Sukeban, a new women’s wrestling league featuring Japanese performers, is the first of its kind in the U.S. It was inspired by the female gangs of the 1960s and 1970s that helped to bring feminism to the fore in Japan. Fashion plays a key role in the league, and organizers hope the flashy costumes will help the sport to appeal to an audience unfamiliar with it.
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| A Sukeban performance in Miami earlier this month. Martina Tuaty for The New York Times |
Facing security threats from China and North Korea, Japan has committed to raising military spending by about 60 percent over the next five years, which would give it the third-largest defense budget in the world. But its shrinking, aging population makes it hard to recruit soldiers.
The number of active personnel in the country’s armed forces is nearly 10 percent lower than it was in 1990. To expand the overall ranks, the chairman of Japan’s joint staff said the Self-Defense Forces should increase the proportion of women to 12 percent, from less than 8 percent, by 2030.
