The "Lonely Planet Tokyo" iPhone app describes female sword fighting as a bygone form of male entertainment:
Surprisingly, striptease almost failed to catch on due to the popularity of a rival form of risqué entertainment, namely female sword fighting (to modern ears, the idea of scantily clad jousting females might sound a bit strange, but at the time it was the height of erotic entertainment).
Is there a Japanese term that refers to this phenomenon, as opposed to legitimate fighters who just happen to be female?
I tried googling and had no luck, but I heard from "worst jobs in history" that it was a form of entertainment in the United Kingdom.