Although there are glass ceilings in every country, cultural barriers make the one in Japan especially hard to crack. Invisible rules govern the way that people, especially young women, should act.

With sport, female participation drops drastically after high school as other obligations preside, bukatsu (school sports clubs) take the fun out of the game, and the city as a whole restricts freedom of movement (skateboarding in the streets is illegal, public tennis courts require government ID, etc.).

By celebrating and elevating women that are already pushing past barriers and moving through the world on their own terms, we brought inspiration and encouragement to other women across the country to do the same.

The urge to move is the urge to live, so the message we delivered is simple. When you listen to you own voice and just start moving, you’re able to unleash your full potential.

Deeply rooted in consumer research, though the work challenged social convention through the message it carried, it remained approachable to out Japanese audience by speaking to them in their own spaces, in their own language.

All physical executions were centralized in Shibuya City (the mecca of Japanese youth), while digitally, we utilized social platforms that women here most engage with. The messaging/visual tonality throughout was optimistic rather than serious; celebratory rather than abrasive to most relate.

Moreover, the fully female cast was packed with real, pioneering, Japanese women in sport across all races, ages, abilities and sizes. Included are Sky Brown (10-year-old pro skater), Momona Shuto (ex-manager who went viral for stepping onto a ‘boys only’ field), Naomi Osaka (world #1 tennis player), Mineko Kosaka (the first female professional baseball player in Japan, who at 82 is continuing to play baseball), Evelyn Mawuli (Japanese national team basketballer), and more.