Takaichi Sanae’s rise to become Japan’s first female prime minister has prompted discussion over the Japan Sumō Association’s ongoing ban on women entering the ring. Over the years, there have been a number of challenges to this rule.
Sumō and Women
The Prime Minister’s Cup is awarded to the champions of the six Grand Sumō tournaments held each year—often by a representative, but occasionally by Japan’s leader personally. On the final day of the New Year Tournament, held in Tokyo in January 2025, then Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru presented the trophy to sumō wrestler Hōshōryū. This was the first time for a sitting or former prime minister to personally present the trophy since the 2019 Summer Tournament, when Prime Minister Abe Shinzō attended the final day along with US President Donald Trump, who also stepped onto the raised ring to present a special US President’s Cup.
US President Donald Trump presents the US President’s Cup to sumō wrestler Asanoyama on May 2019 at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. (© Jiji)
The Japan Sumō Association has long insisted on maintaining its tradition of banning women entering the raised sumō ring, called the dohyō. This raises the question of whether the tradition will be upheld if Japan’s first female prime minister, Takaichi Sanae, wishes to personally present the Prime Minister’s Cup. However, a November 11 statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara Minoru suggested that she may choose not to do so.
Incidents Related to Women and the Sumō Dohyō
May 1978
A girl who finished runner-up in a children’s sumō qualifying tournament is not allowed to participate in the national finals held at Kuramae Kokugikan.
Moriyama Mayumi, director-general of the Women and Minors Bureau at the Ministry of Labor, summons a board member of the Japan Sumō Association board member to her office to ask: “Why can’t women enter the dohyō? Is it because they are considered impure?” The response from the officials is that “the dohyō is a sacred place where wrestlers hone their skills and engage in sacred battle against each other” and that “professional sumō wants to preserve its traditions.” The outcome is that the girl’s disqualification is not overturned.
December 1989
Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Moriyama Mayumi, the first woman in Japan to hold that position, expresses the opinion that “it is strange that women are not allowed to set foot on the dohyō” and asks the Japan Sumō Association to grant her permission to personally present the Prime Minister’s Cup. Her request is denied.
February 8, 2000
Japan’s first female prefectural governor, Ōta Fusae (governor of Osaka Prefecture), announces at her inaugural press conference that she wants to personally present the Governor’s Prize to the winner of the Osaka Grand Sumō Tournament. This request is turned down by the chairman of the Japan Sumō Association, Tokitsukaze, who tells the governor: “We kindly ask you to refrain so that the traditional culture of sumō can be preserved.”
September 12, 2000
The screenwriter Uchidate Makiko becomes the first woman to hold a post in the Japan Sumō Association in its 50-year history when the organization appoints her to be a member of its Yokozuna Deliberation Council (she holds the position until 2010).
October 2, 2010
At the hair-cutting ceremony to mark his retirement, sumō wrestler Chiyotaikai, who holds the second-highest rank of ōzeki, has to step down from the dohyō so that his mother can cut off a lock of his hair.
April 4, 2018
During a spring sumō tour event held at the Maizuru Cultural Park Gymnasium in Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, Mayor Tatami Ryōzō collapses on the dohyō while giving a speech. Several female nurses quickly climb into the ring to perform life-saving procedures, including cardiac massage, but the arena announcer repeatedly warns them: “Ladies, please step down from the dohyō.”
That evening, Chairman Hakkaku of the Japan Sumō Association comments that the announcer had made “an inappropriate response to a life-threatening situation.”
April 6, 2018
During a spring sumō-tour event in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, the female mayor of the city, Nakagawa Tomoko, requests permission to make her welcome speech from the dohyō, but her request is denied. She instead addresses the wrestlers and spectators from a platform below the ring.
April 28, 2018
The Japan Sumō Association holds an extraordinary board meeting to discuss its handling of the incident during the Maizuru tour. Chairman Hakkaku issues a statement saying: “Although it has been our tradition to not allow women into the dohyō, emergencies and extraordinary circumstances are exceptions, especially when it involves a risk to human life.” The emphasis on “exceptions” is a reaffirmation of the principle that women are not allowed into the ring.
March 31, 2022
The Japan Sumō Association appoints ikebana artist Ikenobō Yasuko and actress Konno Misako as members of the Yokozuna Deliberation Council.
November 11, 2025
Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara Minoru issues a comment regarding the presentation of the Prime Minister’s Cup on the final day of tournaments during Takaichi Sanae’s premiership, indicating that she intends to uphold the traditions and culture of sumō.
(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: Executives of the Japan Sumō Association attend the dohyō-matsuri, ring-purification ceremony, in Tokyo’s Ryōgoku Kokugikan on the day prior to the opening of the Grand Sumō Tournament in September 2018. © Jiji.)
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