被稱為“土俵”的日本相撲競技舞臺，一向不準女性上臺。這項已有1400年的禁忌近日被一名抗議的女觀眾打破。據日本媒體報道，日本大相撲秋季賽事19日在東京國技館進行第11天比賽時，一名女觀眾突然闖入比賽場中，不顧女保安阻攔爬上“土俵”，隨即被臺上的裁判和在臺邊正在等候登場的相撲力士制止。

A woman invaded a sumo ring -- a sacred arena from which females are banned -- in Tokyo during a major tournament, then was pulled down by a referee and one of the sport's huge wrestlers. [chinanews.com.cn]

A woman invaded a sumo ring -- a sacred arena from which females are banned -- in Tokyo during a major tournament, Japanese media said on Thursday, then was pulled down by a referee and one of the sport's huge wrestlers.

The middle-aged woman dashed from the side of the Kokugikan sumo stadium on Wednesday and shoved away a female security guard before rolling onto the ring just as a bout was set to begin, the Yomiuri newspaper said.

The Japan Sumo Association insisted that though the woman did enter the raised platform around the batting ring, she did not set foot on the ring, or dohyo, itself.

"It's bad for the heart," said Takamisakari, a popular wrestler who helped catch the woman, told the Sports Nippon daily. "What was the person trying to do while we were wrestling seriously?"

It was not clear why she had attempted to reach the ring during one of the sport's heavily televised six big tournaments, but she was carrying a bundle of flyers saying "help, bad spirits", Nikkan Sports daily reported.

Such an intrusion would be a severe faux pas for the ancient sport, which is so serious about keeping females out that a female governor of Osaka had to delegate prize-giving duties to a male subordinate at a 2001 tournament.

Japan's giant wrestlers battle it out in a ring with a diameter of 4.6 metres (15 feet) set in the centre of a sand stage raised around 50 centimetres (19 inches) from the ground.

Tradition forbids women from entering the ring on the grounds that it is sacred and their presence, considered unclean, would pollute it.

"It's just the way it's been from the past," an official from the sumo association said.

Women were also banned in the past from climbing mountains or entering mines in Japan.

(Agencies)

Vocabulary:

sacred arena: 神圣的競技舞臺

dash：沖撞

shove away：猛力推開

bout：回合

dohyo：土俵，或稱相撲環，即日本相撲環狀競賽場地

faux pas：失禮，失言

（英語點津 Celene 編輯）