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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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being slammed by injuries. The jury is still out on Wakanosato.
Wakanosato
He did post 11-4 at M11 and so will be back in joi-jin shouting distance in Natsu. Even at this level, his de-ashi (forward motion) is inconsistent so I'm not expecting a lot there. There's no mystery about Tochinonada though – he's most assuredly on his last legs. He was often overpowered at his M12 rank in Haru, posting a muted 8-7 kachi-koshi. How much of that was due to any lingering injury is unknown, but at age 32 he's not long for the top division. I will be sad because he has long been my favorite rikishi due to his wide ranging skills and his dogged, resolute way of approaching bouts.
Tochinohana
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Ho-humming along this time were M4 Dejima at 6-9, M6 Tokitenku at 8-7, M7 Kasugao at 7-8, and the M10 twins Tochinohana and Toyonoshima at 7-8 and 6-9, while M14 Kitazakura and M17 Buyuzan earned at least one more ride down makuuchi Lane with 7-8 and 8-7.
Toyonoshima
In addition to the jun-yusho, Hakuho also took home the shukun-sho (outstanding performance) award and shared the gino-sho (technique) award with Ama, while the kanto-sho (fighting spirit) prize was awarded to Kyokushuzan.
Of the five basho we've covered so far, this was the most difficult ‘Upset of the Basho’ to pick because despite all the
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so-called surprises the last few days, none of them could really be called upsets because all the participants were so evenly matched.
Runner-up though is Aminishiki's day 2 shocker against Tochiazuma which dazed the audience because they believed it ended the ozeki's yokozuna run – but taking the Upset Crown is Kaio's run-out of Tochiazuma on Day 11, which actually did take the tsuna off the table and place it back into storage. It was just as much an upset as any of the later bouts because Kaio, at 4-6, was considered dead meat, if not dead, by that time.
This basho will be remembered longer than most because of the coincidental outcomes on senshuraku that gave Asashoryu, Tochiazuma, Kaio and Hakuho all something they could caress, while giving some buff and bling to the upcoming Natsu Basho. As the theories and finger-wagging proliferate though, it is well to remember that there are just as many times when those coincidences produce aftermaths that are heart-breaking rather than uplifting. Maybe this is a good time to start keeping score. See you all at Natsu – have a wonderful spring!
Henka Sightings Summary
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