Sumo Sundays is thrilled to announce the launch of heya 2025, creating space for inclusive sumo.
Film Screening & Panel
Featuring a double screening of The Spirit of Nihonmachi (2012) and Little Miss Sumo (2018), this event highlights themes of equity and inclusion in a sport traditionally designed for able-bodied men.
Followed by a moderated discussion, attendees will gain insight on how Sumo Sundays is changing this narrative through their all-bodies, gender-inclusive approach. In addition, how Canada's longest running Japanese Canadian festival has played a pivotal role in shaping sumo in Vancouver.
Workshop
In this workshop curated for the Japanese Canadian community, we invite folks of all sizes, genders, and experiences to join us in this introductory sumo workshop. Participants will be led through warm-up, technique, rituals, rules, and light sparring (optional).
The workshop aims to build confidence and safety around this popular Japanese sport, while creating space for community and, most importantly, fun. Participants will have the opportunity to learn on the dohyo (sumo ring) and wear the mawashi (sumo belt).
Tickets & Registration
Film Screening & Panel
Toronto
Cecil Community Centre
Sept. 20, 2025
Pay what you can — open to the general public
Workshop
Toronto
Tanuki Martial Arts
Sept. 21, 2025
$15-25 sliding scale — for Japanese Canadian and Nikkei
Film Screening & Panel
Vancouver
312 Main
Oct. 16, 2025
Pay what you can — open to the general public
Workshop
Vancouver
Vancouver Japanese Language School & Hall
Oct. 19, 2025
$15-25 sliding scale — for Japanese Canadians and Nikkei
What's in a name?
heya—meaning “room” in Japanese and a reference to sumo terminology—intends to make space for Japanese Canadians within a traditional Japanese sport that often excludes diasporic and IBPOC folks in North America, and that further excludes women and gender-diverse folks in and outside of Japan. Simultaneously, we hope to foster connections and bridge gaps through an accessible approach that includes all sizes, identities and experiences. This follows Sumo Sundays’ unique and community-driven approach to sumo.
Hosting heya also addresses a need we’ve identified following recent sumo exhibitions at the annual Powell Street Festival. In 2023 and 2024, we received requests from folks involved in Japanese Canadian communities from across Canada to bring our form of sumo to them. Given the size of Toronto and availability of resources, we felt this would be the best place for an event that requires the team to travel.
Who can attend?
- Film screenings: Open to our broader community, this event is for anyone interested in the films, the discourse or both.
- Workshops: Designed to be a space for people who identify as Japanese Canadian or Nikkei.
Kayla Isomura
In 2022, Kayla co-founded Sumo Sundays as a way for others to learn basic knowledge of an activity they only accessed once a year at Powell Street Festival. An on/off competitor since trying sumo at the 2015 festival, Kayla now co-leads fundamentals classes through Sumo Sundays and regularly manages all aspects of the club. While Kayla acknowledges they know very little about professional sumo, their drive for Sumo Sundays stems from their experiences at the festival. After flailing in the ring at the festival’s amateur exhibition for years, Kayla managed to finesse just enough skills through impromptu training to earn a first-place prize in 2022 (aka the big bag of rice). As a result, their goal is not only to facilitate opportunities to learn but to create inclusive spaces that reflect themselves, their friends and broader communities. Outside of Sumo Sundays, Kayla is also involved with Kikiai Collaborative and has volunteered/participated/worked with countless other Japanese Canadian organizations and events.
Satoshi Schulte
Satoshi Schulte grew up watching sumo but never tried the sport until later in life. Introduced to Sumo Sundays through the 2023 Powell Street Festival, he shares that he had previously tried sumo with friends at a local beach in Vancouver, B.C. Following the 2023 festival where he chose to watch, not compete, Satoshi soon attended Sumo Sundays and hasn’t stopped since. A big supporter of the organization’s growing community, Satoshi participated in the 2024 basho (tournament) and the 2024 Powell Street Festival, where he also volunteered with Sumo Sundays. His passion for sumo has now extended beyond Sumo Sundays with extra training on his own time.
Ren Ito
Ren Ito is a researcher and community organiser based in Toronto, Ont. His PhD research at the University of Toronto focused on how Asianness is and can be claimed as a political identity. For the past decade, Ren has been active in Japanese Canadian communities: in addition to serving on the Young Leaders and Human Rights Committees of the NAJC, he co-founded Young Japanese Canadians of Toronto, helped launch the We Should Know Each Other community conversation series, and is a founding member of Japanese Canadians for Social Justice. Beyond Japanese Canadian communities, Ren has also co-founded a national BIPOC spiritual collective, and was part of the team that organised Letters for Black Lives (an Asian American/Canadian resource on anti-Black racism). Ren inherited his love for sumo from his mother, and is deeply interested in its social, political, and spiritual dimensions.
Matthew Kariatsumari
Matthew Kariatsumari is a writer, director, and producer. His foray into video started at a house party, after a fellow party goer misheard his “interest in movies” as “making a movie.” Since then, Matthew has worked on films including Code 8: Part II (Netflix, TBD), Float (Lionsgate, 2023), and Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia (Sundance, 2020). Matthew’s commercial video work includes music videos for Born Ruffians and Luke Lalonde. Previously, he produced radio pieces for Radiotopia, ABC, and CBC. Matthew is interested in meeting people at parties and potentially creating work with them, especially if those people also want to inspire critical dialogue through nuanced representations of personal narratives.
Ryan Kimoto
