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| Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a press conference at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo, on Oct. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool) |
TOKYO — Sanae Takaichi made history by becoming Japan’s first female prime minister in October. She must now decide whether she’ll break another barrier: the taboo barring women from the sumo ring.
The winner of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament that ends Sunday will be presented with the Prime Minister’s Cup. Some of her male predecessors, including former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, have entered the ring to hand over the cup.
Takaichi, a staunch conservative who supports Japan’s traditional gender and paternalistic values, may not break the taboo. In any case, she won’t face a decision on whether to enter the sumo ring this time because she returns a day later from the Group of 20 summit in South Africa.
Her next chance to make a decision will come at the New Year’s tournament in Tokyo.
But a debate on the taboo against women likely will continue, in no small part, because a woman now leads Japan. There also is criticism that the ban in sumo and other religious places is out of touch with the changing place of women in Japanese society.
