Women's sumo explained

is a form of sumo played by women.

Professional sumo traditionally forbids women from competition and ceremonies. Women are not allowed to enter or touch the sumo wrestling ring (dohyō).[1] Despite this, women sumo wrestlers have existed through history and exist in the present day on an amateur level.

History

The first recorded instance of women performing sumo, according to the Nihon Shoki, is when Emperor Yuryaku (418–479) summoned two courtesans and ordered them to wear loincloths and to sumo wrestle.

Women's sumo would not become common until the 18th century in the middle of Edo (1603–1868), when a form of onna sumo was performed in some areas of Japan. Various types of women's sumo existed, including touring professionals. These continued to exist after the Meiji Restoration,[2] until women's sumo was cracked down upon by the Tokugawa shogunate and Meiji government, as they deemed the organizers of it to be corrupting public morals with these spectacles.[3]

Women's sumo continued to exist despite a government ban in 1926.[2] The practice would only die after the end of World War II, with the last group dissolving in 1963.[4]

Modern times

Female sumo is not considered to be authentic by most Japanese and is now prohibited from taking place in professional settings, but exists on an amateur level.[5] [6] [7]

The International Sumo Federation and its events (such as the Sumo World Championships and European Sumo Championships) allow female competitors. Women's Sumo is an event at the World Games and was also featured at the 2013 World Combat Games.[8]

The first national championship for amateur women's sumo was held in 1997. The rules are identical to men's amateur sumo, with the exception that the wrestlers wear leotards under a mawashi, and the matches last a maximum of three minutes instead of five minutes like the ones in men's amateur sumo.[9]

Notable female sumo wrestlers

In popular media

See also

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. News: Yoshida . Reiji . Banning women from the sumo ring: centuries-old tradition, straight-up sexism or something more complex? . 17 May 2021. The Japan Times . 30 April 2018 . subscription.
  2. Seeing Stars: Sports Celebrity, Identity, and Body Culture in Modern Japan (2010, Dennis J. Frost;), p. 48.
  3. Web site: SUMO ABC (75) / Banning women from the dohyo is groundless in this day and age - The Japan News. Miki. Shuji. 21 April 2018. Japan News/Yomiuri Shimbun. https://web.archive.org/web/20180622005427/http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0004365275. 17 May 2021. 2018-06-22.
  4. News: Director of film on women's sumo hopes to show the sport's diversity.. 17 May 2021. Mainichi Japan. 22 July 2018.
  5. News: McCurry . Justin. 'It's exhilarating': Japan's female sumo wrestlers take on sexism. 17 May 2021. The Guardian . 19 June 2018.
  6. News: Sumo wrestling: fighting to get women in the ring. 17 May 2021. BBC . 8 November 2019.
  7. News: Maese . Rick. In Japan, sumo is a man's game. Female wrestlers are pushing their way in.. 17 May 2021. The Washington Post. 22 January 2020.
  8. Web site: Sumo at the 2013 World Combat Games . https://web.archive.org/web/20160327160214/http://www.worldcombatgames.com/en/sports/24 . 27 March 2016.
  9. News: Hirabayashi. Junko. 'What is wrong with being big?': Life as a female sumo wrestler. 17 May 2021. SBS Japanese . 14 February 2020.

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