The Sports and Peace Party (スポーツ平和党 ''Supōtsu Heiwa Tō'') was a political party in Japan run by

Antonio Inoki Muhammad Hussain Inoki (born ; February 20, 1943 – October 1, 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, martial artist, politician, and promoter of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. He was best known by the ring name , a homag ...

, a pro wrestler and former member of the House of Councillors. He continued to wrestle and promote while serving as a legislator. The party fielded 10 candidates in the 1989 election. Inoki met with

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

for the release of prisoners from

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

before the Gulf War. As is the traditional gift for a visiting head-of-state, Saddam gave Inoki a pair of golden swords. He served in the Diet until 1995, when he failed to win re-election, after accusations of

Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...

involvement and bribery lead to a decline in his popularity. His party, however, also fielded candidates in 1998.

History

The party was formed in 1989 by wrestler

, In the upper house election of 1989 Inoki was elected as a member of the House of Councillors via the PR Block system. In the 1992 Upper House election, Emoto Mengaki who was active as a pitcher of the

Nankai Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. The team was formerly known as the Nankai Hawks and was based in Osaka. ...

and the

Hanshin Tigers The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and is owned by Hanshin Electric Railwa ...

in the 1970s ran for the first place in the proportional district name list, he was elected to the House of Councillors.

References

{{Japan political parties Defunct political parties in Japan Political parties established in 1989 Political parties disestablished in 2007 1989 establishments in Japan