What Will Become of the Dynasty?
Brian Lewin
The Hanada Dynasty – past or present?

Rikishi of Old
Joe Kuroda
A look at a rikishi of yesteryear with Tenryu our man for August.

Heya Peek
John Gunning
John attends a chanko session at Chiganoura Beya.

Photo Bonanza
For a glimpse at some of the sights you won't see on TV.    

July Basho Review
Lon Howard & John Gunning
Lon gives us his Nagoya Basho summary and his take on upset of the tournament while John chips in with his ‘gem’ of the basho.

Lower Division Rikishi
Mikko Mattila takes a break and Eric Blair covers the lower divisions in his own ‘unique’ way.

Aki Basho Forecast
Pierre Wohlleben & Mark Buckton
Pierre predicts the Aki Basho banzuke while Mark previews the ones to watch next time out.

Sumo 101
Barbara Ann Klein
Gyoji goings on and several things you never knew about the ones officiating.

Kimarite Focus
Mikko Mattila
Mikko walks us through his 2 chosen kimarite.

Minusha
John McTague
John's unique view of news from outside the dohyo.

Boletín de Sumo en Español
Eduardo de Paz Gútiez
An article on sumo’s very first fan mag – Boletin de Sumo en Espanol

Online Gaming
Jezz Sterling
Hear from the founder of Bench Sumo of one of sumo's most popular games.

Kokugi Connections
Todd Lambert
Todd’s focus on 3 of the most interesting online sumo sites today.

Fan Debate
Henka – good, bad or ugly? See what our debaters think.

Let’s Hear From You
What was it that made you a sumo fan – the Petros Zachos story.

Ngozi on the Road
Ngozi T. Robinson
NTR visits an amasumo event in the north-east U.S. and tells us what it was like.

Sumo Quiz
The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho's banzuke.

me he gets on quite well with the other European rikishi. To be honest, it’s not surprising. For an 18 year old guy in a completely alien culture, Masutoo is very laid back. He seems to take everything in his stride and didn’t once complain about anything. In fact, he really seems to be enjoying his life in Japan. Even when asked if there was anything he wanted or needed, he said he was ok.

I also got a chance to talk to Tochinoyama. As with everyone else in the heya, he was very friendly and we were wondering what would happen if Taikomaru (a jonidan rikishi in Azumazeki beya who has no hair) were ever to have an intai ceremony.

Unfortunately, the oyakata was not there that morning. I would really have liked a chance to talk to a man who took the huge step of setting up his own stable at age 53. As most readers will know, the Kyokai retirement age is 65, which means he has just

12 years in which to establish Chiganoura-beya in the world of sumo. This might sound like time enough, but bringing a potential recruit up through the ranks, who will be established enough to take over the heya, is a huge task. It would be really good to see him succeed as everyone connected with the heya is very friendly and welcoming. In addition, while they are dedicated to the basics of sumo, they are also open to less commonly practiced ideas to improve their sumo (the heya recently went for training at a university).

After another hour, our kids were getting a bit restless and were starting to run around the place. Soon after that, we decided it was time to go. I grabbed my bag from the kitchen and wished Masutoo luck in Nagoya before heading out into the bright sunshine, feeling good from the beer, chanko and conversation.

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