"Sumo teaches discipline and history and is good for the soul, " says school principal Eishin Kosaka, harkening to the sport's past as an athletic embodiment of Japan's Shinto religion.

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Set in the dense forests of the Kii Mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean, three sacred sites - Yoshino and Omine, Kumano Sanzan, Koyasan - linked by pilgrimage routes to the ancient capital cities of Nara and Kyoto, reflect the fusion of Shinto, rooted in the ancient tradition of nature worship in Japan, and Buddhism, which was introduced from China and the Korean Peninsula.

UNESCO: Culture