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The first recorded instance of onna-zumo (women's sumo) is when Emperor Yuryaku ordered two courtesans to sumo wrestle wearing their fundoshi (loincloths). Once a bout begins, the action can be fast and furious with the wrestlers slapping, shoving and pushing or trying to trip each other. A wrestler who loses her mawashi during a bout is automatically disqualified. However, nude onna-zumo wrestling was once revered. For example, in times of drought, naked women wrestled in shrine precincts to provoke the anger of the Gods and cause rain. In the eighteenth century onna-zumo, took off as a sport in Osaka, where it was popular in the brothel quarter. By 1744, nude onna-zumo bouts featured regularly at the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, Edo, and they were immensely popular, especially with the owners of the nearby brothels. In 1926 the authorities eventually prohibited naked onna-zumo on the presumption that it promoted immorality. Female sumo did, however, manage to survive until after World War II in cabarets and beer halls, where there was no false pretense of modesty.
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