A visitor to Japan who wanders into a sumo tournament might be forgiven for thinking they had intruded upon a religious ceremony. Tournaments begin with a line of burly men wearing little more than ...

TOKYO (AP) — Sanae Takaichi made history by becoming Japan's first female prime minister in October. She must now decide whether she'll break another barrier: the taboo barring women from the sumo ...

TOKYO — Japan has a new sumo grand champion — or yokozuna — and the big news is he's Japanese. Onosato, the new grand champion, weighs 191 kilograms (421 pounds) and he is the first Japanese ...

One notable rebel was Takanohana, a popular retired yokozuna who won 22 championships. His dizzying ascent to the pinnacle of the sport along with his brother Wakanohana created the sumo boom in the ...

TOKYO (Reuters) – Red-faced, the two sumo wrestlers crashed together, grappling their way around the raised earthen ring until one pushed the other over the side. A typical scene in Japan’s ...

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 ...

After more than three decades away, the ancient sport of sumo made a triumphant return to London’s Royal Albert Hall, filling the sold-out venue with the sound of stomps, shouts and centuries of ...

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.

Amid sumo’s growing popularity at home and abroad, rising young wrestler Aonishiki Arata hopes his success can help thrust Japan’s ancient sport further into the global spotlight. The 21-year-old ...

TOKYO — Two giants stare each other down before colliding with a dull thud. After years on the sidelines, sumo is back centre stage as part of Japan’s soft power arsenal overseas. Behind the scenes at ...

There's nothing like being there in person. The Japanese sport of sumo has been around for more than 1,000 years. It was originally performed to entertain Shinto deities and then became a court ...