Yokozuna Comparisons Joe Kuroda

SFM’s historian, JK, wraps his two-part article on the greatest of the tsuna wearers

Amateur Sumo's Global Aspirations Courtesy: International Sumo Federation

What exactly is it and furthermore, what does it do? The ISF explain themselves and their purpose in existing

Rikishi of Old Joe Kuroda

Man or myth? Sumo's first yokozuna comes under the spotlight

Heya Peek Barbara Ann Klein

Tokitsukaze-beya and its famous find themselves the target of Barbara's peek into life inside the heya

SFM Interview Mark Buckton

Featuring interviews with amateur sumo's European Sumo Union General Secretary and the President of the newly founded Irish Sumo Federation

Sumo 101 Barbara Ann Klein

Would chanko exist without sumo? What is chanko anyway? Find out in Sumo 101

Photo Bonanza See the Haru

Basho through the eyes of the fans in the seats as SFM gives the mantle of photographer(s) for this basho to Barbara & Gerald Patten. And don't miss our all-Mongolian Bonanza supplied by our Editor, Barbara Ann Klein

Haru Basho Review Lon Howard

Lon gives us his Haru Basho summary, along with the henka sightings results

Lower Division Rikishi Mikko Mattila

Mikko Mattila covers the lower division goings on like nobody else around

Natsu Basho Forecast Mark Buckton

Mark Buckton glances back to look forward in his ones to look out for come May

Kimarite Focus Mikko Mattila

Our man Mikko takes us on a tour of his chosen kimarite

Sumo in Print Mark Buckton

Our gaming thread takes a break for April so we can look at the Spanish language book on the sport not long since released

Kokugi Connections Todd Lambert

Todd’s bimonthly focus on 3 of the WWW's best sumo sites today

Fan Debate Facilitator – Lon Howard

April's man VS monkey debate covers the issue of reducing the number of honbasho

SFM Cartoons Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson

Sit back and enjoy the offerings

Let’s Hear From You What was it that

made you a sumo fan? Thierry Perran lets us in on his reasons for loving this sport

Readers’ Letters See what some

See what our featured letter is for this issue

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

Elevator Rules

1.	A rikishi must have an unbroken string of at least 30 consecutive qualifying basho in order to be listed in the Ranking.
2.	A rikishi's string is assumed to start with his first makuuchi appearance and end with his last. There are only two exceptions to this general rule:
	When a string begins with the first makuuchi appearance, in order for it to remain unbroken, as you count down the list of basho, the total number of makuuchi appearances must at least equal the total juryo or below appearances. At any point, when this is not true, that string is broken, and a new string is assumed to begin with the second makuuchi appearance, with the same test applied. The string actually begins with the first makuuchi appearance where the test is passed.
	If the last makuuchi appearance is immediately preceded by three consecutive juryo or below appearances, the string will not end with that appearance. Instead, go up to the next-to-last makuuchi appearance and apply the same test. Keep going up if necessary. The string actually ends with the last makuuchi appearance, which is not immediately preceded by at least three juryo or below appearances.
3.	If a rikishi doesn't accumulate a string of at least 30 consecutive qualifying basho under these rules, he may still qualify to be listed in the Ranking by foregoing both exceptions listed in #2, above. By doing that, the string still must contain 30 basho – if it doesn't, the rikishi will not be listed in the Ranking.
4.	In calculating the Move On Quotient (MOQ), a rikishi is credited with zero banzuke spots moved for any basho in juryo, and for the first makuuchi basho when transiting back from juryo - regardless of how many actual spots were moved – and no credit is given for a change of direction for either basho.
5.	All sanyaku ranks other than East are considered West, e.g., S2e, S2w are both counted as Sw. (∗)
(∗) Note: Trying to be exact in accounting for more than two spots for each sanyaku rank (in the cases where that occurred) required a system which sometimes produced nonsensical outcomes further down the banzuke, such as rikishi going from M6e to M7e, yet being credited with a 0 or a 1 count in spots moved, even though two spots were actually moved.

Current Elevator Ranking:

(Fully Qualified Rikishi Only)
(Active rikishi in bold)

	RIKISHI	MOQ	AFQ	EI	MID YEAR
1	Takanofuji	11.00	0.9355	10.29	1989
2	Itai	11.58	0.8039	9.31	1987
3	Sadanoumi	10.61	0.7674	8.15	1984
4	Daitetsu	10.13	0.7586	7.69	1986
5	Jingaku	9.47	0.7955	7.53	1988
6	Daijuyama	9.91	0.7460	7.39	1986
7	Kirinji	10.23	0.6867	7.02	1982
8	Higonoumi	10.06	0.6863	6.90	1997
9	Mainoumi	9.21	0.7368	6.78	1995
10	Kasugafuji	8.88	0.7619	6.77	1993
11	Kyokudozan	8.40	0.8043	6.76	1993
12	Takamisugi	9.70	0.6812	6.61	1990
13	Kotofuji	10.00	0.6571	6.57	1992
14	Daishoho	9.73	0.6563	6.38	1994
15	Kyokushuzan	9.47	0.6607	6.26
16	Koboyama	9.06	0.6875	6.23	1986
17	Ozutsu	8.19	0.7500	6.15	1986
18	Tochihikari *	8.52	0.7049	6.00	1979
19	Hamanoshima	9.14	0.6429	5.88	1998
20	Tochitsurugi	8.71	0.6667	5.81	1985
	* a.k.a. Kaneshiro