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Brothers no longer active on the dohyo come under the SFM microscope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.

 

must have been good as occasionally, they would stop completely to listen for the sound of a truck coming up the street.

Despite the paper being there, the oyakata never showed up. That’s been the case in all but one of these articles. Are they avoiding me, I wonder? Presumably Kambayashi and Hokutoriki were on jungyo, but I 		was wondering where Kaiho might be. Of course it’s very possible he might have been in another part of the building, but I have to admit being most disappointed about not seeing him as Kaiho was the first rikishi of any rank I ever met .

The intensity of keiko picked up a little bit later on, but after a warm down of about 5 shiko, the rikishi decided to finish. Possibly the aroma coming from the kitchen was more enticing than that of sweat and sand in the keikoba. In any case, there was some embarrassed mumbling of “hayai ne” (that’s early) when a few more glances
at the clock confirmed it was only 8:40.

This was perhaps the shortest keiko session I had ever seen but, as usual, I was able to learn quite a bit. I have to admit that these trips to the different heya have a dual purpose for me as they allow me to study a variety of techniques used by different rikishi and, hopefully, put some of them into practice when I do keiko at my own club.

Anyway, with the session ending so early I, too, was at a bit of a loss as to what to do with the four hours before work. In the end, I took a stroll past the Kokugikan and down to the Sumida river. The fresh coolness of the air was a reminder that summer was well gone and that the next tournament in Tokyo would be heavy coat time.

Photos by John Gunning.
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