In Japan, women’s sumo battles tradition and a male-dominated system for survival
Women in Japan are actively challenging deep-seated cultural and religious traditions that bar them from professional sumo wrestling. Despite a lack of recognition from the Japan Sumo Association and persistent gender-based discrimination, female athletes continue to organize clubs and compete in amateur circuits with the hope of future Olympic inclusion.
Why it matters
The struggle of female sumo wrestlers highlights the ongoing tension between Japan's rigid traditional gender roles and the modern push for gender equality in sports.
KYOTO: It’s a rainy Sunday morning but that hasn’t stopped more than 100 women and girls from making their way to the Kyoto City Budo Centre, Japan’s oldest martial arts performance hall. Built in 1899, the original structure is mostly out of bounds for visitors. But a recently built adjoining hall is buzzing with activity.The women are dressed in wrestling singlets, wearing the traditional mawashi, the thick belt associated with sumo, over it. At the centre of the hall is a ring that looks like a dohyo, the raised platform on which sumo is contested. It looks like one. But it isn’t.Women are traditionally barred from stepping into a sumo dohyo, a practice rooted in religious beliefs that have long associated menstruation with impurity.
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