Brothers in Sumo –
part one
Brian Lewin
Brothers no longer active on the dohyo come under the SFM microscope

NHK & the Ozumo
English Broadcast
Mark Buckton
A visit to NHK, years of watching the show and the opinions of our Ed-in-Chief

Hanging With the Rikishi
Barbara Ann Klein
Barbara Ann Klein recounts her experiences with the “boys” in a pictorial diary series

Rikishi of Old
Joe Kuroda
A look at a rikishi of yesteryear with Chiyonoyama – our man for December

Sumo Exhibit at the
Edo-Tokyo Museum
Barbara Ann Klein
SFM’s Editor takes in the exhibit celebrating 80 years of the Japan Sumo Association at this famous Tokyo museum

Heya Peek
John Gunning
John’s early morning trip to Hakkaku – a visit that almost didn’t happen

SFM Interview
Dave Wiggins sits down
with SFM’s Mark Buckton to discuss the broadcast scene – and maple syrup

Photo Bonanza
What a collection – All-Japan Sumo Tournament, Hakkaku-
beya visit and sumo exhibits at the Edo-Tokyo Museum

Kyushu Basho Review
Lon Howard
Lon gives us his Kyushu Basho summary, along with the henka sightings results, and his take on the year in brief

Lower Division Rikishi
Mikko Mattila
Mikko Mattila covers lower division ups and downs

Hatsu Basho Forecast
Pierre Wohlleben & Mark
Buckton
Pierre predicts the Hatsu Basho banzuke while Mark previews the ones to watch for in January

Sumo 101
Eric Blair
Eric explains all you need to know and then some about the Kokugikan building – the mecca of sumo

Kimarite Focus
Mikko Mattila
Mikko walks us through his chosen kimarite in expert fashion

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

Online Gaming
Eric Blair
For the lowdown on Guess the Kotomitsuki – baby of SFM’s John Gunning

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

Fan Debate
Intra heya bouts –
OK or not? See what our debaters had to say

SFM Cartoons
Stephen Thompson
In the second of our cartoon bonanzas, sit back and enjoy ST’s offerings

Let’s Hear From You
What was it that made you a sumo fan? American Todd Defoe 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.

 
Chiyotaikai
 
 will be rounding out the field as O2w, and I will be amazed if he remains the lowest-ranked ozeki for more than one basho.

Much less excitement awaits us in the lower sanyaku ranks as everybody eked out small kachi-koshi records. Hakuho
 
Hakuho
 takes over the sekiwake spot vacated by Kotooshu, and his komusubi rank, in turn, will likely be filled by M1e Tamanoshima. Nevertheless, Hatsu Basho 2006 will be notable for at least one thing: for the first time ever, each of the four sanyaku ranks from yokozuna to komusubi will include one foreign rikishi.

Among the high maegashira, the only real winner was M4e Miyabiyama who found ways to stay on his feet (which is never a given with him), won 10 bouts and earned a kanto-sho for his
 
Miyabiyama
efforts. Unfortunately, he is probably going to be a loser on the next banzuke as he won’t get a promotion to komusubi (narrowly losing to Tamanoshima in the promotion stakes) and will have to settle for being the new lead maegashira. He will be joined on the west side by Mongolian Tokitenku, who is making his first trip into the top ranks. 		Tokitenku earned his promotion fair and square with an excellent (and mostly unexpected) 10-5 record that was rewarded with the gino-sho, as did the Russian-Georgian pair of Roho and Kokkai who move up to M2 on 10-5 and 9-6 records, respectively.

The remainder of the meat grinder will be subject to the whims of the elevator, however. With the exception of Iwakiyama at M5e, all rikishi between M3 and M5 have either never been ranked this high in their careers (Takekaze, Hakurozan), or have not been there in a couple of years (Tochinohana, Asasekiryu, and Kasuganishiki). If nothing else, Hatsu Basho should keep up the excitement by giving us fans plenty of unusual matchups – hopefully they won’t all be foregone conclusions, but they usually are when the elevator has been this active (which means we’re probably in for a repeat performance for the next column). Still, one or two surprises should be in the cards. Predicting the ones to watch is normally Mark Buckton’s turf, but let me just point out my personal dark horse for Hatsu Basho: Former komusubi Tochinohana, now a veteran just a couple of months shy of his thirty-third birthday, made a

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