Sumo's Foreign InvasionMark Buckton
Sumo - still Japanese or truly International?
Rikishi of Old
Joe Kuroda
A look at a rikishi of yesteryear with Umegatani II our man for June
Heya Peek
John Gunning
John attends asageiko at Takasago-beya to give us the first of his bimonthly looks at sumo's stables
Photo Bonanza
Kurt Easterwood & Quinlan Faris
Kurt & Quin treat us to some of the best sumo pics around - and seen nowhere else
May Basho Review
Lon Howard & John Gunning
Lon gives us his Natsu Basho summary and his take on upset of the tournament while John chips in with his 'gem' of the basho
Lower Division Rikishi
Mikko Mattila
Mikko provides his round up of the boys in Makushita and below at the Natsu Basho
July Basho Forecast
Pierre Wohlleben & Mark Buckton
Pierre predicts the Nagoya Basho banzuke while Mark previews the ones to watch next time out
Sumo 101
Barbara Ann Klein
Rhyme and reason behind the pre-tachiai rituals that mystified us all as beginners
Kimarite Focus
Mikko Mattila
Mikko walks us through A, B & C
Minusha
John McTague
John's unique view of news from outside the dohyo
Las Vegas Jungyo Teaser
Ngozi Robinson
Months away but like kids at Christmas we are still too excited not to mention it
Online Gaming
Moti Dichne
Hear from the founder of Guess the Banzuke (GTB) on exactly what makes it tick
Le Monde Du Sumo
The original team at MDS tells us how it all started
Sumo Mouse
Todd Lambert
Heya Links Galore and a focus on 3
Fan Debate
JR & EB square off: Right or Left - which should Asashoryu use when receiving kensho?
Let's Hear from You
What was it that made you a sumo fan?
Ngozi Asks
Question of the month - What is Sumo?
Sumo Quiz
The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho's banzuke
trying for a comeback after a serious injury is Tochifudo of Kasugano beya, who finished 6-1 come senshuraku. The triplet of Kadoyama, Kageyama and Sawai will all compete in Sandanme at July’s Nagoya basho.
In the Sandanme division, the yusho was decided in a play-off between the 21-year-old Mongolian Hoshizakura and the 19-year-old Teruyama. Hoshizakura won the play-off without breaking a sweat and will be at the highest rank of his career in Nagoya. Teruyama, meanwhile, hadn't produced such convincing results in Sandanme before, so his sudden 7-0 was unexpected, especially as he stopped Sawai's winning streak in the process. Wakatenro, a former Juryo rikishi who dropped all the way back to Jonidan, lost to Hoshizakura and ended with a 6-1.
In Makushita, the highest non-salaried division, former Makuuchi rikishi Ushiomaru is superior in strength to his peers when his chronic knee injury is under control and this enables him to fully exert his forward going sumo. Dominating most of his bouts with the authority of experience, he clinched his 7-0 yusho against Dewaotori with a bulldozing moro-zashi win. Only
slightly less noticeable was the 27-year-old Makushita veteran Kyokunankai who lost just once - to Onishi and therefore fulfilled his dream of a promotion to Juryo after a long career in the lower divisions. Kyokunankai's sumo looked sharp throughout Natsu and along the way, he defeated 4 former or current Juryo rikishi. College star Onishi (23) wasn't in the yusho race for long, but used his energetic sumo to win 5 bouts and secure a promotion to Juryo from his Ms3 rank. Onishi's 44-12 record since his debut at Haru basho 2004 speaks for itself.
The most impressive youngsters in Makushita were the giant Estonian Baruto (20) and one of the biggest Japanese hopes, Dewaotori (19). Baruto, at 197cm has considerable strength and he displayed it in a stunning way last month, beating foes with sudden eruptions of power as he utilized his reach and leverage to the fullest extent. His only loss came by utchari against Homasho, another rikishi who is a candidate for promotion to Juryo before the end of the year as he managed a 6-1 record after a 5-2 and a 4-3 at the previous two basho in Makushita. Baruto will be one of the hottest newcomers to the
top 10 Makushita ranks at the Nagoya basho. Dewaotori, on the other hand, was regarded as a huge prospect when he joined Dewanoumi-beya. Although he did rise rapidly to Makushita, he had injury problems with his left elbow, which contributed to his stagnation for a couple of basho in mid-Makushita. This time he won 6 in a row before losing the yusho deciding bout to Ushiomaru. Dewaotori's sumo was strong and he couldn’t be moved easily. Having said that, he still needs to work on his tachi-ai and cut back on the pulling habit in the middle of his bouts. Both Baruto and Dewaotori will be fully tested at the Nagoya basho when they face the cream of the Makushita rikishi and possibly each other.
Baruto's stablemates Shiraishi (23) and Satoyama (24) were both in good shape. Shiraishi didn't suffer the slapdown losses that had been his weakness at high Makushita, but he was manhandled by two oshi-rikishi - Onishi and Dairaido. Shiraishi's 5-2 wasn't enough for a promotion to Juryo but he will enter Nagoya basho at the top Makushita rank and the small but very skillful Satoyama displayed his tenacity in securing a 5-2 record for the second time in a row in
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