'll often find plenty of Chanko restaurants as well. Chanko is a dish aspiring sumo competitors eat to gain weight —Street Fighter's own E. Honda opened his Chanko joint during the events of Street Fighter 6.
Not only sumo fans visit the area, as the Ryōgoku Kokugikan is also a major venue for professional wrestling. The New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion, one of the most popular and recognized in the world, regularly holds its G1 Climax event at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan.
The G1 Climax is a grueling, hard-fought, intense round-robin tournament that's given fans some of the most iconic bouts in recent years. The likes of Tetsuya Naito, Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada, Kenny Omega, or Yuji Nagata, just to name a few, have been crowned inside the legendary Sumo Hall. If you're on a wrestling pilgrimage around Tokyo, hitting the Ryōgoku Kokugikan, just like the Tokyo Dome or Korakuen Hall, is a must.
The arena also has a history with Street Fighter prior to this year's Capcom Cup. Back in the 90s, when fighting games dominated the arcade scene across the world, Capcom organized a massive Street Fighter II Turbo event at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan.
Reportedly, the event had over 7000 competitors ready to see who would come out on top. For context, Street Fighter 6's debut at Evo 2023 had a total of 7083 competitors, breaking Evo attendance records. Nakano Sagat would take home the gold. The veteran also won SFII Turbo events at Evo 2019 and 2020.
It's no secret that Street Fighter 6 has put fighting games back into the mainstream eye of Japanese players. It gives fighting game fans the hope that the genre can stop being a niche one relegated to obscurity, failing to recapture the magic and attention they once had as arcades bursted with excitement each time a new one came around.
Events are constantly selling out, with the ever-increasingly popular V-Tuber and streaming communities adopting Street Fighter 6 as one of their go-to titles for content creation. In fact, in a week's time a showmatch between Japanese and North American content creators will take place: the Reject Fight Night x Sajam Slam International Championship
As a fighting game commentator and fellow pro-wrestling enthusiast, Luis "Rynge" Avila, who is currently working as a caster at the event, shared with me, Street Fighter is often regarded almost like a sport. You’ll likely find that you can strike up a conversation with a complete stranger, and they’ll know who's who within the competitive scene.
"The place that SF is in, especially in Japan, is just incredible. We were at a Pokémon center in Tokyo and a lot of us got recognized by one of the Japanese employees. They talked about the Capcom Cup and their favorite player being Shuto. The return to such prominence and to be able to go back to Ryōgoku is a beautiful story. For me especially seeing so many incredible wrestling events from the venue and now to be here myself for SF6 - it's a dream I never imagined and somehow I'm getting to live it."
As if it were destined, Rynge would get to cast the only set where E. Honda made an appearance this Capcom Cup. At least so far.
The Top 16 of Capcom Cup 11 is set to kick off this March 7, with the Street Fighter League finals happening the next day. If there was ever a time to get invested in playing fighting games, now's better than ever.