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Sumo Souvenirs |
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Mark Buckton
Second of a two parter on sumo souvenirs - some hints on avoiding the fluff.
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Konishiki |
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Chris Gould
Takamiyama's 60s / 70s successes notwithstanding Konishiki was sumo's
first full-on mover and shaker from lands afar leaving Chris G to take
an in-depth look at the ripples the big guy left behind when exiting
the sumo pool.
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Rikishi of Old |
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Joe Kuroda
Joe Kuroda's looks back at the life and times of former yokozuna Shiranui.
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Eric Evaluates |
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Eric Blair
Eric IDs the true winners of the henkafest that was the Haru Basho senshuraku.
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Rikishi Diary |
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Mark Kent
Mark Kent - English pro-wrestler and amateur heavyweight sumotori -
takes his training a step further on his road to European and World
sumo glory.
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Heya Peek |
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Mark Buckton
Oitekaze Beya just to the north of Tokyo and not far from the abode of SFM's Ed-i-C falls under the microscope.
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SFM Interview |
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Carolyn Todd
Carolyn interviews Riho Rannikmaa during his recent trip to Osaka -
head of all things sumo in Estonia, friend and mentor of Baruto, this
is a man with something to announce.
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Sumo à la LA |
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Alisdair Davey
SFM's man in the shadows reports on his recent jaunt in LA, as guest of
the Californian Sumo Association and SFM reporter at large.
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Photo Bonanzas |
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Hot on the heels of the recent Ise bonanza - Haru up close and very very personal - some of our best pics to date.
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Haru Basho Summary |
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Lon Howard
Lon wraps the Haru Basho and chucks in a few bits on the henka issues the top dogs are suffering from at present.
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Sumo Menko |
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Ryan Laughton
Sumo cards of old brought to life once again by expert collector Ryan
Laughton. None of your BBM offerings here - Pt II of III.
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Natsu Ones To Watch |
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Carolyn Todd
Carolyn ponders the ones to watch come May and Natsu when sumo comes home to Tokyo.
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Kimarite Focus |
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Mikko Mattila
Mikko's latest look at sumo's kimarite offers unequalled analysis and in depth explanations.
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Amateur Angles |
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Howard Gilbert
On your marks, get set, go - Howard Gilbert walks us through the months ahead on the amateur calendar.
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Kokugi Konnections |
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Todd Lambert
Click on Todd's latest selection of the best sumo sites the WWW has to offer.
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Fan Debate |
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Facilitator - Carolyn Todd
Should it or shouldn't it? Honbasho go on the overseas road that is.
See what SFM's Chris Gould and James Hawkins have to say.
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SFM Cartoons |
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Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson
In this issue's cartoon bonanza, sit back and sample ST's latest artistic offerings.
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Sumo Odds & Ends |
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SFM's interactive elements - as always includes Henka Sightings, Elevator Rikishi and Eternal Banzuke!
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Let's Hear From You |
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What was it that made you a sumo fan - A. S. - the face in the crowd
reveals almost all - to see everything you'll have to close your eyes.
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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 a genuine banzuke.
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shin-nyu-maku
M14 Tochiozan. Although hailed as a coming star, no one expected
him to enter day 13 tied with the yokozuna and just one loss behind the
yusho leader. He was often thoroughly dominating, and though he
did fade at the end after being matched up with some upper-rankers,
along the way he schooled some grizzled makuuchi vets on sumo
fundamentals like keeping hips low, pushing forward and the like.
There were no tricks by this slightly undersized 20-year-old who
entered sumo just two years ago, and his 11-4 finish earned him the
Kanto-sho (Fighting Spirit) prize. If he can pull off a
kachi-koshi at the mid-maegashira ranks in May, he and Homasho could
re-vitalize the Japanese fan base.
M7 Kokkai and M8 Tamanoshima were both 10-5, although neither were
impressive. Kokkai has lost about 13 or so kilos in an effort to
become quicker. That he has done, but he still looks off-balance
when thrusting and I can’t tell that he’s
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any
more stable. Tamanoshima will be overmatched at whatever higher
rank he’s at in May. He’s had ample opportunity to show he can
become somebody, and now nearing 30, he’s definitely a ‘never-was’
instead of a has-been. Some say that M16 Wakanosato’s 11-4
showing wasn’t surprising, considering that the ex-sekiwake doesn’t
‘belong’ down there. My take was that he was lucky to get
kachi-koshi, in that he has little of his old power and won many of his
matches either backing or sliding away from his opponents. He
probably won’t be able to match up to his stronger adversaries in May
and will go back down the banzuke.
The other kachi-koshi rikishi were M9 Aminishiki, M11 Kakuryu and M15
Shimotori – all at 9-6. The 8-7 crowd included M6 Kakizoe, M10
Tokitsuumi and M15 Tochinohana. The most striking thing about
this group was that Kakuryu showed more willingness to move forward, as
opposed to sideways. It worked for the most part, although he
paid dearly for it when matched against those much bigger than
him. He’s on the right track though.
The big loser on the dohyo was M4 Futeno, who did splendid pre-basho
keiko but started at 1-6 and then won only two other matches to record
3-12. Is this the beginning of a crackerjack elevator
career? He was ‘followed’ closely by the M2 boys, Kyokutenho and
Asasekiryu, along with M10 Kasuganishiki at 4-11. At 5-10 there
were M3 Kasugao, M11 Iwakiyama, M12 Yoshikaze and M13 Hakurozan.
With Kisenosato at 6-9 were M12 Ushiomaru and Tosanoumi; while
Kotoshogiku and Tokitenku were joined at 7-8 by M4 Takekaze, M6
Takamisakari, M7 Roho, M8 Dejima and M9 Tochinonada. Iwakiyama’s
neck injury is now a serious issue, and he’ll struggle to stay in the
top division until it improves. Roho is another
mega-disappointment. He
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has
little de-ashi and can’t defend against those that do. His
brother Hakurozan may have seen the last of makuuchi, as his injured
knee is not improved in the least. After five basho, if it was
going to get better, it probably already would have. Since he’s
going down to juryo anyway, he may as well take a basho off for
rehabilitation (I doubt if he’s listening…).
Along with Tochiazuma, there were three others who didn’t complete the
basho. M13 Baruto didn’t compete at all, recovering from his ACL
knee injury. Miyabiyama was 4-3 after seven days but withdrew on
day 8 with a thigh injury, while M16 Jumonji went out on day 13 with a
shoulder injury, recording 4-9-2.
Tochiazuma
While the immediate future of Hakuho is probably foremost in the minds
of most that now look to the Natsu basho, one may also wonder about
Asashoryu. I’ve been one of his defenders – even on the
left-handed kensho wrangle – but now I feel he’s regressed on several
fronts. The deportment issues of the past appear to be back, and
recently his cock-sure confidence on the dohyo has morphed into near
impudence on occasion, as seen by the ugly incident with
Kisenosato. That, and other things such as the unsolicited public
discrediting of a gyoji and a peer, along with the ignominious henka
Next
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