Attention to Akeni Carolyn Todd SFM's newest addition to the writing staff takes an in-depth look at akeni, their history and production techniques Rikishi of Old Joe Kuroda Joe Kuroda slides former yokozuna Minanogawa under his SFM microscope Eric Evaluates Eric Blair Eric's wit scythes through the SML and makes clear his opinion of where the future lies for online sumo forums. Eternal Banzuke Phase II Lon Howard Stats, equations and mathematics all lead to a list of sumo's most prolific up and downers Matta-Henka: Another View Lon Howard A row that will never be fully decided but Lon gives his impressions on it all the same Heya Peek Mark Buckton Mihogaseki, former home of Estonian sekitori Baruto is toured (and peeked at) by SFM's Editor-in-Chief SFM Interview Mark Buckton Mark interviews shin-komusubi Kokkai Photo Bonanza See the Nagoya basho and Akeni photo bonanzas Nagoya Basho Summary Lon Howard Lon gives us his Nagoya basho summary, along with the henka sightings results Lower Division Rikishi Mikko Mattila Mikko Mattila casts his watchful eye over lower division goings on in makushita and below. Aki Ones to Watch Carolyn Todd Carolyn takes over the job of rikishi job performance prediction for SFM as she looks at those to keep an eye on come September Kimarite Focus Mikko Mattila Our man Mikko's latest trio of kimarite get thrown about the SFM literary dohyo Amateur Angles Howard Gilbert Howard returns with the second of his columns on the amateur sumo scene. Sumo Game SFM's very own quiz comes in for a bit of self scrutiny by our secretive man of questions. We'll call him 'X'. Sumo in Print Barbara Ann Klein SFM’s Editor reviews “The Little Yokozuna”, a book for “young” (and older) adults Kokugi Connections Todd Lambert Check out Todd's bimonthly focus on 3 of the WWW's best sumo sites Fan Debate Facilitator - Lon Howard Keri Sibley and Eduardo de Paz  ponder the concept of ‘to pay or not to pay’ makushita salaries SFM Cartoons Stephen Thompson Sit back and enjoy the offerings of one of sumo's premier artists Lets Hear From You What was it that made you a sumo fan? SFM’s own Todd Lambert details his path into sumofandom 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.

Elevator Ride by Lon Howard

who splashed into makuuchi in Natsu 1957 at M20w with an 11-4 mark, sending him up 31 spots to M5e for the Aki basho.  He had several 20+ moves as well but wasn’t a major elevator guy due to his five sanyaku and many single digit maegashira showings, so his career Elevator Index was a modest 4.25, good for only 48th place lifetime, so far. This last segment, only one additional rikishi cracked the list of top 20 all-time, that being ex-komusubi Toyokuni (mid-year 1965), whose 6.43 Elevator Index moved him into the #14 spot.  That #14 spot had been occupied by Kyokushuzan, but the Mongolian patriarch’s surprising failure to change direction on the banzuke in Natsu caused his Index to slip from 6.39 to 6.25, easing him down to 16th place, currently.  These were the only changes to the list of top 20 all-time elevator men.  This list appears below, along with the list of the top 10 active men.  The active list includes rikishi with at least 15 banzuke showings to their credit – remember that it takes 30 basho to qualify for permanent all-time ranking. Next

Well, the Elevator Rikishi study is about to hit the wall, in a manner of speaking.  In the effort just completed, the oldest banzuke from which names were taken was Aki 1964.  That means the study now includes rikishi who were active during the period from 1947-1958.  It was during this period that the number of ozumo basho per year increased from two to six.  I wasn’t a sumo observer then but I’ll venture a guess that – with only two basho per year –  the term ‘elevator rikishi’ was employed rarely, if at all.  Rikishi probably did make large swings on the banzuke, but with only two rides per year, it wouldn’t have been nearly as conspicuous as today.  Not only that, but with a ten-year makuuchi career containing only 20 banzuke rankings, the veracity of the elevator data taken from those rankings would be quite weak, when compared to the data

taken after that.  Realistic correlations between the different eras would be impossible, so I’m not going there.    This means that the study of historical rikishi is nearing its end, and that the benchmark for Kyokushuzan, Hokutoriki, et al, to shoot for is in near complete focus.  During this last segment, I was getting psychologically steeled for dealing with another ‘inequity’, thinking that higher elevator numbers would be produced by rikishi active during the 1950s, when the makuuchi banzuke routinely went down as far as M23.  Ostensibly, this would have allowed rikishi to move 30 or more banzuke spots at a time, generating mega MOQ numbers if it happened just a few times.  Well, that hasn’t happened yet.  The only 30+ move detected so far was made by the ex-sekiwake Fusanishiki,