| Brothers in Sumo – part two Brian Lewin |
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| Yokozuna Comparisons Joe Kuroda |
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| Rikishi of Old John Gunning |
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| Heya Peek Barbara Ann Klein |
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| SFM Interview John Gunning |
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| Sumo 101 Barbara Ann Klein |
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| Photo Bonanza See the Hatsu Basho |
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| Hatsu Basho Review Lon Howard |
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| Lower Division Rikishi Mikko Mattila |
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| Haru Basho Forecast Pierre Wohlleben & Mark Buckton |
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| Kimarite Focus Mikko Mattila |
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| Minusha John McTague |
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| Online Gaming Alexander Nitschke |
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| Kokugi Connections Todd Lambert |
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| Fan Debate Feb's debate sees |
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SFM Cartoons
Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson
In the third of our cartoon bonanzas, sit back and enjoy BL’s offerings and put a caption to ST’s pic to win yourselves a banzuke
| Let’s Hear From You What was it that |
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| Readers’ Letters See what some SFM |
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Sumo Quiz
The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho’s banzuke.
Toyozakura sits impassively as his brother Kitazakura fires up the crowd with his salt throwing (Photo by Barbara Ann Klein)
Down from Aomori
No list of noteworthy rikishi would be complete without representation from the “Aomori Sumo Kingdom”, and this is no exception. Which brings us to the Suginomori brothers, Seiji and Ryuji, from the “Sumo Fiefdom” of Fukaura Machi, home to no less than four sekitori (the other two are Masatsukasa and Kaiho). Their father, a cousin of Ajigawa Oyakata (ex-yokozuna Asahifuji), started his own sumo dojo and coached them from when they were in elementary school. Since they were both lightweights, their father emphasized speed and inside mawashi attacks.
The two brothers continued sumo through high school, after which big brother Seiji entered Ajigawa-beya as Suginomori in January 1994. Exactly three years later, after winning the Towada National High School Sumo Competition and graduating from high school, Ryuji joined his brother, taking on his old shikona as Seiji had switched to Asofuji. Ryuji did not last long as Suginomori though, changing his shikona to Aminishiki in time for the 1997
Next
Among the currently active brothers in sumo, they are perhaps the most closely balanced. Kitazakura reached juryo in July of 1998, with Toyozakura following in September. As it turned out though, since Kita was kyujo in Nagoya on a kosho injury absence, they made their active sekitori debut together at the Aki Basho. That time, Kita fared better, getting kachikoshi, while Toyo got makekoshi and fell back down to makushita. They both subsequently bounced up and down the banzuke, though with the older brother ahead much of the time. But still things tended to balance
In recent times – perhaps because they are both getting older – the pendulum has generally swung somewhat more in the younger brother’s favor. In the Kyushu Basho they were only one rank apart – Toyo’s juryo 1w to Kita’s juryo 2w – but Toyo outperformed his big brother 10-5 to 8-7. But in the just-concluded Hatsu Basho, with Toyo up at maegashira 12w and Kita at 17e, big bro outperformed little bro, 9-6 to 7-8. Depending on the luck of the banzuke, that could put them nearly as close as they were in