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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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Baruto
Sooo, what do we think about Baruto’s chances? In his second makunouchi
basho he was up against much tougher opponents than before (nine of
higher rank), and his inexperience started to trip him up (although he
won five), and that didn’t include Asashoryu or all the ozeki. At that
level his strength and size aren’t a guarantee of victory, nor should
they be. In Tokyo he should finally meet the yokozuna in a real
torikumi, and we’ll see what they make of each other. I think he might
struggle.
Baruto
Kitazakura
And what of our salt thrower? He’s 34, he’s going down to juryo. Will
he try to bounce back yet again or will he call it quits before he
starts an unstoppable slide? There’s no doubt that the fans would want
to see him
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keep
going, especially given the dearth of characters out there, but is this
one slide too far? It’s not as if he’s a lost cause – in May he won
against Baruto – but he’s been bobbing about on that juryo/makunouchi
cusp for a long time. And maybe he’ll keep doing that, although we have
to think that it won’t be for much longer.
Kisenosato
Not since Kyushu last year has another komusubi managed to get a
winning record. It looked a bit dodgy for the first week – by nakabi he
was 2-6 (and one of those wins was against Kotooshu, which barely
counts as they always seem like a gift), and he appeared to be wasting
all his energy and focus glaring at his higher-ranked opponents, which
only amused them. In the second week, he won consistently,
although against lower-ranked sekitori (except Baruto), but if he can
maintain that focus while also taking out a few more sanyaku and ozeki,
he’ll be on his way to sekiwake.
Mokonami
Mokonami seemed like the next big thing when he reached J1 in May after
only two juryo basho. His progress came to a screaming halt with
injury, and in Nagoya he went 4-11 at J5, so he’s on a slippery slope.
He needs to put the brakes on |
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with
a good basho in Tokyo to get himself back near the top - but it all
depends on his health. He’s still only 22 so there’s plenty of time to
fulfil his potential; however, this time around, unless he’s had some
miraculous recovery (and I hope that’s so), I think he’ll struggle
again.
Mokonami
In only his third basho in juryo, Hochiyama won the yusho with a
fine 13-2 in Nagoya. In his other two juryo basho he finished 8-7 and
10-5, so his rise up the banzuke hasn’t affected his ability to win.
His rush through juryo has been impressive after struggling to escape
makushita, and time will tell whether this winning streak is just a
happy accident. If not, then the Japanese have another young star to
champion.
Home
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