Are there women sumo wrestlers

After that, I just leave it up to my training and don't think about anything," Yamanaka said. Women's sumo gained visibility with a Netflix film "Little Miss Sumo," documenting the struggles of females to gain respect in an ancient sport.

Even the lighting is special. All women sumo wrestlers take pride in Japan's national sport and want to compete there," Yamanaka said. But I also remember that, every year, I saw some female friends leaving sumo, and I knew I would not be able to see them at competitions anymore. Most female wrestlers stop after elementary school—even where I was born, a place where sumo is so loved.

I still remember how sad I felt seeing them leave. I was simply amazed. I really was! At first, I just could not believe that they would choose a female sumo wrestler. That was an undeserved honour. In the film Little Miss Sumo , the story tells that I am fighting for equal rights for women to compete.

Of course, that is true. But I would rather like to break the stereotypes. I am trying to tell people that women also do sumo. In most of the world—even in Japan—people still do not know this. I hope that people might come to know the world of female sumo through the film. I have been there only once, when I attended the film festival. I have been to London, and I was surprised to see how so many different cultures and nationalities are living together in the same city.

Just by walking in the city centre you can hear a lot of languages being spoken, and you can get any kind of food you want anywhere you go. London is truly beautiful.

On a humid, wet afternoon in central Japan , Okumura draws on her reserves of strength for a final, punishing series of drills with a male opponent. By the end, it is hard to tell who is more exhausted.

Training is centered on two dohyo — a dirt-covered 4. As amateurs, the women athletes at Asahi and other universities are not bound by the ancient traditions governing professional sumo - in which only men can compete. But that might not be the case for much longer. Usually the competitions begin with male wrestlers, and female wrestlers follow them. Practice at Waseda. While two wrestlers face off, the wrestlers around them practice.

This university in Kyoto at Ritsumeikan is one of the few universities in Japan with a sumo club where girls can be involved. At the sumo World Championships in Osaka in Wrestlers come from all over the world, college students and professionals. In other countries like Russia, Poland, or Brazil, some women continue in sumo after they have graduated college. One woman I met was a teacher, one woman was a referee. The Japanese women don't have that chance. This is what they are fighting for, that same opportunity in Japan.

Many people are so used to thinking of sumo wrestlers this way that they can't imagine that women can do this, too. Some girls hide that the fact that they're practicing sumo from their families and grandparents, to avoid judgment or tough conversations.