Japan’s New Care Workers: Bodybuilders, Wrestlers and M.M.A. Fighters

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Japan’s New Care Workers: Bodybuilders, Wrestlers and M.M.A. Fighters

Young athletes are being recruited to plug a staff shortage in Japan’s nursing homes. The results are reshaping elder care.

Hokuto Tatsumi, left, and Takuya Usui, taking care of elders at Atto Life Care, in Ichinomiya, Japan.

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Japan’s New Care Workers: Bodybuilders, Wrestlers and M.M.A. Fighters

Young athletes are being recruited to plug a staff shortage in Japan’s nursing homes. The results are reshaping elder care.

Hokuto Tatsumi, left, and Takuya Usui, taking care of elders at Atto Life Care, in Ichinomiya, Japan.

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Visuals by

Chang W. Lee

Text by

Javier C. Hernández

and

Hisako Ueno

Chang W. Lee, Javier C. Hernández and Hisako Ueno traveled to nursing homes and care centers across Japan to document the phenomenon.

April 25, 2026

Japan’s nursing homes and care centers face a daunting crisis: an ongoing influx of elderly patients and a dearth of workers to care for them.

Some are turning to an unconventional solution, recruiting bodybuilders, mixed martial arts fighters and sumo wrestlers to take on roles as caregivers in an industry where men have long been scarce.

The unusual arrangement has given steady work to athletes, who typically have short careers and struggle to find high-paying jobs. They also get perks like free housing, gym memberships and protein supplements.

Their involvement has helped spice up life at care centers. At one facility, bodybuilders in tank tops help patients brush their teeth and work out. At another, M.M.A. fighters take turns cooking for residents and helping them bathe. At another, retired sumo wrestlers help care for men rejected from other facilities because of their weight.

Here’s how athletes at three centers are changing perceptions of caregiving in Japan.

The Bodybuilders

Image

Takuya Usui, 26, a bodybuilder, exercising with a patient.

Video

Mr. Usui feeding Madoka Yamaguchi, 65.

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