Sumo Fan Magazine

Yokozuna Comparisons
Joe Kuroda
SFM’s historian, JK, wraps his two-part article on the greatest of the tsuna wearers

Amateur Sumo's Global Aspirations
Courtesy: International Sumo Federation
What exactly is it and furthermore, what does it do? The ISF explain themselves and their purpose in existing

Rikishi of Old
Joe Kuroda
Man or myth? Sumo's first yokozuna comes under the spotlight

Heya Peek
Barbara Ann Klein
Tokitsukaze-beya and its famous find themselves the target of Barbara's peek into life inside the heya

SFM Interview
Mark Buckton
Featuring interviews with amateur sumo's European Sumo Union General Secretary and the President of the newly founded Irish Sumo Federation

Sumo 101
Barbara Ann Klein
Would chanko exist without sumo? What is chanko anyway? Find out in Sumo 101

Photo Bonanza
See the Haru
Basho through the eyes of the fans in the seats as SFM gives the mantle of photographer(s) for this basho to Barbara & Gerald Patten. And don't miss our all-Mongolian Bonanza supplied by our Editor, Barbara Ann Klein

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

Lower Division Rikishi
Mikko Mattila
Mikko Mattila covers the lower division goings on like nobody else around

Natsu Basho Forecast
Mark Buckton
Mark Buckton glances back to look forward in his ones to look out for come May

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

Sumo in Print
Mark Buckton
Our gaming thread takes a break for April so we can look at the Spanish language book on the sport not long since released

Kokugi Connections
Todd Lambert
Todd’s bimonthly focus on 3 of the WWW's best sumo sites today

Fan Debate
Facilitator – Lon Howard
April's man VS monkey debate covers the issue of reducing the number of honbasho

SFM Cartoons
Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson
Sit back and enjoy the offerings

Let’s Hear From You
What was it that
made you a sumo fan? Thierry Perran lets us in on his reasons for loving this sport

Readers’ Letters
See what some
See what our featured letter is for this issue

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

Elevator Ride

by Lon Howard

pattern holds, in June it will be confirmed that the makuuchi rikishi of the mid-1980s and early 90s were amazing elevator men compared to the ones who came immediately before and after them. Why? Perhaps the joi-jin of that era were stronger, making it harder for the elevator-prone to defeat them, but a more detailed study is needed to prove that.

Kyokushuzan's Elevator Index slipped from 6.45 to 6.26 but his position actually improved from #17 to #15 with several previous higher-ranking men slipping due to the rules change. He is still the only active rikishi in the top 20. Hokutoriki is coming on strong now, having moved 47 banzuke spots in the last three basho with changes of direction each time. His current EI of 7.15 would place him 7th all-time if he had already met the 30 basho requirement. He only needs five more basho to be qualified though, and at the rate he's going, he could be in the top 3 by the time he is qualified. No other active rikishi – qualified or not – is even close enough to start a conversation. It will be several years before any of them

Next

Again we are reminded why the Elevator Rules weren't cast in stone before the venture was launched. Usually, in order to bring a prototype up to full optimum, you just have to let it fly sometime and tweak it as you go. This proved to be no exception, but now, after many fits and a few starts, here is the final version of the Elevator Rules. It is greatly simplified.

In short, it became too convoluted trying to adapt to the mélange of ways in which rikishi traversed the banzuke, drifting in and out of juryo many times over; so now, by applying a zero-move count to all banzuke appearances transiting to and from juryo, there is no more cherry-picking. A rikishi's string is unbroken from the first makuuchi appearance to the last, with only two exceptions – which give new makuuchi rikishi a chance to become established in the division, and at career's

end, to allow a single makuuchi appearance to do no damage. Also gone is the ‘gift’ rule, which left a zero banzuke move out of the count if it was due to a 0-0-15 record because of the now-extinct kosho rule. It not only complicated the rules system but also was really an undeserved gift in that many rikishi used it to take a basho off when they could have competed, despite their injury. The unbroken string also means that the Elevator Retired List no longer has a function, so it goes bye-bye as well. See the Elevator Rules and Ranking for a complete description of the rules.

Overall, the major surprise this time is that only three additional rikishi slipped into the top 20, compared to whole scale additions the time before, even though ten additional years were studied compared to four years, previously. If this