The Council considers candidates for promotion to sumo's top rank of yokozuna, before passing its recommendations to the JSA.
All of the three yokozuna of the time (Azumafuji, Terukuni and Haguroyama) were absent for most of the January tournament, driving intense criticism.
[2] The Yokozuna Deliberation Council was established on April 21, 1950 as an advisory body to the Japan Sumo Association.
[3] The Yokozuna Deliberation Council is constituted on the basis of Article 52 of the Japan Sumo Association statutes.
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.
[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.
[9] Finally, the council also hold an open keiko session (called sōken, 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.
[11] In 2000, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology appointed Makiko Uchidate [ja] as a member of the council.