Photo/Illutration Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike speaks to ozeki Takakeisho at his formal retirement ceremony in October. Banned from the ring, she used her scissors to cut parts of his topknot after he stepped down from the dohyo. (Kensuke Suzuki)

Time and time again, the Japan Sumo Association has rejected rising criticism and refused to let female politicians enter the ring, citing tradition.

But what will the JSA do if Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister, decides she wants to step onto the dohyo?

For every sumo tournament, a Prime Minister’s Cup is awarded to the makuuchi division champion on the final day of the 15-day competition.

In most cases, a deputy chief Cabinet secretary or other high-ranking government official will stand in for the prime minister and present the trophy.

But there have been cases of a sitting prime minister climbing into the dohyo to make the presentation.

Most recently, Shigeru Ishiba in the 2025 New Year Grand Sumo Tournament handed over the cup himself.

After Takaichi was elected president of the Liberal Democratic Party in October, The Asahi Shimbun sent written questions to the JSA, including what it intended to do if Takaichi asked to be allowed to personally present the Prime Minister’s Cup.

“We believe it is our mission to pass down the traditional culture of sumo,” the association responded.

The issue of women on the dohyo first came into the spotlight in 1990, when Mayumi Moriyama became the first female chief Cabinet secretary under Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu.

She made clear that she wanted to represent the prime minister in handing over the cup.

But the JSA said, “No.”

“There should be at least one organization like ours,” said the JSA chairman at the time.

In 2000, Osaka Governor Fusae Ota asked the JSA if she could present a trophy at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament held every March in Osaka.

The JSA again said, “No.”

However, the JSA was forced to issue a formal apology over an incident in April 2018 during an exhibition tour in Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture.

The Maizuru mayor collapsed when he was giving a speech on the dohyo.

A female nurse sitting nearby rushed onto the ring to provide emergency care. But a sumo official used the PA system to order the nurse to leave.

JSA Chairman Hakkaku issued a statement of apology, calling the announcement inappropriate. But he added that the official had become flustered by the sudden turn in events.

When the female mayor of a Hyogo Prefecture city asked to give a speech on the dohyo during another exhibition tour, the JSA refused her request.

Criticism over the ban on females in the ring continued to grow, and the association established a panel of outside experts in 2019 to look into the matter.

The Asahi Shimbun also asked the JSA if that panel had reached some kind of conclusion or policy direction. The association replied that at present no conclusion has been reached.

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