(15 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Buenos Aires, Argentina – 15 December 2024
1. Wide of Sensei Hiyori Kon sumo wrestling with a student
2. Sensei Kon wrestling
3. Hiyori Kon wrestling with male student and pulling him out of the tatami
4. Alberto Maibach wrestling with a fellow student
5. Sensei Kon and Alberto Maibach watching as other students wrestle
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Hiyori Kon, sumo wrestler and teacher:
“I began practicing Sumo at (age) 6, and my dream is to make sumo an Olympic sport, but also bring gender equality to the sport, especially in Japan. Also, I’d like to make more people participate in it worldwide.”
7. Sensei Kon showing moves to students
8. Wide of Sensei Kon showing a move and students following her
9. SOUNDBITE (Japanese): Hiyori Kon, sumo wrestler and teacher:
"I don’t care where the place is, as long as I can do sumo. I’ll go anywhere as long as I can do sumo as much as I want with people who also love sumo, no matter where it is. There are some cultural differences between Japan and Argentina that I’m still struggling with a bit, but so far, I’m having a lot of fun."
10. Tomas Buljubasic wresting with another student
11. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Tomas Buljubasic, MMA fighter and sumo student:
“Since Hiyori arrived to our team, I feel stronger, I’m doing better in competitions. We did a local tournament where I won the championship in my weight class, and second in the free weight class. But there was a time where I wasn’t very sure which path to follow (MMA or sumo), but the arrival of the Sensei helped me a lot to focus completely in sumo.”
12. Alberto Maibach being thrown down to the mat by a fellow student
13. Students kneeling in a circle as Sensei Kon finishes the class and everyone greets her
STORYLINE:
Argentina and Japan are separated by thousands of kilometers of land and oceans, but Hiyori Kon is helping boost their cultural bonds through a very traditional Japanese sport like sumo.
Inside the circle ring, Hiyori, a decorated Japanese female amateur sumo wrestler, teaches students in Buenos Aires the techniques of the full-contact wrestling.
“I don’t care where the place is, as long as I can do sumo,” said Hiyori, a leading figure in women’s amateur sumo who reached the finals at the 2018 World Women’s Sumo Championship. “I’ll go anywhere as long as I can do sumo as much as I want with people who also love sumo.”
Hiyori moved to Argentina in 2023 after she was unable to find a place to continue training and working as a teacher in Japan as few opportunities exist for a female sumo wrestler.
Since then, she’s trained dozens of both male and female sumo students, and children.
Hiyori began sumo wrestling at a young age and quickly rose to prominence, winning numerous youth competitions.
Her story and advocacy for gender equality in sumo has also gained international attention through the documentary Little Miss Sumo, that can be seen on Netflix.
She was named in the BBC’s "100 Women of 2019" list for her efforts to challenge the sport’s male-centric norms.
She continues to inspire others by promoting opportunities for women in sumo and breaking barriers in the ancient Japanese sport, which originally was part of a Shinto religious ritual.
“I began practicing Sumo at 6, and my dream is to make sumo an Olympic sport, but also bring gender equality to the sport, especially in Japan,” she said.
Hiyori is also working to promote amateur sumo across Argentina, and her mission is to help prepare students to compete in regional and international competitions.
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