Aiming for a Second Consecutive Women's Sumo World Championship Title for the Many People Who Support Her

Influenced by my older brother, I started sumo as a child and have continued on the path of a female sumo wrestler through elementary, junior high, and high school. I won the World Junior Women's Sumo Championships in my first year of high school, but soon after, tournaments were canceled one after another due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I couldn't go to other dojos for practice and was left to train alone every day. Having lived a life completely dedicated to sumo, I felt like I had become an empty person when it was taken away from me. When I re-examined my life, wondering "What should I do now?", I strongly felt that I needed to broaden my world through academics, relationships, and more. However, quitting sumo was not an option, so I decided to come to SFC, seeking an environment where I could practice sumo once the pandemic ended and also balance it with my studies. It was also a great help that both of my older brothers (Daiki and Takanori Hasegawa) had attended SFC and served as captains of the sumo club, so they were able to tell me a lot about university life and club activities.

After enrolling at SFC, I became the first female member of the Keio University Athletic Association Sumo Club in its 103-year history. Even as a female athlete, my desire to "become stronger" is no different from that of the male members. I usually trained alongside the male members, and we pushed each other to improve. From my first year, I participated in domestic and international tournaments, winning national competitions like the All-Japan Women's Sumo Championships and the All-Japan Student Women's Sumo Championships, but I could only manage third place in international events. Driven by the desire to "win at all costs," I dedicated myself to training, and in September 2024, as a third-year student, I achieved my long-awaited victory at the Sumo World Championships held in Poland. Since joining the sumo club, I have received support and encouragement from so many people, and I feel that by aiming higher and continuing to win, I have been able to repay their kindness, even if just a little.

In terms of my studies, taking courses in a wide range of fields has allowed me to cultivate new interests. For example, I love music, and a music class that explored singing as "verbalizing music" introduced me to ways of approaching subjects that I had never considered before. A psychology course I took, because I was familiar with mental care as an athlete, was also fascinating, and it made me want to take another psychology class. The curriculum, which allows me to take one related course after another in fields that interest me, is something I'm very grateful for, as I previously didn't know much about a wide range of academic disciplines.

From my third year, I joined Professor Hisashi Mizutori's research group and have been focusing my studies on sports science. Professor Mizutori himself is a top athlete who competed in gymnastics at the Athens Olympics and other events, and he is currently the director of the Japanese men's national gymnastics team. Because of this, he teaches me not only about competition but also about what it means to be a top athlete—"how a top athlete should conduct themselves." His insights, which only an athlete and coach like Professor Mizutori can provide—from daily health management like diet to using social media and being conscious of my position as someone who receives support—are incredibly informative, and I incorporate them into my daily training and life.

I am still in the process of finding my own research theme, but there are a few topics that interest me.

One is a study of the winning techniques (kimarite) in sumo across different countries. While individual wrestlers have their preferred techniques, I feel there are broad differences between countries due to variations in physique and other factors, so I think it would be interesting to focus on and analyze that aspect.

I am also interested in the mental health challenges and motivation maintenance of athletes, including the differences between genders. In women's sumo, there are many female competitors up to the elementary school level, but it is difficult for them to continue beyond that. There are no women-only dojos, so to continue in the sport, they must train with men, often alone, which presents a harsh reality both physically and mentally. The challenges in women's sumo cannot be easily solved by research alone, but I hope to make it my life's work to address these issues while building a diverse career that includes promotional activities.

One of the reasons I enrolled at SFC was my desire to re-evaluate my life and broaden my world during the pandemic, and I have certainly been able to fulfill that wish by balancing my athletic career with my academic studies.

Competing in world championships and other events has also led to many new encounters. On campus, I often interact with members of other clubs active in the Athletic Association, and being able to exchange opinions with students who have played various sports is an experience unique to SFC. I was fascinated by both the commonalities and differences among the wide variety of sports. The alumni I meet at ceremonies and other events are people who, regardless of age, have a spirit of accepting others with respect as individuals. Speaking with them has renewed my determination to strive even harder as an athlete.

On the other hand, some of the friends I've made in my faculty don't know me as a female sumo wrestler. I feel that meeting friends with whom I can get excited talking not just about classes and studies, but also about favorite music and delicious food, is also an irreplaceable experience.

My immediate goal is to win the world championships. I won for the first time last year, but becoming world champion is not the end. As long as I am a competitor, I want to be the strongest in the world, so my next challenge begins the day after a tournament ends. I will work my hardest so that I can report a victory to the people who support and cheer for me every day.

Also, since I focused on the world championships last year, I want to compete in the domestic matches I didn't participate in. The title of world champion doesn't matter. In the world of competition, there is a winner and a loser in every match. No match is a waste, regardless of the outcome; each one is a valuable experience. I want to do my best to not let any opportunity slip by.

Unlike men's sumo, which has the professional world of Grand Sumo, women's sumo offers very limited opportunities to compete after becoming a working adult, other than joining a corporate team or continuing it as a hobby. Right now, my priority is to give my all as an athlete, so I haven't thought specifically about what I'll do after graduation. However, I want to leverage the wonderful environment at SFC, which benefits me as both an athlete and a student, to build knowledge and connections that will be useful for my future career.