is given to one sportsperson or sports team every year since 1968 by the Japan Professional Sports Association

Media of Japan

The communications media of Japan include numerous television and radio networks as well as newspapers and magazines in Japan. For the most part, television networks were established based on the capital contribution from existing radio networks at that time...

. The award is one of the most prestigious all-sport awards in Japanese sport

Sport in Japan

Sports in Japan are a significant part of Japanese culture. Both traditional sports such as sumo and martial arts, and Western imports like baseball and association football, are popular with both participants and spectators....

. The recordholders are baseball players Ichiro Suzuki

Ichiro Suzuki

, usually known simply as is a Major League Baseball right fielder for the Seattle Mariners. Ichiro has established a number of batting records, including the sport's single-season record for hits with 262...

 and Sadaharu Oh

Sadaharu Oh

Sadaharu Oh, or Wang Chenchih , is a retired Japanese-Taiwanese baseball player and manager. He batted and threw left-handed and primarily played first base. Oh, who was born in Sumida, Tokyo the son of a Taiwanese father and a Japanese mother, had originally signed with the powerhouse Yomiuri...

 (three awards). A committee of representatives from Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 newspapers, wire services, television and radio for sports media

Sports journalism

Sports journalism is a form of journalism that reports on sports topics and events.While the sports department within some newspapers has been mockingly called the toy department, because sports journalists do not concern themselves with the 'serious' topics covered by the news desk, sports...

 are responsible for making the selections. The winner is given the Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Japan

The is the head of government of Japan. He is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the Diet from among its members, and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office...

 Trophy.

List of winners

Year	Winner	Sport
1968	Shozo Saijo Shozo Saijo Shozo Saijo is a former professional boxer from Saitama, Japan. He is a former WBA featherweight champion.- Biography :...	Boxing Boxing Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
1969	Yomiuri Giants Yomiuri Giants The are a professional baseball team based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. The team competes in the Central League in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top level of professional play in Japan. They play their home games in the Tokyo Dome, opened in 1988. The English-language press occasionally calls the...	Baseball Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
1970	Taihō Kōki Taiho Koki Taihō Kōki is the 48th Yokozuna in the Japanese sport of sumo wrestling. He is generally regarded as the greatest sumo wrestler of the post-war period. He became a yokozuna in 1961 at the age of 21, the youngest ever at the time, and he won a record 32 tournaments between 1960 and 1971...	Sumo Sumo is a competitive full-contact sport where a wrestler attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet. The sport originated in Japan, the only country where it is practiced professionally...
1971	Shigeo Nagashima Shigeo Nagashima is a Japanese former professional baseball player and manager.Nagashima was by far the most popular figure in Japanese baseball during his career. His contributions to the development of the sport in Japan are immeasurable.-Biography:...	Baseball
1972	Katsuaki Matsumoto Katsuaki Matsumoto Katsuaki Matsumoto is a Japanese former professional racing cyclist.Matsumoto is the leading all-time winningest professional Keirin track racer with a career total of 1341 wins. He retired from racing in 1981/10/01....	Bicycle racing Bicycle racing Bicycle racing is a competition sport in which various types of bicycles are used. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, bike trials, and cycle speedway. Bicycle racing is recognised as an Olympic sport...
1973	Tadashi Sawamura Tadashi Sawamura Tadashi Sawamura is a Japanese former kickboxer whose real name is Hideki Shiraha...	Kickboxing Kickboxing Kickboxing refers to a group of martial arts and stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from karate, Muay Thai and western boxing....
1974	Sadaharu Oh Sadaharu Oh Sadaharu Oh, or Wang Chenchih , is a retired Japanese-Taiwanese baseball player and manager. He batted and threw left-handed and primarily played first base. Oh, who was born in Sumida, Tokyo the son of a Taiwanese father and a Japanese mother, had originally signed with the powerhouse Yomiuri...	Baseball
1975	Hiroshima Toyo Carp Hiroshima Toyo Carp The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Central League. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Matsuda. Mazda is the largest single shareholder , which is less than the portion owned by the Matsuda family . Because of that,...	Baseball
1976	Sadaharu Oh	Baseball
1977	Sadaharu Oh	Baseball
1978	Yakult Swallows	Baseball
1979	Yoko Gushiken Yoko Gushiken was a Ryukyuan professional boxer from 1974-1981. His professional record is 23-1 and he held the title of WBA Light Flyweight champion 1976-1981.-Biography:...	Boxing
1980	Yoko Gushiken	Boxing
1981	Koichi Nakano Koichi Nakano of Japan is a former professional racing cyclist and ten-time world champion track racing cyclist. He is among the best track sprinters of modern times. He won an unprecedented 10 consecutive professional sprint gold medals at the UCI track world Championships from 1977 to 1986...	Bicycle racing
1982	Hiromitsu Ochiai Hiromitsu Ochiai Hiromitsu Ochiai is a former Japanese professional baseball player. He is currently manager of the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball...	Baseball
1983	Tatsuro Hirooka Tatsuro Hirooka Tatsuro Hirooka is a retired Japanese professional baseball player and manager. He was awarded Central League rookie of the year award in 1954.-References:...	Baseball
1984	Sachio Kinugasa Sachio Kinugasa Sachio Kinugasa is a former Japanese baseball player with Hiroshima Carp. He is nicknamed Tetsujin, meaning "Iron Man"....	Baseball
1985	Randy Bass Randy Bass is a former American baseball player and current politician. He is less notable for his career in Major League Baseball than for his success in Japan's Hanshin Tigers of Central League, where he had the most spectacular run of any American to ever play in Japan...	Baseball
1986	Hiromitsu Ochiai	Baseball
1987	Ayako Okamoto Ayako Okamoto is a Japanese professional golfer. She won 62 tournaments internationally, including 17 on the American LPGA Tour. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.-Early career:...	Golf Golf Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
1988	Chiyonofuji Mitsugu Chiyonofuji Mitsugu , born June 1, 1955, as in Hokkaidō, Japan, is a former champion sumo wrestler and the 58th yokozuna of the sport. He is now the head coach of Kokonoe stable....	Sumo
1989	Chiyonofuji Mitsugu	Sumo
1990	Hideo Nomo Hideo Nomo is a former right-handed pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball from Japan. He achieved early success in Japan, where he played with the Kintetsu Buffaloes from to...	Baseball
1991	Joichiro Tatsuyoshi Joichiro Tatsuyoshi is a former World Boxing Council world bantamweight champion from Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan. His record is 19–6–1 .He is popular for his fight style and unique personality, and has appeared in several television variety shows....	Boxing
1992	Takanohana Kōji Takanohana Koji is a former sumo wrestler from Suginami, Tokyo, Japan. He was the 65th man in history to reach sumo's highest rank of yokozuna, and he won 22 tournament championships between 1992 and 2001, the fifth highest total ever...	Sumo
1993	Kazuyoshi Miura Kazuyoshi Miura ----Kazuyoshi Miura , often known simply as Kazu, is a Japanese football striker. He has played for the Japanese national team and was the first Japanese recipient of the Asian Player of the Year award in 1993, an award presented annually by the Asian Football Confederation. He is currently with...	Football Football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
1994	Ichiro Suzuki Ichiro Suzuki , usually known simply as is a Major League Baseball right fielder for the Seattle Mariners. Ichiro has established a number of batting records, including the sport's single-season record for hits with 262...	Baseball
1995	Ichiro Suzuki	Baseball
1996	Masashi Ozaki Masashi Ozaki is a Japanese professional golfer. Ozaki is often known as Jumbo Ozaki on account of his height and length off the tee. He featured in the top ten of the Official World Golf Rankings for almost 200 weeks between 1989 and 1998...	Golf
1997	Hidetoshi Nakata Hidetoshi Nakata , is a retired Japanese football player. He was one of the most famous Asian footballers of his generation.Nakata began his professional career in 1995 and won the Asian Football Confederation Player of the Year award in 1997 and 1998, the Scudetto with A.S...	Football
1998	Kazuhiro Sasaki Kazuhiro Sasaki Kazuhiro "Daimajin" Sasaki is a former Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher. He played his entire NPB career with the Yokohama Taiyo Whales / Yokohama BayStars...	Baseball
1999	Daisuke Matsuzaka Daisuke Matsuzaka is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball in the United States. He previously played for the Seibu Lions in Japan's Pacific League. He was selected the MVP of the inaugural and the second World Baseball Classic, and is an Olympic bronze...	Baseball
2000	Hideki Matsui Hideki Matsui is a Japanese Major League Baseball designated hitter and outfielder. He bats left-handed and throws right-handed.After playing the first ten seasons of his career for the Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, he played the next seven seasons, from 2003–2009, for the New York...	Baseball
2001	Ichiro Suzuki	Baseball
2002	Japan national football team Japan national football team The Japan national football team represents Japan in association football and is operated by the Japan Football Association, the governing body for association football in Japan...	Football
2003	Hideki Matsui	Baseball
2004	Asashōryū Akinori Asashōryū Akinori is a former sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. He was the 68th yokozuna in the history of the sport in Japan and became the first Mongol to reach sumo's highest rank in January 2003. He was one of the most successful yokozuna ever. In 2005 he became the first man to win all six official...	Sumo
2005	Asashōryū Akinori	Sumo
2006	Japan national baseball team Japan national baseball team The Japan national baseball team is the national baseball team representing Japan in international competitions. They are one of the more successful baseball teams in the world, having won the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009...	Baseball
2007	Urawa Red Diamonds Urawa Red Diamonds are a professional association football club playing in Japan's football league, J. League Division 1. One of Japan and Asia's best supported teams, the club has been able to boast the highest average crowds for thirteen of the J-League's twenty season history...	Football
2008	Ryo Ishikawa Ryo Ishikawa , also known by the nickname "Hanikami Ōji" , is a Japanese professional golfer.On 20 May 2007, Ishikawa became the youngest winner ever of a men's regular tournament on the Japan Golf Tour by winning the Munsingwear Open KSB Cup at the age 15 years and 8 months. He competed as an amateur and it...	Golf
2009	Ryo Ishikawa	Golf
2010	Hakuhō Shō Hakuho Sho is a professional sumo wrestler from Ulan Bator, Mongolia. Making his debut in March 2001, he reached the top makuuchi division in May 2004. On May 30, 2007 at the age of 22 he became the second native of Mongolia, and the fourth non-Japanese overall, to be promoted to the highest rank in sumo,...	Sumo

Wins by sports

Sport	# of Awards
Baseball	21
Sumo	7
Boxing	4
Football	4
Golf	4
Bicycle racing	2
Kickboxing	1