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Nana Abe, 12, is a sumo champion: she has been practicing since she was 8 years old and has rarely lost a competition. In Japan, club sports are a big part of adolescence and how many students associate with peers. Sumo – a historical martial art in Japan and a favorite sport in the country – is only open to men on a professional level, but that doesn’t stop some girls from practicing it as a club sport.
Photographer Yulia Skogoreva from Tokyo has been practicing sumo for young girls and women in photography for years. “Traditions in Japan are complicated,” says Skogoreva. “When people come to visit the country, that’s why they love it so much, because a big part of that tradition is still intact. But there is also a problem of gender equality, and can we invent a way to have both? “
Aber’s dream as a professional is to continue her career, but for now there is no way for women to continue in the current system after completing their university studies. At the club level women’s sumo wrestlers are passionate about the sport and give up sweat and tears to prove they deserve to compete. “I wish these girls could continue their careers,” says Skogoreva. “At the moment, very few people in Japan know that women’s sumo exists. I hope my projects get more attention from these girls and one day achieve the goal. ”
Skogoreva, who has been in Japan for more than 10 years, understands the dream of professional athletics, and his goal is to capture movement and space in a fixed image. He grew up in Moscow and often went to see ballet. He ended up studying at the Nippon Photography Institute in Tokyo and continued to take pictures in dance. “I like the natural state of the people who move,” Skogoreva says. “Dancers forget the camera, they just do what they do. When I saw all kinds of sports, I started to see dance moves. ”
He was particularly interested in sumo, as he often has many rituals before fights that can look like dance. Professional wrestlers sometimes approach the ring in a colorful dress that shows their level, and the competitors are assembled before the dohyō (raised ring). to step on and show the match in a choreographic ritual called “dohyō iri”. Skogoreva was originally curious about the world of male sumo wrestlers because he had never heard of women doing sports. Then a friend sent him an article about the sumo wrestler, which sparked his interest. “It’s an incredibly narrow and closed world. It took more than a year to get permission to take pictures there. I went to the Russian fighters, and then when I came back to Tokyo with pictures of the Russian fighters, it was a lot easier. ”
He plans to continue working on the project, with sumo wrestlers taking pictures in Japan and elsewhere, as well as continuing to take pictures of Nana and her older sister, Sakura. “Every year they are growing and changing. I’d like to keep taking pictures until I finish college, and maybe even after that. “
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