Female mayor takes battle to Japan Sumo Association over its barring of women from entering ring
JapanTimes, Apr 19, 2018
A female
mayor at the center of a fierce debate over allowing women into the sumo ring
vowed Thursday never to back down as she prepared to lodge a formal protest
with the Japan Sumo Association.
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| Tomoko Nakagawa, the mayor of Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, answers questions during an interview in Tokyo on Thursday. | AFP-JIJI |
“I want
them never to leave this issue ambiguous. I want the association to hear this
voice clearly and start a debate” on the practice of denying women entry into
the ring.
Nakagawa
later held a 30-minute meeting with senior JSA officials to urge them to treat
men and women equally at ceremonies and events.
The
officials told her the ban on women entering the ring was “tradition but not
discrimination,” and promised to discuss the issue at a meeting of executive
officials, Nakagawa told reporters after the closed-door meeting.
Nakagawa
said the officials were “sincere” and “gentle” but she also felt a “strong”
determination to respect the status quo.”
The
association was not immediately available for comment.
The issue
made headlines nationally and internationally when several
women, including at least one nurse, rushed into a sumo ring in the
city of Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, after a local mayor collapsed while giving a
speech.
As the
women attempted to give medical assistance to the mayor, multiple announcements
were made over loudspeakers asking them to leave the ring.
According
to tradition, the ring — called a dohyo in Japanese — is considered sacred and
women are not allowed to enter. Sumo is closely interlinked with Shinto, which
considers females to be ritually unclean.
Nakagawa
called the situation discriminatory.
“While
emphasizing sumo’s prestige and its being the ‘national’ sport, they are
ousting women to promote nationalism,” she said.
She has
battled for the right to make speeches from the sumo ring, something her male
counterparts have regularly done.
Earlier
this month, Nakagawa
slammed the ban in a speech she was forced to deliver from a podium located
outside the ring.
“I’m a
female mayor but I am a human being … because I am a woman, despite being a
mayor, I cannot make a speech in the ring.”
“It is
regrettable and mortifying,” she said, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Two days
later, a male mayor delivered a speech from inside a ring.
After the
incident in Maizuru, the head of the sumo association apologized over the women
providing medical assistance having been ordered to leave the ring, describing
it as “an inappropriate act” in a situation that involved someone’s life.
But the
association soon after sparked more controversy when an official with the
sports governing body asked that girls be barred from participating in another sumo
event for school-age children, citing “safety concerns.”
“Sumo is
not for people with a specific religion. It is a national sport,” stressed
Nakagawa.
“I can’t
understand why it is only the sumo world that refuses to change, or is even
going backwards,” she added.
“This is
the beginning of a battle … Men deliver speeches on the dohyo and women do it
from below — this is embarrassing,” she added.
