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SFM’s historian, JK, wraps his two-part article on the greatest of the tsuna wearers
What exactly is it and furthermore, what does it do? The ISF explain themselves and their purpose in existing
Man or myth? Sumo's first yokozuna comes under the spotlight
Tokitsukaze-beya and its famous find themselves the target of Barbara's peek into life inside the heya
Featuring interviews with amateur sumo's European Sumo Union General Secretary and the President of the newly founded Irish Sumo Federation
Would chanko exist without sumo? What is chanko anyway? Find out in Sumo 101
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
Lon gives us his Haru Basho summary, along with the henka sightings results
Mikko Mattila covers the lower division goings on like nobody else around
Mark Buckton glances back to look forward in his ones to look out for come May
Our man Mikko takes us on a tour of his chosen kimarite
Our gaming thread takes a break for April so we can look at the Spanish language book on the sport not long since released
Todd’s bimonthly focus on 3 of the WWW's best sumo sites today
April's man VS monkey debate covers the issue of reducing the number of honbasho
Sit back and enjoy the offerings
made you a sumo fan? Thierry Perran lets us in on his reasons for loving this sport
See what our featured letter is for this issue
Sumo Quiz
The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho’s banzuke.
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Natsu Ones To Watch
Text by Mark Buckton
Photos by Barbara Ann Klein
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he'd be whizzing through juryo in just a couple of basho. Despite my belief that he'd pick up a few losses and end with a record of 10-5 or so, the Estonian youngster obviously wanted to embarrass me so went out and won the juryo yusho with a 15-0 zensho record. Come May – if he is still in juryo, expect a similar performance. If he squeezes in at the bottom of makunouchi (and Pierre is more your man there), a few losses due to inexperience. So – either a juryo 14-1 or a makunouchi 9-6.
Mokonami
Mokonami – Mokonami was one I got spot on by predicting a 9-6 performance. He didn't really shine, but that could have been due to being ‘outshone’ by Baruto and Homasho. He lost on consecutive days to both towards the end of the basho and, in some of the fights he won, he did appear tired, and
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To mark the first anniversary of SFM hitting your PC screens, I am taking a look back at my predictions last time out (Feb 2006) and will once again target the same sekitori for Natsu to prove something a friend told me just after Haru ended: 'know enough to know you don't know everything.' Words of wisdom, and thanks to Takamisakari and Kyokushuzan, words I will put a lot of stock in – in the future. Went pretty close on a few calls though!
Enjoy.
Homasho – Last time out I had him down for a 10-5 finish and was pleasantly surprised to see Shikoroyama's top dog go 12-3 come senshuraku. Putting in some excellent performances over the 15 days in Osaka, Homasho looks like one for the upper echelons in makunouchi given a bit of time and experience. Along with Baruto and Mokonami, definitely one to keep an eye on. In addition, being a Japanese sekitori, is he
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the next yokozuna we have all been waiting for? Only time will tell, as Kisenosato would vouch for when similar expectations were heaped on his shoulders. Given that Homasho may well have slipped under the radar somewhat though – look for a 10-5 as his foes focus too much on self-preservation and / or Baruto.
Baruto – I had my doubts last time about Baruto's mindset at this level, although I did think
Baruto
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