| Brothers in Sumo – part one Brian Lewin |
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NHK & the Ozumo
English Broadcast
Mark Buckton
A visit to NHK, years of watching the show and the opinions of our Ed-in-Chief
Hanging With the Rikishi
Barbara Ann Klein
Barbara Ann Klein recounts her experiences with the “boys” in a pictorial diary series
| Rikishi of Old Joe Kuroda |
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Sumo Exhibit at the
Edo-Tokyo Museum
Barbara Ann Klein
SFM’s Editor takes in the exhibit celebrating 80 years of the Japan Sumo Association at this famous Tokyo museum
| Heya Peek John Gunning |
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| SFM Interview Dave Wiggins sits down |
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Photo Bonanza
What a collection – All-Japan Sumo Tournament, Hakkaku-
beya visit and sumo exhibits at the Edo-Tokyo Museum
Kyushu Basho Review
Lon Howard
Lon gives us his Kyushu Basho summary, along with the henka sightings results, and his take on the year in brief
Lower Division Rikishi
Mikko Mattila
Mikko Mattila covers lower division ups and downs
| Hatsu Basho Forecast Pierre Wohlleben & Mark Buckton |
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Sumo 101
Eric Blair
Eric explains all you need to know and then some about the Kokugikan building – the mecca of sumo
| Kimarite Focus Mikko Mattila |
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Minusha
John McTague
John’s unique bimonthly view of news from outside the dohyo
Online Gaming
Eric Blair
For the lowdown on Guess the Kotomitsuki – baby of SFM’s John Gunning
Kokugi Connections
Todd Lambert
Todd’s bimonthly focus on 3 of the most interesting sumo sites today
| Fan Debate Intra heya bouts – |
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SFM Cartoons
Stephen Thompson
In the second of our cartoon bonanzas, sit back and enjoy ST’s offerings
Let’s Hear From You
What was it that made you a sumo fan? American Todd Defoe 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.
Elevator Rules
| 1. | A rikishi must have at least 30 consecutive qualifying basho in order to be ranked. |
| 2. | Entry Point: Use first makuuchi appearance. One subsequent juryo appearance is permitted as long as the following appearance is back in makuuchi. Once two consecutive juryo or below appearances are recorded, the count starts over again with the next makuuchi appearance. |
| 3. | Stop Point: Use last makuuchi appearance. One juryo appearance is permitted if next appearance is back in makuuchi – but the stop point will always revert back to the last makuuchi appearance. If a rikishi who has been listed in the Ranking records two consecutive juryo or below appearances, he is transferred to the Elevator Retired List and his CEI is considered permanent, unless he were to subsequently accumulate a string of 30 or more additional consecutive qualifying basho, in which case the string having the highest CEI would be considered his official data. Upon official retirement, he is transferred to the Retired List with his permanent CEI. |
| 4. | If a rikishi never accumulates 30 consecutive basho in makuuchi under these rules, he will never be listed in the ranking at all. |
| 5. | One exception to the above qualifications is permitted: If a rikishi has at least 15 consecutive makuuchi appearances followed by (only) two juryo appearances, he may still qualify to be ranked if the two juryo appearances are followed by at least 15 more consecutive makuuchi appearances. |
| 6. | All sanyaku ranks other than East are considered West, e.g., S2e, S2w are both counted as Sw. |
| 7. | When counting banzuke spots going down to and coming up from juryo, use the makuuchi banzuke for the basho 'going to' to count the total spots moved. Only count the banzuke spots actually occupied. e.g., if the makuuchi banzuke only goes to M15e, don't count the M15w spot because it is not occupied. |
| 8. | If a rikishi retained his rank under the kosho system with a record of 0-0-15, that basho is excluded from the count since the rikishi did not 'earn' the zero that would have been used in the calculation. |
| Note (1) Trying to be exact in accounting for more than two spots for each sanyaku rank (in the cases where that occurred) required a system in which produced nonsensical outcomes further down the banzuke, such as rikishi going from M6e to M7e, yet being credited with a 0 or a 1 count in spots moved. | |
| Note (2) There are several other technical considerations to the Rules that involve highly improbable situations, and are not mentioned to avoid further cluttering the Rules discussion. | |
Current Elevator Ranking:
| RIKISHI | MOQ | AFQ | CEI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Mainoumi | 10.62 | 0.8214 | 8.72 |
| 2. | Higonoumi | 10.46 | 0.7143 | 7.47 |
| 3. | Takamisugi | 10.08 | 0.7292 | 7.35 |
| 4. | Kasugafuji | 9.47 | 0.7619 | 7.21 |
| 5. | Kotofuji | 10.29 | 0.6765 | 6.96 |
| 6. | Daishoho | 10.03 | 0.6774 | 6.80 |
| 7. | Kyokudozan | 8.40 | 0.8043 | 6.76 |
| 8. | Kyokushuzan | 9.71 | 0.6852 | 6.65 |
| 9. | Tokitsuumi | 7.71 | 0.7750 | 5.97 |
| 10. | Hamanoshima | 9.14 | 0.6429 | 5.88 |
| 11. | Minatofuji | 8.00 | 0.7317 | 5.85 |
| 12. | Kotoinazuma | 8.19 | 0.7143 | 5.85 |
| 13. | Kotoryu | 8.58 | 0.6667 | 5.72 |
| 14. | Asanowaka | 8.23 | 0.6897 | 5.68 |
| 15. | Oginishiki | 9.53 | 0.5758 | 5.49 |
| 16. | Toki * | 8.05 | 0.6579 | 5.30 |
| 17. | Mitoizumi | 7.72 | 0.6508 | 5.02 |
| 18. | Misugisato | 6.70 | 0.7308 | 4.89 |
| 19. | Tamakasuga * | 6.90 | 0.7073 | 4.88 |
| 20. | Kaiho * | 7.30 | 0.6667 | 4.87 |
| * Elevator Retired | ||||
Elevator Retired List:
| 1. | Tamakasuga |
| 2. | Toki |
| 3. | Kaiho |
