Nike Japan | New Girl

Directed
Caroline Koning

Produced
BWGTBLD

Photographer
Cailin Hill Araki.

According to a report by the World Economic Forum, Japan ranked 120th among 156 countries in the global gender gap rankings in 2021, remaining in the last place among advanced economies. To push against this and many other gender barriers, we shined a light on women who are changing the face of the country forever through sports and beyond.

Along with telling their story on the anthem film, Nike partnered up with Japanese footballer Ami Otaki’s ‘Nadeshiko Care’ organization in its mission to support teenage female footballers. Also, since in Japan many sumo facilities are available for men only, Nike opened a special Sumo playground at the TOKYO SPORTS PLAYGROUND to offer a chance to train and experience the sport under the ‘Play New’ campaign spirit. We’ll also introduce a special NTC program inspired by Sumo training methods. In addition to this, we created a series of key visuals celebrating the stories and strengths of female athletes changing Japan.

SUMO NIKE NTC SESSIONS
For the first time ever, sumo training sessions were made available via Nike YouTube and NTC/NIKE App. The sessions were based on the training routine of Rizumu Kasai, the athlete featured in our film.

SUMO RING @ TOYOSU SPORTS PARK
Since it is still challenging for female sumo athletes to find rings that allow them to train, we built one that is open and free for anyone who wants to play.