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Two Japanese make BBC's list of world's 100 most influential women

Oct 18 (Japan Times) - Two Japanese women, one behind a campaign against women being forced to wear high heels at work under corporate rules and the other a collegiate sumo wrestler, were included in British broadcaster the BBC’s 2019 list of 100 influential women from around the world released Wednesday.

Yumi Ishikawa, a model and author, who was tired of the pain she suffered wearing heels at work, started the campaign named #KuToo, which plays on the Japanese words for shoes (“kutsu“) and pain (“kutsū“), drawing inspiration from the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault.

Hiyori Kon, a member of the sumo club at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, was the subject of last year’s award-winning British documentary “Little Miss Sumo,” which charted her battle against a tradition in one of the world’s oldest sports that bars women from competing professionally.

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