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.

abandoned, but then it was visualized that once the HMRs for a group of rikishi were determined, they could be displayed in banzuke form, and further, that a banzuke could be constructed to include every rikishi who ever appeared on the dohyo.

An Eternal Banzuke necessarily has characteristics not found on a single one because, with hundreds or perhaps thousands of men to study, multiple rikishi will occupy each rank. This begs for a tie-breaking system to determine in what order to place rikishi with similar rank. The tie-breaker number (TB) for each rikishi is shown below in the Banzuke for the current active rikishi – since only the active men are on it, it's strictly for illustration purposes to introduce the concept (see note on Hayateumi below). These tabulations were made prior to publication of the 2006 Haru banzuke.

In the above display, some of the ranks are unoccupied because there aren't enough current active men to fill all the spots. In future issues, when we get into the retired ranks, there will eventually be multiple rikishi at every rank and tiebreakers will be present for all rikishi.

The first thing to keep in mind is that since all these men are still active, their position on the

Next
 Never Ending
Jidai Blending

ETERNAL BANZUKE
TB East Rank West TB
  Asashoryu Y    
    O Chiyotaikai  
  Kaio S Tochiazuma  
  Kotomitsuki   Wakanosato 26
    K Hakuho 6
         
      Kotooshu 5
  Miyabiyama 1    
32 Tosanoumi 2    
26 Dejima      
  Tochinonada 3 Kokkai  
  Tamanoshima   Kyokutenho 25
    4 Iwakiyama 10
      Kakizoe 8
    5 Takamisakari  
31 Kyokushuzan 6 Roho  
14 Hokutoriki      
33 Tamakasuga      
24 Toki 7    
19 Takanowaka      
    8 Shimotori 12
      Takekaze 7
27 Kaiho   Tokitsuumi 23
4 Ama 9 Aminishiki 19
      Asasekiryu 9
  Futeno 10 Kotoshogiku  
    11 Hayateumi 18-17
      Jumonji 18-16
15 Buyuzan 12 Tochisakae 19
2 Hakurozan   Kisenosato 4
    13 Chiyotenzan  
20 Otsukasa      
7 Toyozakura 14    
2 Tamaasuka      
  Shunketsu 15 Tokitenku 6
      Toyonoshima 5
  Kasugao 16 Katayama