The Yokozuna Deliberation Council (Yokozuna shingi iinkai, 横綱審議委員会), sometimes abbreviated as Yokoshin (よこしん), is the advisory body to the Japan Sumo Association. The Council considers candidates for promotion to sumo's top rank of yokozuna, before passing its recommendations to the JSA. It also gives comments about ranked wrestlers anticipating their potential promotions.
The reason the Council was created is because of a scandal at the beginning of 1950. All of the three yokozuna of the time (Azumafuji, Terukuni and Haguroyama) were absent for most of the January tournament, driving intense criticism. The Sumo Association even began to think about a demotion system applied to yokozuna but the idea was later dropped under pressure from sumo purists and traditionalists.[1] To maintain the dignity of the rank, it was instead decided that yokozuna should be recommended by experts with a deep knowledge of sumo, like the House of Yoshida Tsukasa (who controlled the world of sumo during the Edo period).[2] The Yokozuna Deliberation Council was established on April 21, 1950 as an advisory body to the Japan Sumo Association. The first chairman of the Council was, a former count and member of the House of Peers. Its ten members were all distinguished members in fields unrelated to sumo; they include scholars, sociologists or writers. In January 1951 the Sumo Association declared that the yokozuna licenses would be, from that moment on, entirely under the control of the Yokozuna Deliberation Council and the directors of the Association, transforming the traditional recommendation and approval of the House of Yoshida Tsukasa into a pure ceremony.[3]
The Yokozuna Deliberation Council is constituted on the basis of Article 52 of the Japan Sumo Association statutes.[4] The Council is composed of experts from various fields who are said to share a passion for sumo and have a deep understanding of it.[5] Sumo Association members cannot be appointed in the Council and its members are unpaid.[5] Since 1997, it was decided that members would serve terms of two years, with a maximum of five terms.[5] The number of members is limited to 15[5] and there is currently 8 members on the Council. The Council is directed by a chairman elected by mutual vote of members. The chairman's term of office is 2 years, up to 2 terms. Association members can also attend and take part at the meeting, the Association's chairman and other directors usually attend the meeting.
The meeting of the Council is held after the announcement of each tournament ranking and before the final ranking organization meeting. It is also held the day after each tournament's . At the request of the Association, the Council will report to the Association's consultation on yokozuna recommendation based on the wrestler's hinkaku (品格, dignity) and other yokozuna-related matters, or make recommendations based on its suggestions. The Council also usually provides three types of advice to the already existing yokozuna it examin:
For the yokozuna promotion process, the internal rule is that an ōzeki wins two tournaments in a row in principle. This rule was established following the promotion of the yokozuna Futahaguro in 1986. The Association was looking for an opponent to Chiyonofuji who was a dominant yokozuna. Futahaguro's performance suggested that he would win tournaments quickly, and the Association decided to promote him to yokozuna before he had actually won an Emperor's Cup. However, Futahaguro's results never matched his rank and his attitude problems led to his forced retirement in 1988.[6] From that day on the association decided to organise a more efficient filtering of wrestlers eligible for the rank of yokozuna by unofficially requiring two tournaments won in a row. Since Asahifuji in 1990, every yokozuna promoted until Kakuryū won two tournaments in a row.
Today, the Sumo Association seems to consider that results "equivalent to a tournament victory" can also be considered sufficient for promotion to the sumo supreme title.[7] When recommending a wrestler with similar results, two-thirds or more of the attending Council members must agree.
The Council also report on the second highest rank of sumo because ōzeki are at the gateway of the yokozuna rank. Therefore, in 2022, the Yokozuna Deliberation Council delivered harsh comments on the attitude and performances of the three ōzeki at that time (Takakeisho, Shodai and Mitakeumi), even going as far as proposing a harsher system in case of an ōzeki demotion.[8] In the meantime, the Council also gives praises to promising talents. For example, during the same period, the Council praised sekiwake Wakatakakage and maegashira Tamawashi on their tournament.[9]
Finally, the council also hold an open session (called , 総見) at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan, in front of a considerable number of oyakata, as well as many members of the sports and mainstream media. The event is also filmed by at least six different entities. The sōken was opened to the general public and held in the main area of the Kokugikan, but in 2023 the Japan Sumo Association and the Yokoshin decided to move the training to the sumo school rings with a limited attendance.[10] In September 2023, it was decided that the sōken would once again be open to the public. This event, the first public one in four years, also marked the first time that a Yokozuna Deliberation Council event coincided with a kanreki dohyō-iri, the chairman of the Japan Sumo Association, Hakkaku, having celebrated his sixtieth birthday on the same date.[11]
In 2000, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology appointed as a member of the council. It was the first time a woman was made a member of the yokoshin.[12] In 2022, the Ministry appointed Konno Misako and Ikenobō Yasuko as members of the Yokozuna Deliberation Council and, for the first time, two women became members at the same time of an organization linked to the Japanese Sumo Association.[13]
Notices have been issued three times since the council's inception in 1950:
As of February 2024.
| Name | Appointed since | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2015 | Chairman of the Yokozuna Deliberation Council Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo.[19] | |||
| Tokura Shunichi | March 2015 | Composer President of the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers Commissioner for the Agency for Cultural Affairs. | ||
| February 2019 | Former chairman of Japan Tobacco.[20] | |||
| January 2020 | President of the Chunichi Shimbun.[21] | |||
| Ikenobō Yasuko | March 2022 | Former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Former member of the House of Representatives (Komeito Party).[22] | ||
| Konno Misako | March 2022 | Actress. | ||
| January 2023 | Taisho Pharmaceutical president.[23] | |||
| Ōshima Tadamori | January 2023 | Former politician Former member of the House of Representatives (Liberal Democratic Party). | ||
| February 2024 | French literature scholar and literary critic at Meiji University.[24] |
Since its foundation in 1950, the Yokozuna Deliberation Council had 18 chairmen.
| Name | Tenure | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|
| † | 1950-1969 | Member of the first Council after its foundation. Elected chairman until his death in 1969. | |
| Funahashi Seiichi † | 1969-1976 | Writer and novelist. | |
| Ishii Mitsujirō † | 1976-1981 | Former deputy prime minister. Former president of the Japan Sports Association. | |
| † | 1981-1990 | Scholar of German literature, critic and essayist. | |
| † | 1990-1993 | Former Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo. Resigned from the chairmanship due to health problem in 1993. | |
| † | 1993-1997 | Former Asahi Shimbun president. | |
| † | 1997-1999 | Former NHK chairman. | |
| † | 1999-2001 | Former Kahoku Shimpō chairman. | |
| Watanabe Tsuneo | 2001-2003 | Former Yomiuri Shimbun chairman. | |
| † | 2003-2007 | Former Kyoritsu Women's University president. | |
| 2007-2009 | Journalist, Former NHK president. Current chairman of Japan Sumo Association's Counselor committee. | ||
| † | 2009-2013 | Former Nikkei, Inc. chairman. Actively participated to Sumo reforms under Hiroyoshi Murayama term and before the Association became a Public Interest Incorporated Foundation. | |
| † | 2013-2015 | Former Yomiuri Shimbun counselor. | |
| 2015-2017 | Professor Emeritus at Chiba University. | ||
| 2017-2019 | Advisor to the Mainichi Shimbun's board and former Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association president. | ||
| 2019-2022 | Central Nippon Expressway Company advisor. | ||
| Kōmura Masahiko | 2022-2023 | Former Minister of Defense and Foreign Affairs. | |