The Prime Minister's Award announced by the Japan Racing Pigeon Association (JRPA) is an average award based on two races, medium-distance and long-distance. The qualifying races are the regional N race, officially defined as 600 km or more, and the Sakura Sho (Sakura Prize) or joint races organized in two or more regions, officially defined as 900 km or more. The same pigeon must have placed within the top 10% of participants in both races; at the federation level, the top three places are awarded under the "Association Cup," and among federation winners the pigeon with the lowest total entry ratio is awarded the "Prime Minister's Award."
As a historical note, the award system began with the "Prime Minister's Cup" presented to the association in 1956; it has been continued under the name "Prime Minister's Award" since 1976. Between 2012 and 2024 the award was dedicated in the name of the KBDB (Royal Belgian Racing Pigeon Federation) president; from the 2025 season the "Prime Minister's Award" name was reinstated, and according to the source this tradition continues.
The 2026 (Reiwa 8) national winner of the Prime Minister's Award is the pigeon with ring number 24LC02157, feather color BC, recorded as female; the listed owner is the Nakayama Makoto loft. This pigeon placed 6th overall among 1,996 participants in the regional N race and achieved 1st overall among 499 participants in the Sakura Sho.
In the pigeon profile published as "First Lady 'TAEKO'," 24LC02157's basic pedigree records list the sire as 20LC07752 and the dam as 19LC03067. JRPA published a list containing both the national ranking and the complete top-three lists of each regional federation; each federation's top three were awarded under the Association Cup.
The association announcement also included, for each region, participation and ranking information along with the ring numbers, feather colors, sex and performance summaries of the ranking pigeons. Interested parties can consult the JRPA-published list for detailed federation rankings.
