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.

  losing the decisive bout against Hokutoiwa. This was the second time Dewaotori lost the decisive bout at 6-0 in makushita. This time there was even more at stake because a win against Hokutoiwa would have brought him an automatic promotion to juryo. Nevertheless, 6-1 at Ms8 was a good result, and if he gets his tachiai better, he should have a good chance for a successful sekitori career very soon.

165cm tall, 24-year-old Sugita improved his makushita record to 16-5 with a 6-1 at Ms32. Not exactly surprising is the fact that his agility and balance are at a very good level. He is also very versatile, technically, winning with kainahineri, tottari and kubinage (nice one, too, against former juryo Ichinotani) in the Hatsu Basho and, in his last 10 makushita wins, he has won every time with a different technique. He only lost to Dewaotori and despite a good effort, couldn’t quite catch up with Toyonokuni in the first round of the play-off, ending up losing in a slapdown.

The fight for promotion was most evident at high makushita. Veterans Kinkaiyama and Chiyotenzan fell short with 2-5 each, whereas Hokutoiwa ruined his 3-0 start at Ms1e with three consecutive losses, but then stopped ruining his own basho by thwarting
Dewaotori’s promotion on day 13, securing his 4th win and a promotion to juryo. Kakuryu failed to excel in juryo on his first attempt in the Kyushu basho, but bounced back with a 5-2 record at Ms3w and will be back in juryo. Kyushu basho yusho winner Sawai had his hands full at Ms2w. His foes were good at preventing Sawai from dictating the bout tactics and Sawai, himself, commented that his opponents were not letting him do his own sumo. This was the first ever make-
koshi for him, but a narrow 3-4 at Ms2 suggests he will be competitive at high makushita again in the Haru Basho, where he will face similar calibre foes. Sawai’s stablemate Hochiyama is one of the few makushita rikishi who can challenge Baruto credibly with his power. Finally, Hochiyama had a lucky break and earned a promotion to juryo with a 4-3 at Ms4w after many close attempts. At 24, he is still relatively young and was very happy to have reached juryo before Sawai. Former makuuchi Tamarikido managed to get 4-3 at Ms5e and with the help of banzuke luck, he also makes a slightly surprising return to juryo, considering that his sumo really hasn’t been that strong in high makushita.

Kyushu Basho sandanme yusho winner, Kageyama (18), made a successful debut at high
makushita with a 4-3 record. Always aiming to go forward is the main attribute one can apply to Kageyama . In his day 8 bout against Yotsuguruma, he was constantly on the offensive, digging in and exerting pressure. Yet, he lost when Yotsuguruma launched a perfectly timed sukuinage close to the edge. His other two losses came against Dewaotori and Raiko, but all 4 wins were straightforward and he could become the first rikishi in a long time to make his sekitori debut without having a single slapdown or pulldown win. Another 18-year- old rising star, Shibuya, continued his kachi-koshi streak in makushita with a 4-3 at Ms17w, beating strong Chinese Nakanokuni in a 3-3 match-up. Burly Kadomoto appears to be susceptible to slapdowns and he suffered a 3-4 losing record at Ms32w. Smaller Takahashi didn’t hit any walls with a 5-2 record in his makushita debut at Ms45e, stretching his career record to an impressive 25-4 (including the play-off loss to Kageyama in the Kyushu Basho).

In Kyushu, the sandanme race was exciting with Kageyama, Wakanoho, Kadomoto and Takahashi going strong. Their ascension to makushita left sandanme with a relative vacuum for the Hatsu Basho

Next