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 barred from the traditional ring, the dohyō in Japanese.That legacy is facing quiet resistance. While professional sumo — the sumo that the world is used to seeing — remains closed to women, a small but growing group of more than 600 female wrestlers (rikishi) is making strides at the amateur level in Japan. Their ambitions extend beyond the sumo world championships, an international men’s and women’s amateur competition starting this weekend in Bangkok.“I want sumo to become an Olympic sport with no gender distinction,” says 27-year-old Airi Hisano, who pursues sumo alongside her day job at Tachihi Holdings and has a reputation as the strongest female rikishi in Japan. She weighs 115 kilograms and stands 1.72 meters (about 250 pounds, 5-feet-7).She’s the sole member of the company’s women’s sumo club and head coach Daiki Toyonoshima is pleased with his lone pupil, particularly when she’s sparring with other females.“Watching them throw each other and fall face-first without using their hands was deeply impressive,” says Toyonoshima, a former pro rikishi. “Women’s sumo is powerful and matches the intensity of male bouts.”Veteran NHK broadcast commentator and club manager Fujio Kariya says women’s sumo could have an impact in a country where gender roles are rigid.“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 team — train side by side.Leading them is 22-year-old Rio Hasegawa, …
