TL;DR Aonishiki is regarded as one of the leading favorites to win the tournament

A yokozuna can't be demoted. Every other rank in professional sumo rises and falls with results. The top rank has only one way to end, and that’s retirement.

In the final bout of Day 13 at the Natsu Basho earlier this month, the 39th Kimura Shōnosuke (sumo’s chief referee) pointed his gunbai (war-fan) to Kotoeiho. A mono-ii (post-match review by ringsid…

Japan almost never sends sumo abroad. That it chose London after the UK RAA, and Paris during France RAA negotiations, is hard to read as coincidence. The timing is heavily suggestive of dohyō dipl…

I came to Day 1 footage from the Ryogoku Kokugikan already knowing Hoshoryu was injured. I’ve been sidelined with a cold for much of the week, but that much had reached me before I sat down to watc…

The first time I watched Chiyonofuji walk to the dohyō as Yokozuna, I saw Akashi Shiganosuke a half-step behind him, and every yokozuna between them. The same movements, the same stance, salt throw…

The jungyo, sumo’s travelling road show, spans 29 days across 27 locations, starting with ceremonial sumo at Ise Grand Shrine and ending in Saitama the week before the basho opens. Wrestlers …

Prime Minister Takaichi pledged to zero out the 8% food levy for two years. The LDP's February landslide (316 seats) gave her the mandate.

President Donald Trump’s call for Japan and other U.S.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1797-1828) Klaviertrio in Es-Dur op. 1 Nr. 1Busch Trio Mathieu van Bellen , Violine Ori Epstein, Cello Omri Epstein, Klavier GUSTAV MAH...