Sumo Fan Magazine

Nagoya Nears
Eric Blair
As Nagoya nears, EB gets a head start on the pack by focussing on points of interest, past and present surrounding sumo's hottest basho

Rikishi of Old
Joe Kuroda
The 42nd yokozuna Kagamisato falls under the JK microscope

Heya Peek
Barbara Ann Klein
Kokonoe-beya and the Chiyo Boys

SFM Interview
Mark Buckton
SFM's Ed-in-Chief interviews Estonian up and comer Baruto

Sumo 101
Barbara Ann Klein
SFM's Editor looks at all the twists and turns involved in the tsunauchi-shiki and adds a photo bonanza to boot

Photo Bonanza
See the Natsu
Basho and Kokonoe-beya photo bonanzas

Natsu Basho Summary
Lon Howard
Lon gives us his Natsu Basho summary, along with the henka sightings results

Lower Division Rikishi
Mikko Mattila
Mikko Mattila lets you know what is going on down below the curtain

Nagoya Ones to Watch
Mark Buckton
MB's mixed bag of things to look out for in Nagoya

Kimarite Focus
Mikko Mattila
Our man Mikko takes us on a tour of several defensive oriented kimarite

Amateur Angles
Howard Gilbert
The first of our regular column pieces on the amateur sumo scene from a man who knows more than most

Sumo Game
Bruce Rae
For a look at his very own: PTYW (Pick The Yusho Winners)

Sumo in Print
Barbara Ann Klein
SFM's Editor reviews the newly published biography of Akebono, Gaijin Yokozuna – but sees it as more than just a biography

Kokugi Connections
Todd Lambert
Check out Todd's bimonthly focus on 3 of the WWW's best sumo sites around

Fan Debate
Facilitator – Lon Howard
Sumo author Mina Hall and long long time fan Jim Bitgood discuss how to make sumo more entertaining – if such a concept is even necessary

SFM Cartoons
Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson
Sit back and enjoy the offerings of sumo's premier artists

Let’s Hear From You
What was it that
made you a sumo fan? James Vath in rural Japan lets us in on his gateway to the sport

Readers’ Letters

See what our readers had to say since we last went out

Sumo Quiz
The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho’s banzuke.

Henka Sightings Summary

by Lon Howard

he's won 12 of his 17 henka bouts, including the first six in Natsu. Rarely did his henka lead to sudden victory, but they did allow him to control the flow of those bouts.

Here is the list of the top ten henka perpetrators for the first full year of study, listed in order of the percentage of their bouts henka'd. Shunketsu, Wakatoba and Takanowaka haven't appeared in makuuchi lately but I'll keep them on there for now.

Kyokushuzan	20
Shunketsu	13
Wakatoba	11
Takanowaka	10
Hokutoriki	9
Roho	8
Hakurozan	6
Toyozakura	5
Kyokutenho	4
Kaio	4

In comparing this list with the top ten list in February, you'll see that Kyokushuzan and Hokutoriki are the only two list repeaters whose percentage has increased, and that the numbers for the rest are either the same or lower. This means that those

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We now have one full year of henka data to study. One of my primary interests in introducing Henka Sightings was to do a statistical study on the henka since, to my knowledge, none had ever been done. As you know, henka is not a kimarite and so there was no official data to study. In order to start producing some data, somebody had to start blessing action as an ‘official’ henka. I could have always done that myself and threw it out in cyberspace somewhere, but I could hear the leather-lunged throng already … “Who are you to say what's a henka??” So that's why the collective wisdom of our readers was summoned, and that's why Henka Sightings exists … along with maybe a little fun.

We recognize that one year of data is not enough to be considered representative – for each of the six basho studied we have had as few as 25 bouts nominated (twice) and as many as 49, while the validated henka count has ranged from 10 to 23.

At such an early juncture I'm not sure if it's even valid to identify trends, but at first blush, it was interesting to note that after the first two basho, only 38 per cent of the nominated bouts were blessed as henka, but now after six, it's crept up to 50 per cent, precisely 100 henkas of 201 nominations.

But it's hard to conclude that henka in general has increased lately when most, if not all, of those higher numbers have come from one corner – the one occupied by Kyokushuzan – who now rules both the henka and the elevator kingdom, as far as active rikishi are concerned. For the first three basho of our study he recorded only one henka, but in Hatsu, he was nominated seven times, and the fans blessed all seven. In Natsu, he went one better as he was eight for eight. Only two for three in Haru, he's still responsible for nearly one-third of all henka in this calendar year. Most remarkably, his opponents keep falling for it, as