The Yūshun Himba was first contested in 1938 as Hanshin Yūshun Himba (阪神優駿牝馬) at Naruo Racecourse[ja] in Nishinomiya, Hyogo, and it is regarded as the Japanese equivalent of the English Epsom Oaks.
Race distance was first set to 2,700 metres and shortened to 2,450 metres in 1940, then again shortened to 2,400 metres in 1943 at Kyoto Racecourse. After a two-year hiatus, the race was renamed to the Yūshun Himba in 1946 and it was staged at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo over a distance of 2,400 metres.
It was held in October or November in early years, then moved to mid-to-late May since 1953.
It is one of Japan's five Classic races, and the second of two restricted to fillies. It also serves as the second leg of the Japanese Triple Tiara, preceded by the Oka Shō (the Japanese equivalent of the English 1,000 Guineas) in early April, and followed by the Shūka Shō in mid-October.
Since 2010, the Yūshun Himba (along with several other JRA Japanese domestic Grade 1 races, including other Japanese classics such as the Ōka Shō, the Satsuki Shō, the Tōkyō Yūshun and the Kikuka Shō) is open to international competition due to Japan's inclusion in the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities' ICS Part I category, in which all graded black-type races in the JRA calendar are open to international competition.
On May 23, 2010, in the 71st running of the Yushun Himba, Apapane and Saint Emilion hit the finish at the same time in the race, marking the first time that a Grade 1 race in Japan resulted in a dead heat for the win.
On May 20, 2018, Almond Eye won the 2,400-meter Yushun Himba over Lily Noble by two lengths.
On May 24, 2026, jockey Seina Imamura made history by becoming the first Japanese female rider to win a flat Grade 1 race in Japan, by winning the Yushun Himba on board Juryoku Pierrot.
Trial races
Trial races provide automatic berths to the winning horses or placed horses as specified.
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