SOS - Shinjinrui on Sumo Chris Gould Chris sinks his teeth into how sumo can go about pulling in the younger fans - currently so noticeable by their absence. The first of a three-part series. Sumo World Championships Mark Buckton Mark Buckton reports from Sakai near Osaka, site of the latest Sumo World Championships. Rikishi of Old Joe Kuroda Joe Kuroda finishes off his look at former yokozuna Minanogawa. Sumo 101 / Eric Evaluates Eric Blair Eric expains sumo fan terminology - with the inevitable twist - for those just getting into the sport and still subject to the know it alls. Age stands still for no man Joe Kuroda Former ozeki Kiyokuni will retire in November under the compulsory '65 and you are out' rule. JK takes a look at this quiet earth mover. Feel the Sumo Eduardo de Paz Read and feel the renowned Leonishiki's passion for all things sumo at his first live event. SFM Interview Mark Buckton Mark interviews Colin Carroll - again - Irish star of Sakai. Photo Bonanza See the Aki Basho bonanza as well as the largest collection of pics you are likely to see on the Sumo World Championships earlier in October. Aki Basho Summary   Lon Howard Lon wraps the September Aki Basho and throws in some henka sighting results for good measure. Lower Division Rikishi   Mikko Mattila The lower divisions, their members and results get the once over thanks to Mikko's eye of things 'beneath the curtain'. Kyushu Ones To Watch   Carolyn Todd Carolyn shares her thoughts on whom to keep an eye on in Fukuoka. Kimarite Focus Mikko Mattila Mikko's latest clarification of several of the sport's plethora of kimarite. Amateur Angles   Howard Gilbert Howard Gilbert - manager of New Zealand's amateur sumo team takes a look at the approaching Russians. Kokugi Konnections   Todd Lambert Click on Todd's bimonthly focus on three of the best sumo sites online. Fan Debate   Facilitator - Lon Howard Jesse Lake and Rich Pardoe hammer out their differences on a current furor - promotion criteria. SFM Cartoons    Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson In this issue's cartoon bonanza, sit back and enjoy Benny Loh's offerings and put a caption to Stephen Thompson's picture to win yourselves a banzuke. Sumo Odds ’n’ Ends    SFM's interactive elements including Henka Sightings, Elevator Rikishi and Eternal Banzuke! Lets Hear From You   What was it that made you a sumo fan? Kevin Murphy reveals all. Readers' Letters   See what our readers had to say since we last hit your screens. Sumo Quiz    The Quizmaster Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho’s banzuke.

enough experience at high makushita, but so far hasn’t been sharp enough to break through to juryo. Koryu started off with losses to Kadomoto and Hokutokuni but finished the basho with five consecutive wins at Ms7. Koryu has a certain sluggishness in his sumo which he needs to work on, but otherwise he exhibits true talent. Shibuya (19) had a sumo crisis a couple of basho ago when he went 0-10 between two basho recording a 2-5 in both Haru and Natsu. Since his sixth bout in the 2006 Natsu basho, he has gone 13-3, and has evidently overcome the crisis fully. In the Aki basho, he achieved 6-1 at Ms 32, losing only to Isobe, and is now back on track both statistically and content-wise. Isobe (23) dropped Shibuya off the yusho-hopeful list and found himself in a yusho-deciding bout against Sawai on day 13. Short and stubby Isobe had proven his prowess by rising fast to upper makushita, only to get injured prior to the Natsu basho. He searched to regain his form in Nagoya this year, and was now too good for lower makushita - thus sneaking all the way up to the final confrontation with Sawai. This showdown came to an abrupt end when Sawai shifted aside at impact. The last youngster to record a 6-1 was Mongolian Daiyuchi (23), who will be at his career-high rank in Kyushu. The 28-year-old Kaonishiki from Azumazeki-beya continued his comeback with his third 6-1 record in a row. He lost only to Ikioi. Ex-juryo Tochifudo (29) also had his best basho for a while with a 6-1 at Ms57. Tamaasuka (23) with a 5-2 at Ms3 was the only other rikishi to earn promotion to juryo with Sawai. For

Tamaasuka, this promotion wasn’t really that remarkable - he had already been at mid-maegashira before severely injuring his ankle. He has improved his sumo but still isn’t nearly as good as he was before his injury. He won with authority, including one-sided victories over Hakuba, Dewaotori and Wakanoho. He also took the role of a “spoiler” between Sawai and Wakanoho losing badly to the former and easily vanquishing the latter. Onomatsu-beya is on the verge of getting another sekitori as Yakigaya is showing signs of blooming. Yakigaya is still only 22 years old, but having joined sumo at the age of 15, he already has a long career with plenty of keiko behind him. He is benefiting from the hard work now with a good 5-2 record at Ms5. He resorted to pulls and slapdowns quite a lot, winning four bouts with either hikiotoshi or hatakikomi. On the other hand, he beat some quality foes like Tamaasuka, Bushuyama and Kadomoto. In the last five basho, Yakigaya has gone 6-1, 6-1, 5-2, 5-2 and 5-2, and will be a serious contender for an open juryo slot after Kyushu. Yakigaya is a pusher and has Katayama and Nakanishi as main training partners at his heya. Nakanishi (24) had also risen well on the banzuke with his powerful sumo, but seems to have hit the wall now with 3-4 at Ms10. losing to formidable foes like Wakanoho, Kadomoto and Bushuyama. College entrant Maeta (24, over 180 kg – close to 400 lbs) languished in sandanme as recently as the beginning of the year, but, surprisingly, broke free in a dramatic fashion taking the sandanme yusho in the Haru basho. He then held his own unexpectedly well in upper makushita, having

scored 4-3 and 5-2 in the last two basho. It is somewhat surprising considering that he wasn’t that formidable as an amateur and seemed to be quite vulnerable in sandanme. In the Aki basho, he was in the yusho race after a 5-0 start but then was thrown by Sawai and Shibuya.  Hakkaku-beya’s spirited bulldozer Hokutokuni (21) stretched his kachi-koshi streak to six, after a two-basho absence, with a steady 4-3 at career-high rank Ms8. He is one rikishi whose sumo has special vigour and energy. Amazingly, his last active losing record is from the 2004 Aki basho, where he went 3-4 in sandanme. He has been absent from many basho since, but never had a losing record when he started and finished a basho. Let’s take a look at the other rikishi who competed at high makushita between Ms1 and Ms5. Tochiozan’s stablemate Kimurayama (25) had an excellent shot at juryo, but crumbled to a feeble 2-5 make-koshi at Ms1 and couldn’t follow Tochiozan to juryo.  His only wins were over the hapless and injured giants, Dewaotori and Harunoyama. Shiraishi looked strong in Nagoya with his 7-0 yusho, but oddly failed to get kachi-koshi at Ms1. With an uneventful 3-4, Shiraishi’s failure was another setback to Onoe-beya’s hopes as Baruto got injured, and Satoyama woke up too late to have a shot at a makuuchi promotion. Daishodai found his new level at high makushita ending with a disappointing 3-4 at Ms2. Hakuba (23) is another Mongolian spending some time at high makushita. This basho, he had a tough series of opponents, but still eked out a satisfying 4-3. Due to banzuke luck, or, rather, the lack of it, he failed to get promoted, but will have an Next