Amateur Sumo – the sport as it should be
Mark Buckton
Sakai World Sumo Champs – not all about winning

Las Vegas Koen
Joe Kuroda
Our man reports from the fight capital of the world

Rikishi of Old
Joe Kuroda
A look at a rikishi of yesterday with Kotozakura – our man for October

Heya Peek
John Gunning
John’s early morning dash to Azumazeki-beya & report on TKOTU

SFM Interview
Katrina Watts sits down with SFM’s Mark Buckton to discuss amateur sumo

Photo Bonanza
SFM’s best yet – Aki Basho/ Las Vegas / Amateur World Champs / Azumazeki-beya visit – seen nowhere else

Aki Basho Review
Lon Howard
Lon gives us his Aki Basho summary, along with the henka sightings results, and his take on the tournament while ‘gem’ of the basho takes a break

Lower Division Rikishi
Mikko Mattila
Mikko Mattila returns to cover lower division ups and downs

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

Sumo 101
Barbara Ann Klein
Discovers and explains amasumo & ozumo variations

Kimarite Focus
Mikko Mattila
Mikko once again walks us through his chosen kimarite

Minusha
John McTague
John’s unique bimonthly view of news from outside the dohyo

Online Gaming
Zenjimoto of ‘game fame’ covers some of the very best sumo games around – his own!

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

Fan Debate
Is the limit on foreign rikishi fair? See what our debaters had to say

SFM Cartoons
Benny Loh
In the first of our cartoon bonanzas, sit back and chuckle at Benny Loh’s offerings

Let’s Hear From You
What was it that made you a sumo fan? Gernobono tells all

Readers’ Letters
See what SFM readers had to say since our last issue

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

  some substitute is just as good, or so he tells me. Maybe it is. Maybe not. It’s strange isn’t it? ... in some parts of the world nationalism is fading, and in some other parts it is so crucial to the populace. In Japan, the door is currently open for nationalism to evaporate in the national sport. Speaking as a foreigner (what do I really know?) I think it will consolidate again with those determined enough in the heyas to succeed. In the heyas, they at least see that the Kyokai are supporting this position. Otherwise, the new recruits would evaporate too! Too many recruited foreigners would disillusion the home-bred new entrants and they might desert the system more quickly. Especially if the lure of a salary once juryo is reached becomes no longer an important incentive to “do one’s best” because the ranks are full of foreigners. “One per heya” gives the local boys more hope to ascend. And if they don’t, it is their fault because the organization (the Kyokai) is trying to back them up and give them elbow room. Futeno and Kisenosato are currently leading the new crop. I mean, come on, the ‘fear-of-the-foreigners’ is just media hype! Roho and Kokkai are flash-in-the-pans or shooting stars destined to burn out pretty quickly and be mastered by the upcoming Japanese rikishi. (I hope I don’t
have to retract that!) How awful if the plot thickens and oyakatas now recruit foreigners who they know won’t make the top grade! To revive the popularity of sumo among Japanese people the people need to see Japanese stars in the sport. Lots of skill plus charisma. Not quite a David Beckham media-exploiter type, but almost that. For me, it’s the tight control of the rikishis’ lives by the Kyokai which won’t allow the gifted ones to be more popular by being a bit dramatic/fashionable, in-the-
news, beyond endorsing a few consumer products or helping sell bento boxes. Okay, Takamisakari is shown affection from the people that others don’t get, but he’s hardly a Romeo, or consistent on the dohyo. Perhaps he is a stop-gap type before the more sumo-
gifted ‘modern’ Japanese rikishi emerge? Futeno has a blog. That’s a start. Next he needs a high-profile girlfriend and some big scandal! Oh and a shrink, and ‘minders,’ and lots of photos of him in nightclubs denying steroid use and thumping an intrusive foreign journalist! I exaggerate, of course. The point being here that any move of sumo in Japan being more ‘modern’ should come from freedom for home-grown rikishi to prosper in the heyas, rather than importing more foreigners. That’s where the changes need
to be. For me, a revitalization-review of heya life should take place to make the heyas themselves more modern in a Japanese way. That would draw in more recruits from within Japan. Still the hard training there, but a less spartan lifestyle. More fun ways offered for the lower-rankers to make pocket-money too. With this in mind I’d like to say that the ‘promotion’ of the rikishi as individual people can be, and I believe should be, more informative to catch fan-interest. I really like the fact the Kyokai list where the Japanese rikishi come from within Japan and I still think that’s a vital factor for supporters who already love the sport, but it’s not enough to just give very basic info and lots of stats. What a difference it would make if the information given was more human, real, and personable. It’s what the fans want! Not WWE or K2, but sumo with more personality. Witness Takamisakari as far as he’s allowed to go ... which is pretty far out for the Kyokai, I admit! But it shouldn’t be. He and others should have free rein to express themselves as they wish. Money would roll in all around. Personalities liberated, that’s what it needs, because the rikishi are too self-effacing and the public (potential new

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