Amateur Sumo – the sport as it should be
Mark Buckton
Sakai World Sumo Champs – not all about winning

Las Vegas Koen
Joe Kuroda
Our man reports from the fight capital of the world

Rikishi of Old
Joe Kuroda
A look at a rikishi of yesterday with Kotozakura – our man for October

Heya Peek
John Gunning
John’s early morning dash to Azumazeki-beya & report on TKOTU

SFM Interview
Katrina Watts sits down with SFM’s Mark Buckton to discuss amateur sumo

Photo Bonanza
SFM’s best yet – Aki Basho/ Las Vegas / Amateur World Champs / Azumazeki-beya visit – seen nowhere else

Aki Basho Review
Lon Howard
Lon gives us his Aki Basho summary, along with the henka sightings results, and his take on the tournament while ‘gem’ of the basho takes a break

Lower Division Rikishi
Mikko Mattila
Mikko Mattila returns to cover lower division ups and downs

Kyushu Basho Forecast
Pierre Wohlleben & Mark Buckton
Pierre predicts the Kyushu Basho banzuke while Mark previews the ones to watch next time out

Sumo 101
Barbara Ann Klein
Discovers and explains amasumo & ozumo variations

Kimarite Focus
Mikko Mattila
Mikko once again walks us through his chosen kimarite

Minusha
John McTague
John’s unique bimonthly view of news from outside the dohyo

Online Gaming
Zenjimoto of ‘game fame’ covers some of the very best sumo games around – his own!

Kokugi Connections
Todd Lambert
Todd’s focus on 3 of the most interesting online sumo sites today

Fan Debate
Is the limit on foreign rikishi fair? See what our debaters had to say

SFM Cartoons
Benny Loh
In the first of our cartoon bonanzas, sit back and chuckle at Benny Loh’s offerings

Let’s Hear From You
What was it that made you a sumo fan? Gernobono tells all

Readers’ Letters
See what SFM readers had to say since our last issue

Sumo Quiz
The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho’s banzuke.

  go further – not in years on the dohyo, maybe, but time at rank in the sanyaku. Given a year or two and the time to fill out, Ama is headed for regular sanyaku appearances come his mid-20s. In Kyushu meanwhile, expect a comfortable 9-6 by senshuraku and an extra inch drawn on the learning curve.

Roho / Hakurozan

It may be strange to list together the most famous Russian brothers in Japan (the only famous Russian brothers in Japan??) but it is just about all they deserve at this venture as the following word applies to both, could be used alone to refer to either, and is perhaps the best adjective to suit the brothers since their arrival in makunouchi – ‘pullers’ !!! What, boys, is going on? Roho – massive build and owner of some wonderful throws when he wants to – has gone lame in the past 2 or 3 basho despite scoring an almost even total of 36 wins to 39 losses or absences thus far 2005. Among those 36 wins, sadly, a full 10 hatakikomi or hikiotoshi kimarite – the sign of a true-blue puller? Hakurozan, newer in the top flight, has his own range of tsuppari combined with ’nage techniques and can look formidable on his day. Sadly, those days are too few and far between at the moment
as he, too, relies on pulling on more occasions than many fans care to remember. Kyushu prediction: kachikoshi the pair, but nothing too beautiful. Too much pulling and not enough ‘oomph’. Numbers – 9-6 for Roho and 8-7 for Hakurozan.

Takekaze

Wakanoyama has retired. Buyuzan looks mired in the lower sekitori ranks and Katayama isn’t putting it together enough to be considered a makunouchi rikishi just yet. So, taking into account Hokutoriki’s D.O.B and Tosanoumi having surpassed his 1000th makunouchi bout, where are we to look for our basho dose of ‘oshi-au-lait’ to content the fans for whom mawashi mauling is mendokusai? Why ---- to Takekaze of course! In just his 11th top division tournament, Akira Narita, as he was born, is the most likely of a not-too-likely bunch to be the main ‘head-on’, in-your-face man come November, come 2006 and come the foreseeable future. Time will tell, but I see a period of Takekaze rising to the fore in terms of oshi-zumo over the next year or so. Let him start with a fine 9-6 in November.

Hakuho

A year ago Hakuho was god to
some. Winning with ease left, right and center, and using some very impressive sumo along the way, the Futabayama look-alike, M1w with a 9-6 kachikoshi in September, is set for a trip back to sanyaku for the Fukuoka tournament. Yet, the thing is – he still hasn’t shown all he can. He seems to be keeping some of it back and, well-documented injury notwithstanding, needs to get going soon if he is not to fall into the trap of being merely one of the regular but lesser noticed of the upper makunouchi faces in the years ahead (Kotomitsuki-esque, so to speak). Hakuho IS going places and presuming he doesn’t get carried away in Las Vegas, will set off on that journey in November. Prediction: 10-5 or better and talk of a sansho.

Kaio

At the time of writing Kaio is still around and, as ever, is surrounded by the black clouds of “will he / won’t he / when should he / why hasn’t he yet” intai debates. In mine own humble eyes at least, he ‘should have’ hung up that dirty blue mawashi some time ago when on a high. Post-Aki 2004 perhaps – when he secured his 5th Emperor’s Cup after a fine year of sumo, but in a

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