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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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had
no intention of helping Akutsugawa acquire a toshiyori share.
Akutsugawa’s predicament was soon reported to other rival ichimon (heya
group) oyakata, who felt he should remain with the Kyokai.
Consequently, Akutsugawa was provided with an available Sadogatake
share. After receiving the Sadogatake share, he established a new heya
in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, some distance away from
Ryogoku. He took Minanogawa with him as he considered Minanogawa
to be his own recruit. This angered Takasago oyakata as Minanogawa was
thought to be a future ozeki, or even yokozuna.
Takasago oyakata had a shrewd plan to bring Minanogawa back to his
fold. Traditionally, Takasago-beya named its leading rikishi - and heir
of the heya - “Asashio Taro”. The oyakata intended to do his utmost to
make Minanogawa a yokozuna from his own heya. If Minanogawa
accepted the new shikona (fighting name), he’d be back in Takasago-beya
as its future oyakata. Although Minanogawa was flabbergasted by the
offer, he promptly declined, explaining that he considered Akutsugawa
to be the one who led him to Ozumo success.
Tomojiro did not tell Akutsugawa what took place at Takasago-beya. Soon
he went back to his old routine and almost forgot about the incident
until a copy of the new banzuke for the May 1929 basho arrived.
When he looked at the banzuke, he paled as he saw “Mw 2, Asashio”,
renamed from Minanogawa. Using his position as a Kyokai executive,
Takasago oyakata just reported the shikona change without further
consultation. Minanogawa did his best to convince Sadogatake oyakata
that he had refused the offer, but Sadogatake oyakata could not be
placated and hastened to confront
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Takasago oyakata.
Fortunately, a group of Takasago rikishi was able to stop Sadogatake,
but it was clear that an explosive situation existed, and the Kyokai
was forced to intervene. As a compromise, Minanogawa would retain
the Asashio shikona and continue to train at Takasago-beya, while
remaining a resident member of Sadogatake-beya. Neither party was ever
fully satisfied with this temporary solution
By 1929, Ozumo experienced unprecedented popularity, fuelled by fierce
rivalries among newcomers such as Musashiyama and Tenryu, as well as
the ever-dominant Tamanishiki. Minanogawa was promoted to komusubi for
the January 1930 basho after an 8-3 in the September 1929 basho. Then
at sekiwake, Minanogawa put together two consecutive 9 -2
records. Despite a weakening global economy at this time,
Minanogawa and his new rival, Musashiyama, helped to sell out every
basho and were deservedly viewed as Ozumo’s two saviors.
Good times did not last long for Minanogawa, as he started feeling weak
during training sessions leading to the May 1931 basho. Since he
felt close to an ozeki promotion, Minanogawa kept working, hoping that
somehow he would recover from a yet-undiagnosed illness. Then, while
training, he fell awkwardly and seriously injured both knees. He
immediately knew he would have to withdraw from the basho.
When Minanogawa had first moved to Sadogatake-beya in Kawaguchi, he
felt liberated from the strict sumo regimen that existed in Ryogoku.
When returning from training at Takasago-beya, he often stopped to have
a few drinks and, occasionally,
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visited a brothel near the train station. He eventually contracted a sexually transmitted disease that weakened him and, thus, contributed to the leg injuries.
Minanogawa remembered how miserable he was when he injured his leg the
first time, and he did not want a relapse. Consequently, he decided to
retire from Ozumo and return home. He was packing his bags when
Sadogatake oyakata approached him. “I cannot let you return to
your mother. I promised her that I’d make you a great rikishi. At least
I have to repair your legs before I can let you go,” Sadogatake oyakata
told him. The oyakata did not have any money to spare but he
wanted to send Minanogawa to the doctor who helped him recover from his
own injury. This doctor completely cured Minanogawa’s disease, and then
enabled the rikishi’s recovery from the knee injuries. After this
incident, Minanogawa was often heard to mutter, “I need to remember
that women are really scary”.
Just as Minanogawa was coming back from his absence, a number of
Dewanoumi ichimon rikishi, headed by sekiwake Tenryu, walked out on the
Kyokai and refused to return unless the Kyokai undertook radical
economic and organizational reforms. The magnitude of their action was
such that the Kyokai lost all of the makuuchi rikishi and a majority of
juryo rikishi from the west side of the banzuke. This became
known as “Shunjyu-En Incident” named after the Chinese restaurant which
Tenryu's group camped themselves in during the initial holdout. (See complete account
in Issue 2). The protest escalated further when the east side
rikishi, headed by Minanogawa, Kagamiiwa and Nishikinada also decided
to leave.
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