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SOS - Shinjinrui on Sumo |
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Chris Gould
Chris sinks his teeth deeper into how sumo can go about pulling in the younger fans in part two of a three-part series.
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Azumazeki up close and personal |
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Steven Pascal-Joiner / William Titus
A wiz with a pen and a wiz with a lens get together with SFM to share
their time with Azumazeki Oyakata - Takamiyama as was - with the wider
sumo following world.
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Rikishi of Old |
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Joe Kuroda
Joe Kuroda takes a detailed look at the life and times of a former yokozuna forgotten by many - Maedayama.
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Eric Evaluates |
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Eric Blair
Eric calls the musubi-no-ichiban kimarite call on nakabi in Kyushu as perhaps only he could.
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Heya Peek |
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Jeff Kennel
First time heya visitor Jeff Kennel wrote about, photographed and even
made a video of his time spent at Arashio Beya prior to the Kyushu
Basho. All to be found within.
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SFM Interview |
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Mark Buckton
Mark interviews Russian up and comer Wakanoho of Magaki Beya.
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Photo Bonanzas |
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See behind the scenes at the Kyushu Basho, morning training in Arashio
Beya through the eyes of an artist and exactly what the Azumazeki lads
had to eat halfway though the July Nagoya Basho. All originals, all
seen here and nowhere else, and all for you.
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Kyushu Basho Summary |
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Lon Howard
Lon wraps the Kyushu Basho in Fukuoka and throws in some henka sighting results for good measure.
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Lower Division Rikishi |
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Mikko Mattila
The lower divisions, their members and results get the once over thanks
to Mikko's eyeing of life down below the salaried ranks.
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Hatsu Ones To Watch |
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Carolyn Todd
Carolyn ponders and puts fingers to keys on the ones to watch come January and the Hatsu Basho.
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Kimarite Focus |
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Mikko Mattila
Mikko's latest clarification of a handful of sumo's kimarite offers unequalled analysis and in depth explanations.
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Amateur Angles |
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Howard Gilbert
Howard looks at makushita tsukedashi and what it means in real terms.
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Kokugi Konnections |
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Todd Lambert
Click on Todd's bimonthly focus on three of the best sumo sites online.
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Fan Debate |
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Facilitators - Lon Howard / Carolyn Todd
Two SFMers talk over the yokozuna benefiting from weak opposition - or not as the case may be.
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SFM Cartoons |
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Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson
In this issue's cartoon bonanza, sit back and sample Stephen's artistic offerings.
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Sumo Odds ’n’ Ends |
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SFM's interactive elements including Henka Sightings, Elevator Rikishi and Eternal Banzuke!
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Lets Hear From You |
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What was it that made you a sumo fan? Starting with issue #10, the SFM
staff will reveal a little of their own routes into sumo fandom -
starting with Benny Loh.
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Readers' Letters |
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See what our readers had to say since we last hit your screens.
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Sumo Quiz |
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The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho’s banzuke.
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Georgiev,
for whom such disputes are common, is a fervent advocate of emotional
sumo. ‘Yes, I want more emotion in sumo,’ he told me. ‘When I win, I
punch the air and jump about. I want to do that. And once, when I lost,
I punched a chair.’ Aged under 30, Georgiev fully understands why
similarly-aged Japanese mock sumotori, and is impressed that one of his
feisty ex-training partners, the ozeki Kotooshu, has adjusted to sumo’s
behavioural norms. He appears a touch resentful that Kotooshu – or
Kaloyan, as Georgiev knows him – has had his personality changed by the
professional sumoe environment:
‘Kaloyan was always funny before, but he is more serious now.’ That
said, he admires professional sumotori who remain emotionless when
repeatedly whipped by a stablemaster’s bamboo cane. (He insists he
would simply retaliate.)
Professional sumotori have traditionally recognised a need to satisfy
western cravings for sporting emotion. Consequently, they have oft
overplayed the shikiri-naoshi (e.g. through exaggerated staring) when
on foreign tours; however, rikishi should not feel impelled to show
emotion. Rather, the NSK should divide its foreign performances into
two segments. The first segment should involve 45 minutes of jungyo
(practice), allowing for animation among sumotori, and possibly even
hana-zumo (comedy sumo). The second segment should aim to mirror a
basho environment. This way, rather than impinge upon each other, the
‘playful’ and ‘professional’ sides of sumotori are separated, and offer
audiences a more accurate insight into the many layers of sumo
personalities.
Fed-up Females?
Professional sumo is not the most female-friendly of environments. Its
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deference
to the Shinto religion entails adherence to the belief that the
bleeding associated with menstruation is a sign of impurity.
Consequently, as all professional dohyo are consecrated in a Shinto
ceremony, women have never been permitted to set foot on one. This
issue alas masks the fact that sumo is replete with important female
figures known as okami-san (stablemaster’s wives), who take on many of
a stable’s administrative tasks. No female interviewee has, as yet,
confessed to being turned off sumo by its attitude to women alone, but
many have expressed dislike of the status quo.
While ageing men may scoff, shinjinrui
women are unimpressed with sumo’s treatment of Osaka’s first female
governor, Fusae Ota, who tirelessly campaigned for NSK permission to
present a prize to the winner of the Osaka tournament. For four
consecutive years, the NSK was torn between flouting a 47-year old
gubernatorial convention, or flouting Shinto doctrine, and consistently
favoured the former. Despite this, the ‘Ota Question’ has not
disappeared, and a select band of fans was polled on the issue during
the basho of November 2004 (albeit via amusingly indirect questions).
It is indeed true that women of more advanced years, besotted with
strapping young rikishi, are generally distracted from subordination
debates. As Liliane Fujimori explains: ‘They do not feel any more left
out than the men. They find it perfectly normal that they cannot mount
the dohyo and dare not even pretend that they can match the physical
strength of great male fighters.’ But, unfortunately for sumo, there is
no evidence to suggest that younger women will behave in the same way.
Shinjinrui women believe that they are destined to become more
financially independent
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than
their mothers. They are convinced that sexism in Japanese society has
diminished during their lifetimes – especially since the raft of
tentative Equal Opportunities legislation since 1985 – and give little
indication of passively suffering discrimination, especially when
taking up sport. ‘I know what it is like to be a female in a
male-dominated sport,’ said a confident 16-year-old, to nods from her
peers. ‘I practice shorinji-kempo, and it is hard. Boys laugh and I
feel this is discrimination.’ These changing social attitudes
constitute ominous portents for present-day sumo, described perfectly
by Naomi, who is in her late-20s: ‘When fans like my mother and
grandmother stop watching, how will sumo replace them? How will sumo
explain to women that they should appreciate a sport
which subordinates them?’ As Tomoko, a teenager, adds: ‘Older women
like flesh, but young women find the mawashi so cheesy.’
With the NSK possibly requiring decades to assess its stance, a more
immediate solution to the problem may lie with amateur sumo. Free from
Shinto constraints, amateur sumo spawned the Japan Women’s Sumo
Association in April 1996, with competitors tying their mawashi around
leotards. Amateur women’s sumo is now a world-wide movement which
boasts several stars determined to attract new female fans.
One such star is Hiroko Suzuki, the gifted Japanese middleweight who
earned two gold medals at the 2005 US Sumo Open. In her shinjinrui
years, Hiroko mastered several sports including judo and American
football, and now promotes sumo in true shinjinrui spirit. ‘I entered
sumo to help spread the popularity of women’s sumo,’ she says. ‘It is
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