Brothers in Sumo –
part two
Brian Lewin
Brothers still active on the dohyo get their turn

Yokozuna Comparisons
Joe Kuroda
SFM’s most eminent historian, JK, has a crack at the impossible and tries to see who was the greatest of the tsuna wearers

Rikishi of Old
John Gunning
Takanobori – former sekiwake, former NHK man and all ’round gent

Heya Peek
Barbara Ann Klein
Kitanoumi-beya, Kitazakura, mirrors & photo bonanza

SFM Interview
John Gunning
Kazuyoshi Yoshikawa (son of the late sekiwake Takanobori) on life in sumo way back when

Sumo 101
Barbara Ann Klein
Behind every good man there stands a good woman – read and ye shall see. A departure from our regular 101 feature

Photo Bonanza
See the Hatsu Basho
plus much more through the lens of our photographers

Hatsu Basho Review
Lon Howard
Lon gives us his Hatsu Basho summary, along with the henka sightings results

Lower Division Rikishi
Mikko Mattila
Mikko Mattila covers lower division goings on in detail

Haru Basho Forecast
Pierre Wohlleben & Mark Buckton
Pierre predicts the Haru Basho banzuke while Mark highlights the ones to look out for in Osaka

Kimarite Focus
Mikko Mattila
Mikko takes us on a tour of his chosen kimarite

Minusha
John McTague
John’s unique bimonthly view of sumo news from outside the dohyo and in the restaurants!

Online Gaming
Alexander Nitschke
SFM’s own Alexander Nitschke covers the long running Hoshitori Game

Kokugi Connections
Todd Lambert
Todd’s bimonthly focus on 3 of the most interesting sumo sites today

Fan Debate
Feb's debate sees
a pair of Kiwis exchanging opinions on the honbasho going on the road

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
made you a sumo fan? A unique perspective from a sightless reader.

Readers’ Letters
See what some SFM
readers had to say since our last issue

Sumo Quiz
The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho’s banzuke.

  around Japan. In the past few years, attendances have been decreasing at the Fukuoka and Nagoya basho in particular and, to some extent, the Osaka and Tokyo basho too. Images of half empty stadiums, a sea of empty masu seats does not bode well for sumo. Fukuoka and Nagoya in particular have had the most noticeable declines in attendance.

Locations that deserve to host a hon-basho would be Kyoto and Sapporo, perhaps even Sendai, which has a population of over a million. The latter two have advantages such as a more suitable climate for the summer basho, among other positive aspects. Northern Japanese places like Hokkaido and Aomori have had a strong tradition of producing fine rikishi. Yokozuna such as Taiho, Chiyonofuji and Hokutoumi, and a disproportionately high number of current rikishi, hail from northern Japan. Sumo could be assumed to have strong rural roots in the north and they could do very well if given the opportunity to host a hon-basho. They could prove that they could run a well attended, well supported basho.

Admittedly, any change in one of the hon-basho would be complicated, especially in terms
of organizational issues such as the sourcing of temporary beya headquarters and the establishment of new connections to provide services for the tournament. This could have a positive effect as well; it could provide an opportunity to strengthen and broaden the connections throughout all of Japan rather than the main centres. Current cities, especially Nagoya and Fukuoka, would feel aggrieved to lose their yearly basho and would fight strongly to keep their basho, as it would represent a significant loss of income for the associated parties involved in running the basho. However, city governments of Nagoya and Fukuoka and connected groups who work with the NSK are partially at fault for not doing enough to promote their basho and to work in tandem with the NSK to put bums in seats. They have seemingly been as inactive as the NSK, what have they done to attempt to stem the flow of fans from their arenas? The threat of losing their basho on alternative years could spur them on to action, to promote the basho with vigour, rather than just ‘leaving well enough alone.’ Status quo is simply not enough.

Howard Gilbert: I’d like to thank Sumo Fan Magazine for
inviting me to contribute to this fan debate. Thank you to Lon for organizing and moderating this debate, and I’m particularly pleased to be sparring against Dean, a fellow New Zealander.

I must begin by saying that I am not against change with ozumo. Indeed, I welcome the evolution of the sport and hope that certain elements that need change are not blocked by the inertia of ‘tradition’, too often a façade that masks a reluctance to move away from the status quo. However, the location of hon-basho is one matter where the status quo is not the enemy. I do not believe that changing the venue for hon-basho will be the sinecure that increases sumo’s popularity, or arrests the decline in attendance, sponsors and monetary contribution, or the performance and participation of Japanese in their national sport.

As Dean has said, the declining popularity of sumo and the lack of appeal the sport has with younger Japanese, both as viewers and participants, is of concern. However, I severely doubt that moving hon-basho will address this. Dean’s argument appears to be that declining audiences at

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