TOKYO — Sumo wrestling, one of Japan’s oldest and most hallowed sports, has all kinds of inviolable rituals. The wrestlers must wear their hair in carefully coifed topknots. Before every match, they ...

TOKYO — 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 ...

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, ...

Japan elected its first female prime minister last month. But, despite becoming the country’s most powerful person, there is one place Sanae Takaichi is not expected to tread — inside a sumo ring.

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, ...

Follow athletes on their journey to the ring of the Women's Sumo World Championships. Follow three female sumo wrestlers as they compete at the highest level at the Women's Sumo World Championships in ...

While women remain excluded from professional sumo, more than 600 now compete at the amateur level. The Associated Press documented some of them in training, including wrestlers preparing for the Sumo ...