Sumo Fan Magazine

<DATE> Contents

SOS - Shinjinrui on Sumo
Chris Gould Wrapping up his look at increasing the popularity of sumo, Chris Gould caps a series the NSK would do well to refer to.

Sumo Souvenirs
Mark Buckton Souvenirs are a part of every sport and sumo is no different - or is it? A look at collectibles and the downright trashy, the bona fide versus the unproven.

Rikishi of Old
Joe Kuroda Joe Kuroda's latest look at times past focuses on former makunouchi man Dewagatake.

Eric Evaluates
Eric Blair Eric takes a no-nonsense look at the claims of fixed bouts in the Japanese media.

Rikishi Diary
Mark Kent Mark Kent - English pro-wrestler and amateur heavyweight sumotori - takes us through the first month or so of his training and preparation for the various European events lined up in in 2007.

Heya Peek
Chris Gould SFM's Chris Gould was in Japan for the Hatsu Basho and popped along to the new Shikoroyama Beya to give SFM an online exclusive peek into sumo's newest heya.

SFM Interview
Mark Buckton Mark interviews Mark - Buckton on Kent that is as Mark Kent, the UK's only active heavyweight amateur answers a few questions on his own recent entry into the sport.

Photo Bonanzas
Sumo Forum stepped in to take the weight off the shoulders of SFM as far as Hatsu went so we could sit back, relax, enjoy the sumo and take a few more select pics you won't see anywhere else.

Hatsu Basho Summary
Lon Howard Lon wraps the Hatsu Basho and chucks in a few bits on the rush of henka that threatens to sully the good name of at least one foreign ozeki.

Sumo Menko
Ryan Laughton Sumo cards of old brought to life by expert collector Ryan Laughton. None of your BBM here.

Haru Ones To Watch
Carolyn Todd Carolyn ponders and puts fingers to keys on the ones to watch come March and the Haru Basho.

Kimarite Focus
Mikko Mattila Mikko's latest look at sumo's kimarite offers unequalled analysis and in depth explanations.

Amateur Angles
Howard Gilbert Howard looks at the 'sumo factory' of lore - Nichidai.

Kokugi Konnections
Todd Lambert Click on Todd's bimonthly focus on three of the best the WWW has to offer.

Fan Debate
Facilitator - Carolyn Todd Moti Dichne comes back for more and takes on Bradley Sutton on the subject of 'Modernize the heya - yea or nay?'

SFM Cartoons
Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson In this issue's cartoon bonanza, sit back and sample Benny's artistic offerings.

Sumo Odds & Ends
SFM's interactive elements - as always includes Henka Sightings, Elevator Rikishi and Eternal Banzuke!

Let's Hear From You
What was it that made you a sumo fan? Ryan Laughton - sumo fan and menko expert 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 a genuine banzuke.

Hatsu Henka Summary

by Lon Howard

fact, when adding up the number of makuuchi bouts for all rikishi (each individually) making makuuchi appearances during this period, the total comes to 6,006. So there theoretically could have been 6,006 henka during this time – if both rikishi henka’d each other every bout – but the actual validated number is 167. This means that the average henka rate per rikishi is 2.78%. (The 6006 figure may not appear accurate due to the fact that when more kyujo take place as a basho goes on, there are less than 21 bouts on some days).

This means that I was incorrect when I said previously that a rikishi in 10th place with a 5.00% henka rate was only about average. He was not average, and in fact would have been doing henka at almost double the average rate. I hope this clears that up...

But now that many more bouts have been studied, the 10th place rikishi’s rate has dropped considerably, and is barely over average for the group; and looking only at rikishi with at least 100 bouts since the

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Sometimes it seems the rikishi draw straws before each basho to see who has the henka duty because lately there has been a different star every time out. Kyokushuzan was drawing most of them before he retired on shonichi of Kyushu, but then Roho stepped right up to the plate and finished with a five-bagger clean sweep (five nominations, five henka, five wins). In the just completed Hatsu basho, he meekly withdrew from view with nary a nomination and let Kotooshu do the heavy lifting (er…slipping and sliding). Osh was not only up to the task; he duplicated it perfectly, with another five-for-five-for five performance. This powered him out of the pack into 6th place among all rikishi studied since the beginning of our study in Nagoya 2005 (minimum 100 total bouts required). His percentage of total bouts henka’d went from 2.22 to 5.33 per cent in just one basho! Roho still has a healthy overall lead though over 2nd place Toyozakura with 9.15 to 6.60.

As a reminder, these henka data are based only on the bouts that were validated as henka, i.e., those receiving a majority yes vote. The overall data are based on all basho from the beginning of the study period – 2005 Nagoya.

In Hatsu, the number of nominations and validated henka were right in the ballpark: 18 validated henka of 36 total nominations. 12 of the 18 perpetrators won their bouts, which is also right on the overall average.

One correction here (he said sheepishly)! Around a year ago, I roughly estimated that there had been about one validated henka per day, which equated roughly to a 5.00% henka rate (1 in 21 matches each day). From that I surmised that the average henka rate for each rikishi was also about 5.00%. Wrong!! Since there are two rikishi present in each bout, that 5.00% rate needed to be cut in half to be roughly accurate. In