Women's sumo


Women's sumo is a form of sumo contested by women.
Professional sumo traditionally forbids women from competition and ceremonies. Women are not allowed to enter or touch the sumo wrestling ring, a tradition stemming from Shinto and Buddhist beliefs that women are "impure" because of menstrual blood. Female sumo does exist on an amateur level.

History

The first recorded instance of women performing sumo, according to the Nihon Shoki, is when Emperor Yuryaku 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, when a form of onna sumo was performed in some areas of Japan. Women's sumo was mainly a spectacle associated with brothels. Various types of women's sumo existed, including touring "professionals". These continued to exist after the Meiji Restoration despite periodic crackdowns by the Tokugawa shogunate and the Meiji government, as they deemed the organizers of it to be corrupting public morals with these spectacles.
Women's sumo continued to exist despite a government ban in 1926. The practice would only die after the end of World War II, with the last group dissolving in 1963.

Modern times

Female sumo is prohibited from taking place in professional settings, but exists on an amateur level.
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.
The International Sumo Federation and its events allow female competitors as of 2001. Women's Sumo is an event at the World Games and was also featured at the 2013 World Combat Games.

Notable female sumo wrestlers