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.

Chernobyl blew its top and at a time Takanosato was still a relative newbie at the rank of yokozuna – having been promoted just two basho earlier.
Working his way up the banzuke never proved easy for the Kagoshima native and by the start of 2005, in the 22nd year of his career, he was listed at just jonidan 39 in the annual rikishi directory, only one division from the foot of the sumo ladder and four from the top.

So, what is it that makes this man who has clearly achieved so little, quite so special?

Two jonidan division championships notwithstanding, it is simply longevity that keeps Ichinoya at the top in the eyes of so many. In a sport where a rise in the ranks leads to a commensurate rise in living standards, there are so many reasons in the modern world to pack it in and head for greener pastures should things not go your way. Ichinoya never did this. In an era riddled with cases of materialistic gain triumphing over time tested morals and ethics based on loyalty and perseverance, Ichinoya stayed put. As colleagues came and went, as

they surpassed him in rank and status and filed their bank accounts, Ichinoya continued his duties around the heya, continued plugging away and continued learning and, as men ten, fifteen, twenty and even twenty-five years his junior reached the top divisions of his sport, his lifestyle, Ichinoya remained in the shadows; patient, unassuming and silent.

These are the qualities of so many of those athletes, players and competitors remembered for years after they retire. Not everything is about winning and claiming trophies – the main reason I have avoided listing the win / loss ratio of Ichinoya and going into greater detail about his career from an analytical point of view.

He has achieved a level of greatness through longevity now unparalleled in modern sumo history (the previous record for a longest career since the start of the Showa Era in 1926 was held by former juryo rikishi Genbuyama) and will be remembered for as least as long as he competed – no mean feat when you consider how hard it is to answer this question about a makunouchi yusho champion – one of the elite: “Who won the

1983 Kyushu Basho?” (the one that saw Ichinoya on the bottom rung of a very long ladder). Without checking, I bet you can’t answer!

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