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.

  fan-base) don’t know easily (emphasis ‘easily’ ... easy access to info is a modern trend) what makes the guys tick, what they are interested in, what they like / dislike, what music they listen to, what their hopes and fears are beyond the dohyo. One thing I like to know about the rikishi of old (and I don’t think I’m alone in this) is a bit about their personalities, exploits off the dohyo, etc ... it makes a more well-rounded (no pun intended) grasp of them. Let stories be told and personalities before and during the active life on the dohyo, not after danpatsu. It’s a bit late then! Sure, keep the ceremonies, the traditions, the spectacle – but the Kyokai should not hide behind them and hope all will be well if they don’t make heya life better for those there and also the new recruits. I’m a teacher and I’ve heard wise principals in different countries say that the teachers are the main ones that matter in a school and that our morale and well-being should be uppermost in ALL decision-
making, or else the school will collapse. It’s true. Same for the Japanese in sumo. Find new ways to care for them and develop their whole persons as they submit to the age-old training and skill-forming to beat those one per heya foreigners!

LH: Let’s look at these five rikishi in a special way: Kaio, Tochiazuma, Chiyotaikai, Wakanosato, Kotomitsuki. Does anyone seriously believe that 		any one of them would have held a higher rank now held if Asashoryu, Hakuho, Kotooshu, et al, had never set foot on Japanese soil? The answers to their shortcomings, whatever they may be, are to be found within themselves – and nowhere else. Even with all-Japanese rikishi, in order for any of these men to have advanced, the criteria for promotion to ozeki and yokozuna would by now be so diluted that sumo as we know it would be hardly recognizable. Here’s what the sumo landscape would look like right now without the ‘invaders’: We would be entering the 12th consecutive basho and counting showing a banzuke with no yokozuna – it would now be 18 straight basho and counting since a yokozuna had posted a kachi-koshi; with no one remotely close to halting this deadly beat as it goes on and on with no change in sight. If we were looking at this today, by this time would we even care anymore? That should answer the question of whether or not the rikishi from abroad have improved the sumo. I agree sumo would be improved if the Japanese rikishi were stronger, but greasing the skids for them in this way is disrespecting the sport that people like Taiho, Kitanoumi, Chiyonofuji and Takanohana have labored to preserve. It is sending a message to all future potential Japanese ozeki and yokozuna that real sumo is too hard for you, so we’ll degrade it somewhat so you can cut it. This will only make them weaker, they will never emerge, and so we shall never know their names! Making their lives less spartan will only result in more injuries. The structure of the banzuke is a wonderful thing, but because of the unique and time-honored procedure for advancement to ozeki and yokozuna, sumo needs strong rikishi to sustain itself. Without the rikishi from abroad sumo would be on life support as we speak. What is happening right now is the first step in making rikishi weaker and weaker. As for Futeno’s blog – no problem, I even sent him a note of encouragement myself – but his oyakata should take his computer away from him the day before soken and not return it until after senshuraku. I can’t say it often enough: Sumo is a hard life and trying to make it easier for the Japanese rikishi will just make it easier for the foreign rikishi to dominate. Of course, with such reduced expectations, eventually they too will become soft and the quality of sumo overall will become so pitiable, few will care to watch. If those in the Kyokai feel themselves in a scramble right now, how would they feel in this situation? If I were Kitanoumi Rijicho, I would be asking myself if this is an outcome I’d want to have happen on my watch.

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