Brothers in Sumo –
part two
Brian Lewin
Brothers still active on the dohyo get their turn

Yokozuna Comparisons
Joe Kuroda
SFM’s most eminent historian, JK, has a crack at the impossible and tries to see who was the greatest of the tsuna wearers

Rikishi of Old
John Gunning
Takanobori – former sekiwake, former NHK man and all ’round gent

Heya Peek
Barbara Ann Klein
Kitanoumi-beya, Kitazakura, mirrors & photo bonanza

SFM Interview
John Gunning
Kazuyoshi Yoshikawa (son of the late sekiwake Takanobori) on life in sumo way back when

Sumo 101
Barbara Ann Klein
Behind every good man there stands a good woman – read and ye shall see. A departure from our regular 101 feature

Photo Bonanza
See the Hatsu Basho
plus much more through the lens of our photographers

Hatsu Basho Review
Lon Howard
Lon gives us his Hatsu Basho summary, along with the henka sightings results

Lower Division Rikishi
Mikko Mattila
Mikko Mattila covers lower division goings on in detail

Haru Basho Forecast
Pierre Wohlleben & Mark Buckton
Pierre predicts the Haru Basho banzuke while Mark highlights the ones to look out for in Osaka

Kimarite Focus
Mikko Mattila
Mikko takes us on a tour of his chosen kimarite

Minusha
John McTague
John’s unique bimonthly view of sumo news from outside the dohyo and in the restaurants!

Online Gaming
Alexander Nitschke
SFM’s own Alexander Nitschke covers the long running Hoshitori Game

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

Fan Debate
Feb's debate sees
a pair of Kiwis exchanging opinions on the honbasho going on the road

SFM Cartoons
Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson
In the third of our cartoon bonanzas, sit back and enjoy BL’s offerings and put a caption to ST’s pic to win yourselves a banzuke

Let’s Hear From You
What was it that
made you a sumo fan? A unique perspective from a sightless reader.

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

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

  wins in his last two tournaments, both of which had him ranked in sanyaku. His first attempt failed exactly one year ago and led to a very lackluster year 2005 for him. Rebounding recently, 2006 could be a lot more spectacular, especially if he achieves the necessary 11 wins for promotion in the upcoming tournament.

Russian Roho finally managed to break through the glass ceiling (albeit most likely aided by the worse-than-usual competition at the top) and will make his sanyaku debut as east
 
Roho
 
 komusubi. Joining him on the west side is perennial high-
ranker Miyabiyama, who is
back in sanyaku after a three-
basho absence. Not joining them in sanyaku is Kokkai, who just misses out once again despite
his kachi-koshi. He will probably be the new lead maegashira on the east side. Komusubi Tamanoshima, whose valiant battle through injuries was not rewarded with a kachi-koshi, should be joining Kokkai at maegashira 1. They are followed by the aforementioned notable exception from the mid-
maegashira mediocrity in January, Hokutoriki, who had one of his infrequent brilliant basho and finished with 12 wins, turning around his fortunes from November, when he only posted 2 and fell down far on the banzuke. The leading candidate for the M2w spot appears to be Ama, who will be reaching his highest rank to date and face top competition
 
Iwakiyama
 for an entire basho for the first time. His stablemate Aminishiki (going up to the top ranks for the first time in a couple of years himself) and
veterans Iwakiyama and Kyokutenho will round out the March meatgrinder.

Moving along in my banzuke prediction, we have two Tokitsukaze rikishi who were at opposite ends of the banzuke just last basho and now meet around M5. Tokitenku unsurprisingly comes back down to earth after being elevated to M1w last time, while Tokitsuumi returns from the wilderness with an impressive 12-3 record after more than a year spent at the bottom of makuuchi and in juryo. Both should not be facing all the top guys (barring early injuries expanding the meatgrinder downward), but will likely still find it difficult to reach eight wins at this height. The three rikishi following them, Futeno and the Musashigawa duo of Dejima and Kakizoe, should
be better bets for a return to top maegashira ranks.

The mid-maegashira ranks are

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