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, ...

While professional sumo remains closed to women, a small but growing group of more than 600 female wrestlers is making ...

“It can spark real change — not just in sports, but across Japanese society,” Kariya says. At another training site, the Keio University Sumo Club, women and men — and boys from the Keio High School ...

Since 2016, girls from across Japan have traveled to Tottori Jōhoku High School, about 600 kilometers (370 miles) west of Tokyo, to attend weeklong training camps at the nation’s largest girls’ sumo ...

Sumo is more than a sport in Japan; it's a sacred tradition. Women are still barred from the traditional ring, the dohyō, but ...