Brothers in Sumo –
part one
Brian Lewin
Brothers no longer active on the dohyo come under the SFM microscope

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
A look at a rikishi of yesteryear with Chiyonoyama – our man for December

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
John’s early morning trip to Hakkaku – a visit that almost didn’t happen

SFM Interview
Dave Wiggins sits down
with SFM’s Mark Buckton to discuss the broadcast scene – and maple syrup

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
Pierre predicts the Hatsu Basho banzuke while Mark previews the ones to watch for in January

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
Mikko walks us through his chosen kimarite in expert fashion

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 –
OK or not? See what our debaters had to say

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.

  almost every bout but was a bit overwhelmed by strong opponents. It must be said, though, that he does persist well even at this level.

Rikiryu at Ms22e looked quite powerful and only lost twice at his highest rank ever. He is a 25-year old rikishi with an impressive physique. Another rikishi with a big body and good 5-2 record was Chinese Nakanokuni at Ms34w.

In sandanme division, Kageyama ran the show. Sawai’s 18-year old rival didn’t leave open any questions about who was the best rikishi there. He walked over his easier foes before taking up the challenges of the best sandanme rikishi. First, he took Kadomoto’s heavy blows by withstanding with tenacity and not giving in an inch, worked his way to morozashi and pushed Kadomoto out. Against Wakanoho he blocked his foe’s attempts to seize the belt, and dynamically propelled Wakanoho out in a couple of seconds. In the play-off to determine the yusho winner, he destroyed Takahashi with oshitaoshi. He said he is looking forward to high makushita bouts and wants to see how well he can perform at those heights close to his rival, Sawai. Well, it is safe to say that anyone who has seen Kageyama’s sumo is 		sharing the sentiment with great anticipation.

Despite Kageyama’s dominance, it would be unfair not to give a lot of credit to both Wakanoho and Kadomoto too. Russian Wakanoho is still only 17 and already beat former sekitori Towanoyama (6-1) – his record stands now at 24-4 since his debut in sumo.
 
Wakanoho
 
 Two of those losses have come against Kageyama. Wakanoho’s 6-1 at Sd30e will take him to makushita for Hatsu Basho and he will be the youngest rikishi there. Kadomoto is also way too strong for sandanme, and used his very powerful and big body well to beat everyone but Kageyama with his pushing sumo. It is too bad Kadomoto and Wakanoho didn’t meet. Kadomoto has a great physique and aims to develop the kind of pushing attack Chiyotaikai was once famous for. He is apparently an enthusiast for intense training at 		Sakaigawa-beya with his stablemates Sawai, Hochiyama and others.

Takahashi’s 7-0 at Sd70 will bring him to makushita too. He didn’t have much chance in the play-off against Kageyama and didn’t meet any of the other high caliber foes.
 
Takahashi
 
 Mongolian Maenoyu is making a come-back after injury problems as well as Towanoyama, both losing only once. College behemoth Maeda at Ms58e and small Fukunaga at Sd60e slowed down this time, reaching only narrow 4-3 kachi koshis. The youngest rikishi in sandanme is Kurosawa who used his 17 years, 2 months old body to go 5-2 in his first ever sandanme basho using a rare kekaeshi technique twice.

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