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.

beginning, only 11 of them have henka rates over the 2.78% average.  So it is now absolutely true that the men on the top 10 list are responsible for the overall rate being as high as it is.  They really are the cream of the crop. This means that overall leader Roho (9.15) has henka’d at over three times the average rate.  With superstar Kyokushuzan gone, the top five men starting with Roho are exactly the same as last time. Kotooshu is now at number six and the rest of the top ten shows the same men as before in slightly different positions. Here is the top ten overall list right now, in order of percentage of total bouts henka’d. Roho Toyozakura Hokutoriki Hakurozan Jumonji Kotooshu Kotomitsuki Aminishiki Kotoshogiku Hakuho 9.15 6.60 6.11 6.00 5.93 5.33 4.67 4.00 3.33 3.13 Kotooshu’s five wins in his five henka in Hatsu have also made him the overall leader in henka win percentage, as he is a perfect eight for eight.  The only other men with perfect scores among active rikishi with at least four henka are Kokkai and Kyokutenho.  The other stars in this category are Roho (11-13), Hokutoriki (7-8) and Aminishiki (5-6).  At the time of his retirement, Kyokushuzan was 15-21.  As for

the henka targets, Miyabiyama becomes more tempting to his opponents with each basho, as two more matadors came calling this time, on top of the three who showed up in Kyushu – and guess what – the Miya-Babe lost all five of those.  That moves him up to second place overall with a target rate of 6.00%.  He’s been hit nine times and has lost eight of those, for a losing percentage of 89%, good for 3rd place among the major targets.  Others who were double targets in Hatsu were Aminishiki and Dejima.  Dejima is now just short of the top ten, in 11th place with a 4.00% target rate.  Here is the overall list of top ten henka targets in order of the percentage of their bouts in which they were henka’d. Hokutoriki Miyabiyama Kasugao Roho Kokkai Kotoshogiku Tosanoumi Tamanoshima Tochinonada Iwakiyama 8.4 6.00 5.19 4.93 4.67 4.67 4.44 4.14 4.13 4.11 I’ve mentioned Toyonoshima several times before because early in our study he was a favorite target, but after winning all four of those early bouts, he’s off the list.  In fact, in the last five basho, his opponents have received only one nomination, which was voted down by a 5-23 count.  His target rate is now down to 2.96%, far off the top-rankers and barely over the

2.78% average. As more and more basho are studied, the overall henka win rate is beginning to level out; at 113 wins in 167 henka, it’s now at 68%.  Further, in the two subcategories studied that are based on vote disparity and the total number of votes, there has also been very little change.  In these subcategories, the win rate is segmented out, based on yes-no vote disparities of 2-1, 3-1 and unanimous.  Here are the current numbers:    Yes-No Vote Disparity Win % Any # Votes Win % 10+ Votes 2-1 3-1 Unanimous 69 72 78 78 75 89    Only three of the 36 nominations drew less than 10 votes, so if that continues, the difference between the ‘Any #’ and ’10 +’ vote categories will gradually diminish, which it did only slightly this time, except for the unanimous category.  Because there are so few unanimous yes votes, those numbers can fluctuate wildly with one or two results in any direction – but it has always been true that when the yes vote was unanimous, the win rate was markedly higher.  That’s the report on the slippers and sliders this time.  Thanks very much for following along, and see you again in April.  Hang in there, spring’s almost here! Home