| Nagoya Nears Eric Blair |
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| Rikishi of Old Joe Kuroda |
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| Heya Peek Barbara Ann Klein |
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| SFM Interview Mark Buckton |
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| Sumo 101 Barbara Ann Klein |
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| Photo Bonanza See the Natsu |
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| Natsu Basho Summary Lon Howard |
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| Lower Division Rikishi Mikko Mattila |
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| Nagoya Ones to Watch Mark Buckton |
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| Kimarite Focus Mikko Mattila |
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| Amateur Angles Howard Gilbert |
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| Sumo Game Bruce Rae |
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| Sumo in Print Barbara Ann Klein |
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| Kokugi Connections Todd Lambert |
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| Fan Debate Facilitator – Lon Howard |
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| SFM Cartoons Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson |
| Let’s Hear From You What was it that |
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| Readers’ Letters |
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Sumo Quiz
The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho’s banzuke.
the 42nd Yokozuna
Kiyoji's mother, however, being a simple country woman, refused to have her son sent to a big city and, in fact, did not want him involved with sumo at all. Kiyoji himself was not interested in sumo at the time either, as he enjoyed playing basketball. Exasperated, the messenger left a sum of money for Kiyoji and his mother to use to visit Kagamiiwa in Tokyo one day, but did not really expect anything to materialize. Meanwhile, faced with financial burden, Kiyoji's mother had to use the money to survive. But having a strong sense of duty, both mother and son worked hard and, in three years, saved enough money to finally travel to Tokyo and repay the debt personally.
By this time, Kagamiiwa had retired from active sumo career and became Kumegawa oyakata. He had founded his own heya and told Kiyoji and his mother that he was in need of more new recruits. Kiyoji and his mother were treated very kindly by the oyakata, and sensing that his mother felt very indebted to the oyakata, Kiyoji made up his mind to join the heya right away. In January
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Born Kiyoji Okuyama in a small farming village in the most northern part of Japan's main island, Honshu, Kiyoji lost his father early, and he and his mother had to eke out a meager
Despite never having enough to eat, Kiyoji grew up strong and was already over 170 cm tall, weighing 73 kg by the time he became a teenager. Because he was much bigger than most, he soon became well known locally. While visiting nearby Morioka City on a jungyo tour, then-ozeki Kagamiiwa heard of this large local youth and he decided to contact him by sending a
