Fusae Ōta (太田 房江, Ōta Fusae, born June 26, 1951) is a Japanese politician, a former governor of Osaka prefecture, and the country's first female prefectural governor. Her married name is Fusae Saitō (齊藤 房江, Saitō Fusae). She is affiliated to the revisionist lobby Nippon Kaigi.[1][2]
Ohta became governor of Osaka prefecture after the resignation of Knock Yokoyama in 2000. She was re-elected in 2004, and after eight years in office was succeeded by lawyer and TV personality Tōru Hashimoto.
Osaka hosts the March sumo tournament, one of Japan's six major tournaments, and the governor of each prefecture presents the "Governor's Prize" to the champion of each tournament. Given the Sumo Association's view that there is a traditional ban on women entering the dohyō (ring), and the ring would be "violated" by an "unclean"[3] woman entering it,[4] she was required to do so on the walkway beside the ring or send a male representative in her place. She repeatedly challenged the Sumo Association's policy by requesting to be allowed to fulfill her traditional role as governor. Her requests were repeatedly rejected until she stepped down from office.
Ohta's family name has been officially registered as Saitō (齊藤) since her marriage, but she uses her maiden name above for most public purposes.
Ohta's family name is romanized as Ohta by the URL of her website (ohtafusae.jp), the state government of Hawaii,[5] the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific,[6] Kansai Window,[7] and Dawn Center.[8] The name is romanized as Ota by WebJapan,[9] the Japan Times[10] and the BBC.[11]
