Women's sumo

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Women sumo wrestling Female Sumo Wrestlers.jpg
Women sumo wrestling

Women's sumo (Japanese: 女相撲, Hepburn: onna-zumō) is a form of sumo played by women.

Contents

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

Contemporary Women's Sumo Wrestling match Julia Dorny Sumo Wrestling.jpg
Contemporary Women's Sumo Wrestling match

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

See also

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References

  1. Yoshida, Reiji (30 April 2018). "Banning women from the sumo ring: centuries-old tradition, straight-up sexism or something more complex?" . The Japan Times. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  2. 1 2 Seeing Stars: Sports Celebrity, Identity, and Body Culture in Modern Japan (2010, Dennis J. Frost; ISBN   978-0674056107), p. 48.
  3. Miki, Shuji (21 April 2018). "SUMO ABC (75) / Banning women from the dohyo is groundless in this day and age - The Japan News". Japan News/Yomiuri Shimbun. Archived from the original on 2018-06-22. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  4. "Director of film on women's sumo hopes to show the sport's diversity". Mainichi Japan. 22 July 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  5. McCurry, Justin (19 June 2018). "'It's exhilarating': Japan's female sumo wrestlers take on sexism". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  6. "Sumo wrestling: fighting to get women in the ring". BBC. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  7. Maese, Rick (22 January 2020). "In Japan, sumo is a man's game. Female wrestlers are pushing their way in". The Washington Post. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  8. "Sumo at the 2013 World Combat Games". Archived from the original on 27 March 2016.
  9. Hirabayashi, Junko (14 February 2020). "'What is wrong with being big?': Life as a female sumo wrestler". SBS Japanese. Retrieved 17 May 2021.

Bibliography