Sumo Fan Magazine

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.	oldest of its kind established outside Japan. The yokozuna dohyo-iri was accompanied by tsuyuharai Asasekiryu and tachimochi Hokutoriki , as it would be for all three days. Also during each tournament day, former ozeki-turned- Japanese TV talent, KONISHIKI, would provide a brief commentary on basic sumo exercises and techniques, demonstrated on the dohyo by three non-sekitori rikishi. Footage of a few of his bouts against Mainoumi were shown, KONISHIKI stating all the while how he hated facing small rikishi. Video was also shown of KONISHIKI winning the makuuchi yusho in March 1992, and of his promotion to ozeki, having been the first foreigner to achieve this rank. Although some of his commentary was a bit inaccurate, the fans did not seem to notice as he proceeded to get the spectators into the spirit of things by encouraging them to cheer for their favorite rikishi. He also gave a touch of the personal about the competitors, for instance, observing that Miyabiyama’s hobby is Pachinko while Ama’s is oil painting. Then, as the shikiri was about to conclude, he would go on to say “Who are you cheering for, pachinko or painter, East or West! Let’s hear it for them!!!”	KONISHIKI especially appeared to enjoy describing Takamisakari by his nickname, “Robocop”, and Kotooshu by “Beckham of Japan”. He later changed “Beckham” to “Brad Pitt” or “Tom Cruise”. The attendance this first day was rather disappointing – 6,992 (less than 50% of Mandalay Event Center’ s 15,000 capacity), but was more than compensated for by the enthusiasm of the crowd. As in hon-basho, the yobidashi carried kensho banners sponsored by Nagatanien for Takamisakari bouts, while the ozeki and yokozuna bouts sported kensho banners by Nagatanien, Toshiba, Epson and a Japanese restaurant in Las Vegas. And so, the first day’s competition was won by ozeki Tochiazuma, who beat Asashoryu by uwatenage in the final. After the tachiai, the yokozuna went into hidari-yotsu and tried a shitate-nage, but instead lost to Tochiazuma’s uwate-nage throw. In the previous bouts, Chiyotaikai really impressed many with his rapid tsuppari arm movement, but he was beaten by Asashoryu in the semi-final. Tochiazuma himself reached the final by beating Kotooshu, who frankly,	did not look very sharp during the whole tournament. Day One rikishi talk Tochiazuma – “I am very happy to win day one. I feel honored to be able to compete here in Las Vegas and to show sumo to the people in the U.S. I have been training by myself as we don’t have any keiko sessions here, and hopefully, I can continue to display sumo like I did today in the next basho.” On Las Vegas: “I am mesmerized by its scale. Every building is huge and grand.” Asashoryu – On his gold mawashi – “It’s the color of Las Vegas, you know. I wore it to win the tournament. I am disappointed by today’s loss but the fans really psyched me up. I was quite moved.” On his ‘wild’ salt throwing in his final bout: “It was for the memory of the rikishi wearing the same mawashi color (former sekiwake Mitoizumi, current Nishikido oyakata). I got the crowd really going for it, didn’t I?” Kotooshu also attended the press conference but he was asked no questions and did not offer any comments. Next Home