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.	The day I arrived at Tokyo University (Komaba campus) to take the photos for this article found just three members present – and two of them were injured! Petr invited me to join him in some butsukari keiko but I, too, was recovering from busted ribs sustained in a fight against the same 15-year old mentioned previously. Unable to take any pics of keiko, we resorted to watching the Aki basho on TV and chatting about life in general. The day in question was the one where the “other” Kotooshu lost to Kisenosato, thus handing the advantage back to yokozuna Asashoryu in the yusho race. Speaking of that bout, one thing I have noticed that does link Petr and Kotooshu is a tendency to let nerves get the better of them in big fights. Though he might not agree with me, I thought Petr looked quite pensive at the recent World Championships team event when he was facing (ironically) a Bulgarian who had defeated him in the individual competition. As we chatted at his club, Petr told me that the previous day, a group of people from a Japanese fashion magazine had shown up and taken pictures of the club members wearing their mawashi in combination with	expensive designer jackets. Also, at least two TV shows did features on Petr that same week. It seems that tall athletic European rikishi are going to be at the vanguard of a revival of sumo’s popularity in Japan. Whatever your opinions on whether gangs of young girls going to sumo because the wrestlers are good-looking is a positive thing for the sport or not, there is no doubt that attendance-wise, sumo is in trouble. Cancelled regional tours, easy access to masu-seki even on weekends, and very noticeable empty spaces at Kokugikan and in Nagoya leave us in no doubt that a “Beckham effect” can only help sumo in the long run. At any rate, when the sport was experiencing the	Taka-Waka boom of the early 1990’s it was not difficult to see that a lot of the attention focused on the rikishi was for factors other than the pure sumo ability. Petr is now officially listed as the captain of Tokyo University sumo club. While the college is perhaps the most prestigious in Japan in pure academic terms, the sports teams it produces never really reach the same level. That fact in itself, however, is not one that should surprise anyone. It’s a similar story around the world, with universities that are famous for sports rarely being bastions of learning and those Next Home
		Keiko in progress