04 September 2019

Female sumo wrestlers allowed to compete at national final in Japan for the first time in 34 years

Japanese schoolgirls have competed in the sumo ring at the Wanpaku national finals for the first time in the competition's 34-year history. 

The breakthrough came due to the event being held at the Okudo Sogo Sports Centre in Tokyo rather than the usual venue, the Ryogoku Kokugikan which does not allow women onto its 'dohyo' (ring).

The Japan Sumo Association (JSA) has traditionally banned professional female wrestlers from competing due to Shinto and Buddhist beliefs that women are impure as they menstruate. As well as the JSA banning them from the sport, women were also not allowed to step into the sacred sumo ring.

But the tide has begun to turn following a controversial event last year. The mayor of Maizuru, Ryozo Tatami, was in the sumo ring when he collapsed due to a stroke. Two women entered the ring to provide first aid and thanks to their efforts Tatami survived. Throughout the time the two women, one of whom was a nurse, was helping the mayor the referee repeatedly told the women over a tannoy to leave the ring.

The incident triggered a petition to stop the JSA from receiving funding as a public interest organisation - it received 17,000 signatures.

The petition read: "The president [of the JSA] was born from a woman who had periods. If sumo is sacred the physiology of a woman that gives birth is also sacred."

Rie Ishibashi, who won the fifth-grade national final at the event, told the Japan Times: "It's not only boys who can practice and enjoy sumo.

"There are girls that like sumo too. I hope some day women can become pros."

The best videos delivered daily

Watch the stories that matter, right from your inbox