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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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makunouchi, taking only six basho to make the climb from makushita tsukedashi ranking to makunouchi, and he is now tied fifth in this regard. Dejima, Nagaoka, Musoyama and Miyabiyama hold the record as each man needed just four basho to make the same journey.
After the 1972 September basho, Wajima was promoted to ozeki along with his good friend Takanohana (the former Futagoyama). His friendship with Takanohana started while Wajima was still attending Nihon University. The university's sumo club was located right next to Takanohana's Hanakago-beya and, as both were similar in age, they quickly became good friends and started to train together. Their friendship lasted until Takanohana's untimely death on May 30th, 2005.
Wajima was known to be an extravagant man off the dohyo – he wore expensive clothing and drove around in a Lincoln Continental. Although he inherited Hanakago-beya after his retirement from active sumo, due to financial difficulties, he was forced to close the heya and leave the Nihon Sumo Kyokai. (The current Hanakago-beya was founded in 1993 by former
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sekiwake Daijuyama and is not directly linked to Wajima). Briefly active in Japanese professional wrestling, Wajima is now frequently seen on Japanese TV.
Table 9 – Most Basho at the Yokozuna Rank
| | Yokozuna | Number of Basho |
|---|
| 1. | Kitanoumi | 63 |
| 2. | Chiyonofuji | 59 |
| 3 | Taiho | 58 |
| 4. | Takanohana | 49 |
| 5. | Akebono | 48 |
The 55th yokozuna Kitanoumi Toshimitsu (1953- ) is the current chairman of the Japan Sumo Association. Born on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, he was already 173 cm tall and weighed 100 kg when he started middle school. By this time, he became well known in the region as he was already beating high school students in judo competitions, and a number of oyakata visited the area to observe his prowess. Eventually, the former Mihogaseki Oyakata, father of the current Mihogaseki Oyakata, brought him to Tokyo, enrolling him in the Ryogoku Middle School and recruiting Kitanoumi into his own heya.
Kitanoumi became the youngest yokozuna the sport had ever
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Kitanoumi (photo by Meike Sinke)
seen at the age of 21 years and 2 months. He had started sumo prior to graduating from middle school and he graduated while competing in the lower divisions. At his yokozuna promotion, he was cautioned to refrain from heavy drinking as his love of alcohol was well known in sumo circles. In later years, he claimed that, when he was younger, he could have easily put away 18 liters of sake if so inclined.
Kitanoumi used his 165kg physique to his advantage to get into his favorite hidari(left)-
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