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| Attention to Akeni
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Carolyn Todd
SFM's newest addition to the writing staff takes an
in-depth look at akeni, their history and production techniques
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| Rikishi of Old
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Joe Kuroda
Joe Kuroda slides former yokozuna Minanogawa under his SFM microscope |
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| Eric Evaluates
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Eric Blair
Eric's wit scythes through the SML and makes clear his opinion of where the future lies for online sumo forums. |
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Eternal Banzuke Phase II
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Lon Howard
Stats, equations and mathematics all lead to a list of sumo's most prolific up and downers
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Heya Peek
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Mark Buckton
Mihogaseki, former home of Estonian sekitori Baruto is toured (and peeked at) by SFM's Editor-in-Chief
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Nagoya Basho Summary
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Lon Howard
Lon gives us his Nagoya basho summary, along with the henka sightings results
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Lower Division Rikishi
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Mikko Mattila
Mikko Mattila casts his watchful eye over lower division goings on in makushita and below.
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Aki Ones to Watch
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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 |
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Kimarite Focus
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Mikko Mattila
Our man Mikko's latest trio of kimarite get thrown about the SFM literary dohyo |
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Amateur Angles
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Howard Gilbert
Howard returns with the second of his columns on the amateur sumo scene.
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Sumo Game
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| SFM's very own quiz comes in for a bit of self scrutiny by our secretive man of questions. We'll call him 'X'. |
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Sumo in Print
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Barbara Ann Klein
SFM’s Editor reviews “The Little Yokozuna”, a book for “young” (and older) adults
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| Kokugi Connections
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Todd Lambert
Check out Todd's bimonthly focus on 3 of the WWW's best sumo sites
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Fan Debate
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Facilitator - Lon Howard
Keri Sibley and Eduardo de Paz ponder the concept of ‘to pay or not to pay’ makushita salaries
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SFM Cartoons
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Stephen Thompson
Sit back and enjoy the offerings of one of sumo's premier artists |
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Lets Hear From You
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| What was it that made you a sumo fan? SFM’s own Todd Lambert details his path into sumofandom
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| Sumo Quiz |
The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho’s banzuke. |
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basho), these are what would likely pop up: 1) he made his juryo
debut
in Haru 1995 -- over 11 years ago; 2) he has possibly the worst
knees in the business (Gokenzan limping down the hanamichi after a bout
is a familiar sight); and, 3) he is the highest-ranked rikishi in
Takanohana’s stable since Takanonami retired. He spent a couple of years at high
makushita and lower juryo between Natsu 2002 and Haru 2004, but has
since left upper makushita. In the Nagoya basho, he was at Sd7 and
scored a mere 4-3. Yet, he states he is aiming to get back to juryo.
With such knees, such age and such lack of competition in his stable,
that surely is a pie-in-the-sky goal.
Senshuyama
Finally, the remaining three high makushita rikishi with more than a spoonful
of juryo experience: Sumanofuji (28, 16 juryo basho), Senshuyama (30,
25 juryo basho) and Daishodai (30, 14 juryo basho). Sumanofuji secured
his eighth promotion to juryo with a good 5-2 at Ms3 in Nagoya. He is a
classic example of a lower juryo/high makushita level rikishi who is
too strong for upper makushita and too weak
for juryo. Senshuyama was
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demoted from juryo for the first time in nine
basho after having had two chances for makuuchi promotion at J1 and
J3. He could not bounce back and suffered a 2-5 make-koshi
at Ms2 in Nagoya. Daishodai had an even more dramatic fall --
from the brink of makuuchi promotion in Hatsu 2006 (J1) to a losing
record in Natsu 2006 at Ms2. The fall was largely due to a knee injury,
so if recovery is full and quick, he should return to juryo soon,
especially since he went 5-2 at Ms6 against some strong opponents.
Daishodai
Kageyama (19) competed in, barring injury, what was probably the last
makushita basho of his career in Nagoya, and shot up to juryo
convincingly with a 6-1 record at Ms1. Only Shiraishi was able to beat
him. He had only one 4-3 on his way to juryo, and for the past
three basho, his aggregate record in high makushita was
16-5while his career stats stand at 51-14. He aims to
compete successfully with a strong tachi-ai and will certainly be the
most interesting juryo rikishi in the Aki basho. Wakanoho (18) followed
Kageyama a few steps back, having decelerated a bit lately. Still, the
physically ready young rikishi continued his streak of kachi-koshi at
Ms7 even after an uncharacteristic 1-3 start in Nagoya. His sumo relies
a lot on power turns utilizing his long reach, but he certainly needs a lot of training outside his own
stable to keep an upward development curve, considering that he is
rather lonely, quality-wise, in Magaki-beya. Former makuuchi Gojoro exclaimed “He should be a sekitori in 2 years”
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when he first saw the then 16-year-old Magaki recruit. Gojoro’s educated guess is close to becoming a reality.
Ikioi (19) was featured in last issue’s article. He is currently the
only real hope of Isenoumi-beya and just had his second appearance in
makushita. At Ms35 he suffered a 3-4 losing record with no wins against
truly strong foes. He should recover, though, and, after a little
seasoning, he can enter high makushita and bring his content-rich sumo
more into the spotlight. Possessing one of the best sumo physiques to
build upon, Ikioi’s future looks promising. Shibuya (19) is also
blessed with a robust sumo body and real athletic abilities. With his
174kg (384 lbs) body, he already has plenty of muscle and a fearsome
forward charge. The main problem might be his immaturity. There seems
to be something naive and childish about him, almost as if he were a
rikishi that is now allowed to “play and eat without worries”, only
later to be put through a more demanding training program. Of course,
that is pure speculation but he did “suddenly” have a 10-bout losing
streak. However, he regained a solid foothold in Nagoya at Ms47,
with a fine 5-2 record.
Mongolian Arawashi (19) has been riddled with injuries. He has had full
or partial absence in three of the last four basho and will be back in
sandanme for the September basho after a 2-2-3 at Ms57. He
is a good technical and athletic rikishi, but his injury history at
only age 19, does not exactly portend the best prospects for a
prosperous
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