No women in sumo

[RIDER 00]

Are you a sumo fan? Does the rich tradition and uniqueness of the sport impress you? I'm a casual fan myself, but I bet most people don't know that women are forbidden from entering the dohyo (ring) because of Shinto practices. Basically, a women touching the ring would ruin the purity of it.

This has caused some controversy in the past because it is usually a city official's job to present a championship award to the winner at each tournament. Well, what if that city official was female? There was a time in the 2000s when the mayor of Osaka was a woman and she was forbidden each time from stepping onto the dohyo to present the award. She was forced to do it off to the side of the dohyo instead.

There have also been incidents in the past where women have stormed onto the dohyo in protest, only to be tackled and dragged off by security.

Well, just the other day, the controversy reached new heights. During a regional exhibition, a city official collapsed on the dohyo in an heart attack. When female health workers rushed onto the dohyo to help save him, the venue announcer told them to cease and leave immediately. They were then scolded and pulled out by a female police officer.

Here is the footage of this incident that is making all the uproar right now.
I'm not saying that tradition is bad, but it can be really stupid sometimes.

 

[Simonka]

I am a casual sumo fan too! Sometimes I watch the championships. It's fascinating how these men spend their life in a communal "heya" and stick to a rigorous diet and exercise regime. Also their bodies are made of both fat and muscle. A trained eye could see that stomach is supported by some muscle tissue underneath. Their discipline and giant bodies are so intriguing, maybe because I have the opposite kind of body type. Also I heard many retirees live long lives (so fat doesn't kill you then? Maybe lack of muscle is the worst?) and some become chefs

Yeah I think it's kinda stupid to prevent female health workers from rushing to an emergency.

 

[MikeH]

Also I heard many retirees live long lives (so fat doesn't kill you then? Maybe lack of muscle is the worst?)

Well, sumo wrestlers have an average of one decade less life expectancy than the rest of the Japanese guys. Or at least that's how the statistics showed when the sumo wrestlers still were all Japanese dudes.

Of course fat without muscle is worse but the weight alone is a serious thread to the quality of life even if you don't die from it.

 

[Ken1988]

Professional Sumo Association (O-zumo Kyokai) bans women from entering the dohyo, but sumo as sport doesn't preclude women. Japan Women's Sumo Federation has been active for some time.

In fact, the word "sumo" (in Chinese character, which was then read "sumai") was first ever used in a classic book on the Japanese mythology "Nihon Shoki" to record an event which took place in September, a.d. 469. The story is like this: There was a wood craftsman, Inabeno Mane, known for his outstanding skill. One day Emperor Yuryaku saw Mane peeling a log on a rock with his machete. The emperor asked "Don't you hit the rock by mistake and damage the blade of your machete?" Mane answered "No, sir, never." Then, the emperor ordered his court ladies to take off their clothes and play sumo matches. Watching the sumo while working, Mane hit the rock with his machete and damaged its blade. The emperor declared "You were not honest with me, which is an offense against the Emperor. You are sentenced to death." After Mane was dragged away, the craftsman's colleague read a poem, lamenting an imminent loss of Mane's life and his irreplaceable skill. The Emperor changed his mind and acquitted Mane.

A google search with "女相撲　江戸時代" catches a lot of interesting pictures of the tradition of female sumo.

 

[RIDER 00]

Professional Sumo Association (O-zumo Kyokai) bans women from entering the dohyo, but sumo as sport doesn't preclude women. Japan Women's Sumo Federation has been active for some time.

A google search with "女相撲　江戸時代" catches a lot of interesting pictures of the tradition of female sumo.

Not to disparage 女相撲 because it's great that there a place for women to do the sport, but it's not even on a real dohyo and it's not really considered a serious sport in Japan. More like an odd curiousity with a lot of men watching to see if they can find a pretty girl to oogle at. (They must be BBW fans) Kinda like why women's golf, beach volleyball, and gymnastics are so popular.

It's actually more popular overseas.

I always find it interesting how the old men on sports shows will get annoyed or uncomfortable when they show footage of foreigners doing amatuer sumo or women sumo. You can tell they just want to shout out "That's not real sumo! Only Japanese men can do real sumo! Even Asashoryu was a disgrace to our sport!"

 

[Ken1988]

Not to disparage 女相撲 because it's great that there a place for women to do the sport, but it's not even on a real dohyo and it's not really considered a serious sport in Japan. More like an odd curiousity with a lot of men watching to see if they can find a pretty girl to oogle at. (They must be BBW fans) Kinda like why women's golf, beach volleyball, and gymnastics are so popular.

Probably. It is well documented that touring women sumos were popular in the pre-war period, and they could be seen as those days' legal equivalent of mud wrestlings or strip shows. However, it is also well documented that some women sumo wrestlers were more serious. There are several books on those women sumo wrestlers, one of which is on Ozeki Wakamidori. It seems that she was very popular in the 1930s and 40s that she was even known by Yokozuna Maedayama, or the 4th Oyakata of the Takasagobeya. In 1957, Takasago Oyakata invited Wakamidori in the dohyo when the Takasagobeya was on tour in Ehime and asked her to make a retirement speech to the audience, persuading her "you are sumo wrestler, too." This is probably the only case of a woman in the dohyo of a sumobeya under the O-zumo Kyokai.

wakamidori.exblog.jp/i15/

 

[RIDER 00]

Probably. It is well documented that touring women sumos were popular in the pre-war period, and they could be seen as those days' legal equivalent of mud wrestlings or strip shows. However, it is also well documented that some women sumo wrestlers were more serious. There are several books on those women sumo wrestlers, one of which is on Ozeki Wakamidori. It seems that she was very popular in the 1930s and 40s that she was even known by Yokozuna Maedayama, or the 4th Oyakata of the Takasagobeya. In 1957, Takasago Oyakata invited Wakamidori in the dohyo when the Takasagobeya was on tour in Ehime and asked her to make a retirement speech to the audience, persuading her "you are sumo wrestler, too." This is probably the only case of a woman in the dohyo of a sumobeya under the O-zumo Kyokai.

wakamidori.exblog.jp/i15/

That's a touching story, but 80 years later we're still talking about how there's still a tradition of banning women from standing on the dohyo.

Female athletes like Kataoka Ayumi and Sawa Homare have been praised as the best in their respective sports, but at the end of the day all the media cares about is their looks with Kataoka getting a lot of variety show time because she's considered a "tanned cute athletic beauty" and Sawa getting shunned because she looks too masculine (for lack of a better term). It was funny during the Olymics 6 years ago whe Sawa complained that her World Cup winning soccer team had to ride in economy class on the airplane and get paid a lot less when the male team with J1/J2 bench warmers got to ride first class even though they never won anything.

I remember some commentator responding to this with "Well, you should learn to play soccer at a level higher than men's high school first."

 

[Ken1988]

That's a touching story, but 80 years later we're still talking about how there's still a tradition of banning women from standing on the dohyo.

Female athletes like Kataoka Ayumi and Sawa Homare have been praised as the best in their respective sports, but at the end of the day all the media cares about is their looks with Kataoka getting a lot of variety show time because she's considered a "tanned cute athletic beauty" and Sawa getting shunned because she looks too masculine (for lack of a better term). It was funny during the Olymics 6 years ago whe Sawa complained that her World Cup winning soccer team had to ride in economy class on the airplane and get paid a lot less when the male team with J1/J2 bench warmers got to ride first class even though they never won anything.

I remember some commentator responding to this with "Well, you should learn to play soccer at a level higher than men's high school first."

I remember that's the episode during London Olympics, but I remember also that many in the media criticized the JFA's discriminatory travel support for the male players...

Anyway, even in the states, it happens...
www.pga.com/news/golf-buzz/because-of-rule-girl-who-won-massachusetts-high-school-boys-golf-tournament-denied

 

[Simonka]

Thanks Ken and Rider for the entries. Acually I'm almost done with the current book I'm reading.. could you recommend me a book about Sumo wrestlers? It could be a biography book or novel. I would appreciate if it's the English edition

I usually buy my groceries from a local store where a Japanese store clerk works, he's a big guy. Sometimes I watch his moves as he proceeds to pack my items and they look like part of a ritual.. I'm a bit shy to ask him if he used to be a sumo wrestler.

 

[RIDER 00]

Thanks Ken and Rider for the entries. Acually I'm almost done with the current book I'm reading.. could you recommend me a book about Sumo wrestlers? It could be a biography book or novel. I would appreciate if it's the English edition

I usually buy my groceries from a local store where a Japanese store clerk works, he's a big guy. Sometimes I watch his moves as he proceeds to pack my items and they look like part of a ritual.. I'm a bit shy to ask him if he used to be a sumo wrestler.

Hi Simona-san, thanks for asking!

For a look into the sumo lifestyle and other exciting backstories, I can recommend Sumo - A Fan's Guide by Mark Schilling. The author's a guy who's been in Japan a long time and writes about a lot of cultural things. It's an easy read and has a lot of very interesting facts and stories.



True story, I was actually scouted to join a sumo stable in high school because of my tall frame and large size. I did consider it for a bit, but ended up deciding that the sumo lifestyle wasn't for me.

 

[Simonka]

Thank you! I will check it out! Reading about sumo is the most I could do as an ectomorph Their diet tips helped me to put on some weight.

 

[Ken1988]

Thank you! I will check it out! Reading about sumo is the most I could do as an ectomorph Their diet tips helped me to put on some weight.

I think that's the best book available in English.

There used to be more mesomorph, if not ectomorph, type wrestlers, often called "soppu" (from "soep" as they look "as thin as chicken carcass."). Yokozuna Chiyonofuji, now legend as he passed away two years ago, was one of them. For me, the most impressive soppu was Ishinriki who's never made it into the first tier league but was famous in the second tier league in the 80s.