Nagoya Nears
Eric Blair
As Nagoya nears, EB gets a head start on the pack by focussing on points of interest, past and present surrounding sumo's hottest basho

Rikishi of Old
Joe Kuroda
The 42nd yokozuna Kagamisato falls under the JK microscope

Heya Peek
Barbara Ann Klein
Kokonoe-beya and the Chiyo Boys

SFM Interview
Mark Buckton
SFM's Ed-in-Chief interviews Estonian up and comer Baruto

Sumo 101
Barbara Ann Klein
SFM's Editor looks at all the twists and turns involved in the tsunauchi-shiki and adds a photo bonanza to boot

Photo Bonanza
See the Natsu
Basho and Kokonoe-beya photo bonanzas

Natsu Basho Summary
Lon Howard
Lon gives us his Natsu Basho summary, along with the henka sightings results

Lower Division Rikishi
Mikko Mattila
Mikko Mattila lets you know what is going on down below the curtain

Nagoya Ones to Watch
Mark Buckton
MB's mixed bag of things to look out for in Nagoya

Kimarite Focus
Mikko Mattila
Our man Mikko takes us on a tour of several defensive oriented kimarite

Amateur Angles
Howard Gilbert
The first of our regular column pieces on the amateur sumo scene from a man who knows more than most

Sumo Game
Bruce Rae
For a look at his very own: PTYW (Pick The Yusho Winners)

Sumo in Print
Barbara Ann Klein
SFM's Editor reviews the newly published biography of Akebono, Gaijin Yokozuna – but sees it as more than just a biography

Kokugi Connections
Todd Lambert
Check out Todd's bimonthly focus on 3 of the WWW's best sumo sites around

Fan Debate
Facilitator – Lon Howard
Sumo author Mina Hall and long long time fan Jim Bitgood discuss how to make sumo more entertaining – if such a concept is even necessary

SFM Cartoons
Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson		  
Sit back and enjoy the offerings of sumo's premier artists

Let’s Hear From You
What was it that
made you a sumo fan? James Vath in rural Japan lets us in on his gateway to the sport

Readers’ Letters
See what our readers had to say since we last went out

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

  centre of gravity a bit off-balance. Osakate is sort of a horizontal uwatehineri where one bends oneself backwards while performing a horizontal uwatehineri move. In uwatehineri, the goal is to twist the opponent down, but in osakate, the movement doesn’t have a downward tangent but is more like swinging the opponent around. The loser then steps out of the dohyo as a result of the swinging move.

It is highly recommended that readers dig into the sumo archives to review the bout where Aminishiki puts osakate on display in such textbook form that it really demonstrates what the technique is all about. When you watch that day 8 bout in the 2005 Kyushu basho between Aminishiki and Takamisakari, you will see the definitive execution of the osakate technique. In the bout, Takamisakari gets both hands inside and forces Aminishiki to the edge with his very superior position. Aminishiki is completely upright as he arrives on the tawara but he uses his right hand outside grip to swing Takamisakari around and out of the dohyo while bending backwards on the edge of the dohyo – a perfect exhibition of osakate. Osakate has been performed less than 10 times in all divisions since its implementation.

Harimanage has been seen four times in makuuchi since 1990. 		It is a pulldown technique where the attacker moves away from the direct path of the opponent’s attack and reaches over the opponent’s shoulder for the back of his belt. From this position, the attacker pulls the opponent past him. It is usually considered a last ditch throw but both Kyokushuzan, in the 2003 Haru basho, and Baruto, in the 2006 Natsu basho, initiated the move more or less from the middle of the dohyo.

Kyokushuzan often pulls his foe and yanks him around quite a bit and it is actually quite surprising that he has only registered one harimanage win. In the bout against Tochinonada on day 15 in the 2003 Haru 		basho, Kyokushuzan started with his usual two-handed thrust followed by a yank. He then circled away and reached for Tochinonada’s belt at the knot area and continued the move while backing up and shifting aside enough so that Tochinonada fell to the dohyo. Baruto’s strong debut in makuuchi resulted in quite a few rather peculiar pulling attempts, but on day 12, he moved aside slightly and grabbed the back of Iwakiyama’s mawashi, pulling him past and down – certainly a rare sight of a rikishi attacking with harimanage.


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Baruto wins with harimanage (photo by Barbara Ann Klein)