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.

which he is big and strong enough to do. Once he overcomes that, ozeki seems assured for him – until then: no chance. Despite upsetting Asashoryu and Kotooshu, M2 Kokkai derailed his own sanyaku train by losing to the likes of M5 Kasuganishiki, Hokutoriki and the wounded Tamanoshima, to finish 8-7. In Osaka, he will return to his top rank of M1, which is where he was nine basho ago. His career remains stalled by his lack of ‘ring sense’ – not knowing when to re-set himself, failure to concentrate, having no consistent strategy to win, ad infinitum. With all that, he remains one of the joi-jin, at least in my eyes.

Ajigawa-Beya posted twin 9-6 surprises from M6 Ama and M7 Aminishiki. The diminutive Ama endures with an odd combination of big-man tachiai and grab-bag trickery, picking up his first kinboshi by cleverly dumping the injured Asashoryu on day 13; but in many of his wins he looked more like Hokutoriki by manhandling his foe at the tachiai. In Osaka, he will have to take on all the joi-jin and I can’t wait to see if he can remain one of them himself. Ex- thin man Aminishiki continues his slow return up the banzuke, now lugging 135 kg on his ever-ailing right knee. It’s still working for
him though, as he will be promoted to his highest rank in over two years. Good for him. M8 Futeno’s own 9-6 mark can hardly be called a gem at that rank but at least he’s back in the win column after following up his surge to sanyaku with two make-koshi. Unless he can figure out how to prevent smaller rikishi from putting him on the defensive, he may remain in the funk he finds himself in. M12 Kasugao remains a lesser version of Tamanoshima with his own 9-6 outing – great tools and technique, eye-popping nage wins at times – completely out of it on many days.

Perhaps the biggest jaw-dropper of the basho came from the very bottom. The 34-year-old M17 Kitazakura was making only his third makuuchi appearance in over four years, without a ghost of a chance of sticking – so we thought. Needless to say, when the popular human salt-dispenser with the wide smile and infectious swagger was still technically in the yusho hunt with a 9-3 record after 12 days, most fans thought it was pretty cool. None of that was diminished with his 9-6 finish and all will be happy to see him return in March.

It was a quiet party as usual at “Club Keepin’-On” with M5
Iwakiyama and M6 Dejima inching up at 8-7, while M8 Jumonji, M9 Toyonoshima and M12 Toyozakura stepped back at 7-8.

Into each basho some rain must fall, so let’s check out the slick spots. M4 Hakurozan stumbled to 4-11, possibly still nursing his injured toe, and giving up much too easily when pushed toward the edge. Admittedly, he was a question mark at that rank, but much more was expected of two men who had fallen down the banzuke for different reasons. In Kyushu, a healthy M2 Kakizoe had inexplicably checked in with a 4-11 mark but was only sent down to M7, where he could barely get kachi-koshi this time.


Wakanosato
 
 Perennial ozeki candidate Wakanosato suffered an early basho-ending hamstring injury

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