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.

Eternal Banzuke – Phase Two by Lon Howard

hangers-on.  Since a possible majority of the rikishi who will appear on the Banzuke is affected, this point is well founded, so the Rules will state that a rikishi’s string ends with his final makuuchi appearance.  This means most of the men shown at M5 and below on the first Banzuke shown in April got a slight bump up.   Chiyonofuji was somewhat like that – but on the front end, instead : he got to makuuchi in Aki 1975 and then disappeared into juryo and makushita for 13 basho before getting back there.  It’s tempting to consider taking those 13 basho out of the count and beginning his string with his next makuuchi appearance because he wasn’t established in makuuchi, but determining what constitutes ‘established’ is not only very subjective, changing the rules to accommodate one rikishi isn’t fair to the rest – he could have just as easily been a top maegashira rikishi for those 13 basho, and the final result would be identical.  The bottom line is that it took him six years to make yokozuna from the time he first hit makuuchi, and where he was in between shouldn’t be a huge issue.  So, as with Elevator Rikishi, it’s taken some time to work out the kinks, and it certainly has helped hearing from a few of you.  But now, after sifting through all the aspects, it appears the most simple and equitable assembly is Rules Next

Because stuff does happen, only 18 additional rikishi were added to the Eternal Banzuke since its first official release in April. Including the ones still active, it now contains 80 rikishi who have accumulated a qualifying 60-basho string, which is necessary in order to be officially ranked.  Since I still consider the Eternal Banzuke a work in progress, I was hoping to get some feedback regarding what it might be best suited for, and also regarding the rules currently in place, and thankfully, some was received.  Since a rikishi’s placement on the Banzuke is based on his Highest Median Rank (HMR), the current consensus is that it is best suited for displaying a snapshot of what kind of career a rikishi had.  In the case of yokozuna and ozeki, it rewards those who ascended to their highest ranks quickly, and so could be seen to be ‘out of whack’ since Akebono reigns over Chiyonofuji and Takanohana.  But again, it’s not for showing who was better or stronger, it’s just for reflecting where rikishi spent the majority of their careers.  For that purpose, it’s admittedly more useful for comparing rikishi who never attained ozeki – far fewer

surprises come to light there.  Some feedback asserted that several prominent makuuchi rikishi who hung on in juryo or below for several years at the end of their career were being disrespected.  By not ‘retiring on time,’ many additional basho at lower ranks were included in their qualifying strings since the Rules said those strings didn’t end until their intai basho.  After checking, the number was found to exceed ‘several.’  In fact, a majority of the makuuchi men studied so far that were below the status of ‘perennial sekiwake’ hung on like this for varying amounts of time, Kotogaume and Hamanoshima being two notables.  Kotogaume makes an excellent poster child here since he is recalled as a true joi-jin of the mid-late 1980s; but since he had 14 juryo showings at the tail end of his career, he shows up at M10e instead of M5w, which is where he lands if the string ends with the last makuuchi appearance.  Although it does ‘tell the whole truth’, this design defeats the Banzuke’s utility because it distorts what kind of makuuchi rikishi he really was, and to some extent, the same may be said for almost all of these