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Sumo Souvenirs |
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Mark Buckton
Second of a two parter on sumo souvenirs - some hints on avoiding the fluff.
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Konishiki |
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Chris Gould
Takamiyama's 60s / 70s successes notwithstanding Konishiki was sumo's
first full-on mover and shaker from lands afar leaving Chris G to take
an in-depth look at the ripples the big guy left behind when exiting
the sumo pool.
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Rikishi of Old |
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Joe Kuroda
Joe Kuroda's looks back at the life and times of former yokozuna Shiranui.
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Eric Evaluates |
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Eric Blair
Eric IDs the true winners of the henkafest that was the Haru Basho senshuraku.
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Rikishi Diary |
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Mark Kent
Mark Kent - English pro-wrestler and amateur heavyweight sumotori -
takes his training a step further on his road to European and World
sumo glory.
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Heya Peek |
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Mark Buckton
Oitekaze Beya just to the north of Tokyo and not far from the abode of SFM's Ed-i-C falls under the microscope.
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SFM Interview |
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Carolyn Todd
Carolyn interviews Riho Rannikmaa during his recent trip to Osaka -
head of all things sumo in Estonia, friend and mentor of Baruto, this
is a man with something to announce.
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Sumo à la LA |
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Alisdair Davey
SFM's man in the shadows reports on his recent jaunt in LA, as guest of
the Californian Sumo Association and SFM reporter at large.
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Photo Bonanzas |
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Hot on the heels of the recent Ise bonanza - Haru up close and very very personal - some of our best pics to date.
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Haru Basho Summary |
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Lon Howard
Lon wraps the Haru Basho and chucks in a few bits on the henka issues the top dogs are suffering from at present.
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Sumo Menko |
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Ryan Laughton
Sumo cards of old brought to life once again by expert collector Ryan
Laughton. None of your BBM offerings here - Pt II of III.
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Natsu Ones To Watch |
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Carolyn Todd
Carolyn ponders the ones to watch come May and Natsu when sumo comes home to Tokyo.
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Kimarite Focus |
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Mikko Mattila
Mikko's latest look at sumo's kimarite offers unequalled analysis and in depth explanations.
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Amateur Angles |
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Howard Gilbert
On your marks, get set, go - Howard Gilbert walks us through the months ahead on the amateur calendar.
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Kokugi Konnections |
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Todd Lambert
Click on Todd's latest selection of the best sumo sites the WWW has to offer.
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Fan Debate |
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Facilitator - Carolyn Todd
Should it or shouldn't it? Honbasho go on the overseas road that is.
See what SFM's Chris Gould and James Hawkins have to say.
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SFM Cartoons |
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Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson
In this issue's cartoon bonanza, sit back and sample ST's latest artistic offerings.
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Sumo Odds & Ends |
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SFM's interactive elements - as always includes Henka Sightings, Elevator Rikishi and Eternal Banzuke!
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Let's Hear From You |
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What was it that made you a sumo fan - A. S. - the face in the crowd
reveals almost all - to see everything you'll have to close your eyes.
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Readers' Letters |
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See what our readers had to say since we last hit your screens.
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Sumo Quiz |
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The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself a genuine banzuke.
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wins
in the Aki basho, but the behemoth answered his critics in the best
possible style by securing his first yusho in the following tournament,
spectacularly ending Chiyonofuji’s eight-year reign as the King of
Kyushu.
In March 1990, Konishiki had the Emperor’s Cup in his sights again,
wrestling his way into an historic three-fighter playoff for the title.
Although he humiliated yokozuna Hokutoumi in the first round, he then
floundered against Kirishima through sheer exhaustion and lost easily
to Hokutoumi in the yusho-clincher. A playoff also proved the giant’s
undoing in May 1991 when he won on each of the first 14 days but
surrendered the title with two defeats to Asahifuji on senshuraku. He
made amends with a scintillating display in November 1991, becoming the
first non-Japanese to win two yusho in the process. After succumbing to
the pressure in January 1992, when losses to lower-ranked opponents
cost him the championship, he clinched and smothered his way to a final
day showdown with Kirishima in March, victory in which finally placed
his name before the YDC.
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The debate
The days following Konishiki’s historic win would place some crucial sumo issues under the spotlight.
The first issue concerned the yokozuna promotion criteria. Consensus
maintained that two straight yusho would guarantee promotion to the top
rank. Less consensual, however, was the interpretation of ‘equivalent
circumstances,’ the cloudier criterion for elevation to yokozuna. Was
it satisfied by Konishiki’s two wins in the previous three tournaments?
Or did it mean consecutive runner-up scores, 26 wins over two basho or
39 wins over three? And whatever ‘equivalent circumstances’ stood for,
was it appropriate for a Deliberation Committee to determine?
The second major issue was that of the ‘gaijin’ yokozuna. Throughout
the vast history of Japan’s national sport, there had never officially
been one. The majority of sumo’s patriotic audience firmly believed –
rightly or wrongly – that sumo was a sport made by the Japanese for the
Japanese. What would it mean to actually admit that a gaijin could
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perform sumo better than the Japanese?
A third key issue concerned Konishiki’s nationality. The congratulatory
telegrams read out whenever he won a yusho confirmed to Japan that he
was an American. He therefore represented a country which had, less
than 47 years earlier, dropped two atomic bombs on Japan and sought to
destroy the very Shinto religion that underpinned sumo. Every member of
the YDC was alive at the time of the A-bombs. One member, Noboru
Kojima, had even written patriotic novels about World War Two. Against
this backdrop, how would the Committee feel about bestowing sumo’s
greatest honour on an American?
The final issue concerned Konishiki’s stupendous size. Although
conventional sumo wisdom stated that the success of a rikishi depended
on gaining weight steadily throughout his career, Konishiki was not
envisaged as the ideally-formed sumotori. For the first time, a sport
which prided itself on the size of its competitors would actually
consider whether there was an optimum or maximum weight for sumotori –
or, at least, a yokozuna.
The historic events
On
24th March 1992, two days after Konishiki’s massacre of Kirishima, the
Yokozuna Deliberation Committee staged arguably its most famous
meeting. Afterwards, the Committee Chairman, Ueda Hideo, presented
himself to the media to announce the all-important decision on
Konishiki.
‘We wanted to make doubly sure that Konishiki is worthy to be a grand
champion,’ Ueda revealed. ‘Therefore, we decided to wait for another
tournament.’
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