Sponsors rarely get a clean exit, and fewer still get to choose the stage. TOTO, the Kitakyushu-based housing equipment maker, picked the trophy ceremony. Its president told a crowd at the 52nd edition of the only LPGA event in Japan that after 12 years, the company is done. With roughly ¥737 billion in annual revenue, TOTO gave no reason for the exit.

Shinya Tamura, TOTO’s president and the tournament chairman, made the announcement after Sunday’s final round at Taiheiyo Club Minori Course in Omitama, Ibaraki. “With this event, our company will end its role,” he said, according to Golf Digest Online.

He thanked the Japanese and US women’s golf associations, the players, host governments and fans. He also said he hopes the event “will continue to grow and become even more exciting.”

That statement is important because Japanese outlet eGolf reported on September 18 that Konami Group could become the tournament’s new title sponsor next season. The current co-hosts, MBS and Sports Nippon, are expected to remain involved. Talks about the change have reportedly been going on since last year.

TOTO became the title sponsor in 2015, replacing Mizuno, which sponsored the event from 1999 to 2014. The tournament first began in 1973 as the LPGA Japan Classic. Over the years, it has also been known by names linked to Mazda and Toray.

The event is jointly organised by the LPGA Tour and the Japan LPGA. Its 78-player field includes 43 players from the LPGA Tour and 35 from the Japan LPGA. There is no cut.

However, the partnership between the two tours was interrupted. The LPGA Tour did not take part in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. During those two years, the tournament was held only as a Japan LPGA event. The LPGA Tour returned in 2022.

Shuri Sakuma gave TOTO a fitting send-off. The 23-year-old came from three shots back with a bogey-free 64 to win by four at 20 under, her first LPGA title after eight on the Japan LPGA Tour. She earned LPGA playing rights for next season and $315,000 from a $2.1 million purse. According to eGolf, her prizes also included a car, a toilet and a year’s supply of eggs and yogurt.

Aki Iwai, who led after 54 holes, finished solo second at 16 under. Defending champion Nasa Hataoka tied for sixth, seven shots back. A crowd of 5,366 turned out on the final day.

The TOTO years produced drama. In 2024, Rio Takeda beat Marina Alex on the sixth hole of a playoff for her first LPGA win. Last year, rain cancelled the final round, and Hataoka beat Yuna Araki in a one-hole playoff after the par-5 18th was turned into a 130-yard par-3.

The event’s history goes back much further than TOTO. Annika Sörenstam won it five years in a row, from 2001 to 2005, and in 1987, Ayako Okamoto became the first non-American to win the LPGA money title here.

If the Konami report is confirmed, the event would continue with a new name and the same Japan-US structure. That structure has given Japanese players a pathway to the LPGA: Momoko Ueda won here in 2007, and Takeda in 2024, and both earned LPGA cards.

Sakuma now has that chance. She has not decided yet on a move to the United States, reportedly saying her feelings are “half and half.”

TOTO’s role ends here, but the tournament it built over 12 years may not. The sponsor’s name on the trophy is only part of what keeps a 53-year-old event alive.