Yokozuna Deliberation Council

All of the three yokozuna of the time (Azumafuji, Terukuni and Haguroyama) were absent for most of the January tournament, driving intense criticism.

[9] The council is composed of prominent Japanese citizens from various fields who are said to share a passion for sumo and have a deep understanding of it.

[7][2][10] Since it is made up of personalities not employed by the Japan Sumo Association, the council is supposed to represent public opinion on wrestlers promoted to the supreme rank of yokozuna.

[7] During the emergence of foreign wrestlers in Japan's national sport, the media platform offered to council members revealed differences of opinion within it.

[11] Some council members publicly sided with opening the supreme rank of yokozuna to foreigners, citing in particular that it "makes no difference if the open door would create a desirable stimulus" for the sport, notably to motivate Japanese wrestlers then perceived as "lazy and slack".

[12] Others took a public stand in favor of excluding wrestlers from the rank, deigning that they did not, by definition, possess the dignity necessary to practice at the highest level of the banzuke.

Futahaguro's performance suggested that he would win tournaments quickly, and the Sumo Association decided to promote him to {{transl|ja|yokozuna} before he had actually won any Emperor's Cup.

[14] 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.

[17] Finally, the council also hold an open keiko session (called sōken, 総見) at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan, in front of a considerable number of toshiyori, as well as many members of the sports and mainstream media.

[19] In 2000, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology appointed Makiko Uchidate [ja] as a member of the council.