Sumo Souvenirs   Mark Buckton Second of a two parter on sumo souvenirs - some hints on avoiding the fluff. Konishiki 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. Rikishi of Old Joe Kuroda Joe Kuroda's looks back at the life and times of former yokozuna Shiranui. Eric Evaluates Eric Blair Eric IDs the true winners of the henkafest that was the Haru Basho senshuraku. Rikishi Diary 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. Heya Peek 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. SFM Interview 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. Sumo à la LA 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. Photo Bonanzas Hot on the heels of the recent Ise bonanza - Haru up close and very very personal - some of our best pics to date. Haru Basho Summary 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. Sumo Menko 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. Natsu Ones To Watch Carolyn Todd Carolyn ponders the ones to watch come May and Natsu when sumo comes home to Tokyo. Kimarite Focus Mikko Mattila Mikko's latest look at sumo's kimarite offers unequalled analysis and in depth explanations. Amateur Angles Howard Gilbert On your marks, get set, go - Howard Gilbert walks us through the months ahead on the amateur calendar. Kokugi Konnections Todd Lambert Click on Todd's latest selection of the best sumo sites the WWW has to offer. Fan Debate 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. SFM Cartoons Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson In this issue's cartoon bonanza, sit back and sample ST's latest 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 - A. S. - the face in the crowd reveals almost all - to see everything you'll have to close your eyes. 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.

Elevator Ride by Lon Howard

end of one’s career to be eliminated from the string.   The Longevity Factor makes sense when you look at the top two guys on the original list – Takanofuji and Itai.  Here, Takanofuji’s EI of 10.29 was very impressive but he only competed for 33 basho.  Since Itai was able to continue his string for 20 basho longer than Takanofuji, with only one drop into juryo (that at the very beginning of his string), his was certainly the more impressive elevator performance of the two.  Kirinji was only 7th on the original list, but when you consider that he maintained his high ups and downs for a staggering 85 basho with only one dip into juryo, it’s hard to argue that he doesn’t deserve the bump up to 3rd place afforded by the Longevity Factor.  As before, the list is ordered by  the  EI, but the old EI is now labeled REI (Raw Elevator Index), and so REI x LF = EI. See the updated Rules for a detailed description. Here is the All-Time Top 20 Elevator List, now adjusted for longevity.  A small tweak in the Rules means that Hokutoriki has now accumulated a 30-basho qualifying string and is in 18th place all-time, but as he is currently in juryo, his EI will  Next

In the February issue of Elevator Ride, an alternate ranking system was introduced, based on longevity.  Each rikishi’s Elevator Index (EI) was multiplied by a Longevity Factor (LF) of 1.xx (xx being equal to the number of basho in the rikishi’s qualifying string).  The resulting product was called the Longevity Adjusted Elevator Index (LAEI).  Most of the rikishi in the original All-Time Top 20 list were also found in the LAEI Top 20, but their order was slightly reshuffled based on their Longevity Factor. I mentioned that I probably would have employed the Longevity Factor from the start if only I had thought of it at that time, but that it didn’t really matter which list is used since the names on both lists were mostly the same.  Now, with two months to mull it over, it’s clear that this is just silly, because what’s the point of compiling and maintaining massive amounts of data to make a list, while asserting that a different list is just as good?  There is no point, and it doesn’t make much sense, so from here there will be only one list, and it will employ the Longevity Factor.

Looking back, it does seem as if the development of the Elevator Rikishi Rules took a rather tortuous path.  With no historical baseline though, I doubt that the ramifications of all of the original guidelines could have been foreseen prior to the rollout.  It just had to be ‘out there’ for a while for everything to sink in.  Realistically, the more intricate rules would probably never come into play for a rikishi with major elevator impact, but they are there just to cover all the bases.  At this point, I think it’s about as fair as it can be.  There are still a few gritty consequences but resolving them just creates some others so I’m inclined to let it be. As a reminder, the intent of this study is to recognize rikishi who were able to put up large elevator numbers without sinking into juryo and below – hence the penalty assigned when doing so.  At the same time, the Rules also allow one to get ‘established’ in makuuchi before beginning a qualifying string, and also allow the nearly obligatory long periods of non-makuuchi appearances at the