Don’t miss the full story, whose reporting from Reeno Hashimoto and Koji Ueda at The Associated Press is the basis of this AI-assisted article. While professional sumo wrestling in Japan maintains its ...

TOKYO (AP) — For centuries, sumo's deep links with the Shinto religion barred women from entering the ring, let alone allowing them to participate. While women remain excluded from professional sumo, ...

TOKYO — As Japan’s first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi has broken new ground in a country that struggles with gender equality. But she has quickly run up against a tradition that may be ...

Sumo is more than a sport in Japan. It’s a sacred tradition, a 1,500-year-old spectacle steeped in Shinto ritual and ceremony. But at its heart lies a long-standing taboo: women are still barred from ...

Sweat darkened the white "dohyo" ring mat as Ireland's first female sumo wrestler shoved and strained, learning a freshly-discovered sport. Having tried the centuries-old Japanese discipline out of ...

The sumo ring has always been a “sacred” arena where “only men may tread, bound by centuries of ritual and pride”, said The Japan Times. But now that Japan has elected its first female prime minister, ...

“I hope for a world where there’s no distinction between men and women in sumo, where girls can train freely and continue into adulthood," said 2023 world champion Airi Hisano, 27, who trains while ...