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.	Amateur Sumo – the sport as it should be by Mark Buckton		all well represented and, with a combined population in amasumo competing nations measured in the billions, the sheer potential for expansion appears staggering. As amateur sumo follows much the same form as the professional ozumo version of the sport with but relatively minor differences (covered here by Barbara Ann Klein in Sumo 101), the amasumo dohyo has proved fertile enough in recent years to produce both Japanese and non-Japanese rikishi who have gone on to enter the professional side of the sport; Next Home
	Notwithstanding the potential for debate on exactly when professional sumo began, if the 1757 date of the first banzuke being released is used, then the amateur version of the sport predates ozumo by at least ten, perhaps fifteen centuries, making itself one of the oldest amateur sports in the world. To that end, seeing Sakai City in southern Osaka, Japan to have hosted just the 13th Sumo World Championships and the 4th Shinsumo World Championships could seem strange, considering the depth of sumo history measured in knee deep calendar pages. Still, all versions of a competition start somewhere, often growing slowly at first, and under the umbrella of the International Sumo Federation (ISF), the amateur sport of 2005 continues to grow in terms of popularity and participants as the globe wakes up to sumo.	Admittedly one of the most simple of sports to attempt cross cultural journeys, sumo is today enjoying an international boom despite never having established a professional toehold outside Japan. Eighty-four nations belong to the ISF today. The EU, Africa, North and South America and, of course. Asia and Oceania, are
		Photo by John Gunning