Nagoya Nears
Eric Blair
As Nagoya nears, EB gets a head start on the pack by focussing on points of interest, past and present surrounding sumo's hottest basho

Rikishi of Old
Joe Kuroda
The 42nd yokozuna Kagamisato falls under the JK microscope

Heya Peek
Barbara Ann Klein
Kokonoe-beya and the Chiyo Boys

SFM Interview
Mark Buckton
SFM's Ed-in-Chief interviews Estonian up and comer Baruto

Sumo 101
Barbara Ann Klein
SFM's Editor looks at all the twists and turns involved in the tsunauchi-shiki and adds a photo bonanza to boot

Photo Bonanza
See the Natsu
Basho and Kokonoe-beya photo bonanzas

Natsu Basho Summary
Lon Howard
Lon gives us his Natsu Basho summary, along with the henka sightings results

Lower Division Rikishi
Mikko Mattila
Mikko Mattila lets you know what is going on down below the curtain

Nagoya Ones to Watch
Mark Buckton
MB's mixed bag of things to look out for in Nagoya

Kimarite Focus
Mikko Mattila
Our man Mikko takes us on a tour of several defensive oriented kimarite

Amateur Angles
Howard Gilbert
The first of our regular column pieces on the amateur sumo scene from a man who knows more than most

Sumo Game
Bruce Rae
For a look at his very own: PTYW (Pick The Yusho Winners)

Sumo in Print
Barbara Ann Klein
SFM's Editor reviews the newly published biography of Akebono, Gaijin Yokozuna – but sees it as more than just a biography

Kokugi Connections
Todd Lambert
Check out Todd's bimonthly focus on 3 of the WWW's best sumo sites around

Fan Debate
Facilitator – Lon Howard
Sumo author Mina Hall and long long time fan Jim Bitgood discuss how to make sumo more entertaining – if such a concept is even necessary

SFM Cartoons
Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson
 
Sit back and enjoy the offerings of sumo's premier artists

Let’s Hear From You
What was it that
made you a sumo fan? James Vath in rural Japan lets us in on his gateway to the sport

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.

  schools with clubs*. The next grouping is what might be called ’student sumo’, which encompasses more competitive sumo activity and increasingly develops through clubs at junior high, senior high and then at university level. The last category is adult sumo, which takes place through community clubs and, more competitively, through business-house competitions, where companies will have their own clubs and teams. At all levels, local, regional and national competitions are held.

Outside of Japan, amateur sumo does not have as many participants and the organisations are still in their infancy. While university sumo in Japan, for example, has been in existence for nearly 90 years, most overseas organisations have been established only in the last 15 years. There are pockets worldwide – in South America, Hawai‘i and the west coast of the United States, all places settled by Japanese immigrants – that have had established sumo for longer, but most international amateur sumo organisations have been created in the wake of the first World Sumo Championships held in December 1992. It is this annual tournament and the work of the International Sumo Federation (IFS) to promote the sport that have led to its spread throughout Europe, parts of Asia, into the South Pacific and in areas of Africa – far beyond areas of Japanese settlement or
cultural impact.

Beyond Japan, the sport is concentrated in the teenaged and adult population, although children are involved in sumo organisations in some countries. In Europe there are age group competitions for both males and females under 18 years of age. In most other regions, however, junior girls are fast-tracked into women’s competitions; for example, the Japanese Shinsumo Championships includes girls of 15 or 16 in the adult women’s divisions. At the international level, only boys under 18 are catered for at the Junior World Sumo Championships, and indications from the IFS are that this is likely to remain for the next couple of years at least. This year’s junior competition will be held in Estonia in late August, the first time that the tournament has been held outside Japan since its inauguration in 1999. A week after the junior tournament in Estonia, the adult European Championships will be held in Germany and, in mid-October, the World Sumo Championships are scheduled in Osaka as they were last year.

For the remainder of this year, Amateur Angles will cover all of these major tournaments as well as issues confronting amateur sumo and the sport’s future. Of the latter, the most obvious is the emergence of the World Sumo League**, a series of sumo tournaments scheduled
for North America. The promoter is Big Boy Productions, the group that staged the NY S.U.M.O. Challenge held in Madison Square Garden in October 2005. Based on the success of last year’s spectacle, and as the name suggests, this company has planned a worldwide tour, though dates beyond North America have not yet been announced. The first of the World Sumo League tournaments will be staged as this edition of Sumo Fan Magazine goes to press so the next Amateur Angles will consider this issue more fully and inform the readers of reactions to these tournaments.

I hope you will join me again in August.

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* – According to sources at differing levels of the Japanese government, sumo is not an officially permitted sporting activity at primary / elementary schools due to its association with the Shinto religion and the current sensitivity over religious practice of any form playing a part in compulsory, public school education.

** – At the time of the issuance of SFM Issue#7, it appears the WSL is floundering if, indeed, it is still in existence. Issue#8 of SFM will look into exactly what happened or is still happening with the WSL in more detail.