Large menko are cool....not only because of their large size, but because you very rarely see them.  When you hold one you know you are holding something special because it took a small miracle for it to survive.  It had to survive wars, moms cleaning out rooms, storage in small Japanese homes, and ruthless menko battles.  So when I ran across this "large" set, I knew I needed to hold them, checklist them, and catalogue them.  They are pretty cool, not doubt, and the photographs and print quality are second to none for the era.  These R3811: 1938 Rikishi Large 7-8 menko measure about 2" x 4.5" and are a sight to behold.  What about you, do you like to collect large, "oversized" cards or are they a pain?

Have a great week everyone and sayonara!

Caricatures are always good time at fairs and carnivals.  I am always amazed by how quickly and relatively accurately artists are able to develop and draw these out for patrons.  I am not artistic so I always applaud and admire people who are.  Did you know some of the earliest caricatures were done by Leonardo da Vinci?  Makes sense since he was such a brilliant engineer and really used the right side of his brain to the betterment of a whole generation of artists, engineers, scientists, and craftsman.  Anyway, I digress....we are talking caricatures because of this set as it is almost truly unique in the world of sumo.  Normally, many sumo menko are drawn to approximate a rikishi's face, but this set does have the appearance of overexaggeration.  Before cameras and photographic reproduction were main stream on sumo menko, there must have been a small army of artists cranking out material.  I don't think this set was meant to be humorous or funny, but 84 years later it does bring a smile to my face.  Catalogued as the R3713: 1937 Caricature 4 set, these are fairly large at 1.5" x 3". 

Have an awesome week and sayonara!

Purple as a color is just awesome!  I guess anyone could say that about any color, but there is something about purple that screams elegance and luxury.  Did you know that purple is associated with the Japanese emperor and Japanese aristocracy?  And in England it is used only on special occasions with the Royal Family.  Crazy...anyway, purple came up as I was cataloguing this new set...the R389: 1938 Rikishi 4 set.  The fronts are a high quality picture and the backs are printed, well, in purple.  Not a deep shade of purple, but a good looking one nonetheless.  This set is extremely hard to find and I uncovered 9 menko from the set during the pandemic and am finally able to document it here and in my book.  These could be the only 9 in existence at this point.  These menko are relatively small at 1" x 2 1/8", but they make up for it as real stunners.  The backs originally had a piece of paper glued to it in order to stand them up I reckon to play kamizumo, but not sure.

Have an awesome weekend!

I don't often use the word "Museum Quality" when it comes to sumo menko.  However, the early 1900 woodblock prints that were coming out of Japan at the time are nothing short of remarkable.  There are different qualities of woodprinters no doubt, and the artists that were making menko at the time were likely not skilled enough to compete with many of the heavy hitting artists.  Nonetheless, the quality and intricacies they devoted to the woodblock menko of the time was tremendous.  The woodblock set below is the R051: 1905 Priest, Gun, Fox Back 0.  Maybe more importantly than it's 116 years in existence, is the fact that it has two extremely, extremely rare menko of Osaka Yokozuna Okido and Wakashima.  At the time, there were two factions of sumo both in Tokyo and Osaka.  The one is Osaka struggled and eventually folded into the Tokyo Association, but for a brief time talented rikishi were competing there.  They don't nearly get the love and most artists seemed to have associated in Tokyo more so not many menko were produced of the Osaka rikishi.  These menko are printed on thin cardboard-like paper and are about 1" x 1 3/4".  Someday these will be in a museum!

I hope everyone came back same from the holiday and has a great week.  Sayonara!

There are still dozens of uncatalogued 1930s R-Series sumo wrestling menko sets waiting to be discovered.  During the 1930s and early 1940s, the paper sumo (kami zumo) boom was in full force in Japan and these R-series menko were extremely popular.  In the latter half of the 1930s Japan was at war with China and many sumo wrestlers had their ceremonial aprons adorned with war-themed images: planes, tanks, ships, and artillery.  This R3712: 1937 Rikishi Double Arch 4 set that I recently stumbled across exemplifies this turbulent time in world history.  Previously uncatalogued, the checklist now stands at 3 with #7207 - Maegashira Katsuragawa, #6713 - Maegashira Tsurugamine, & #5431 - Maegashira Dewanohana.  These might be some of the only ones of this set in existence.

Back in April I wrote about these flash-card type of menko that had math equations on the back for kids to solve and as a way, I am assuming, to get kids more engaged in math.  Here is another set I came across during the COVID days of browsing auction sites.  Interestingly, all the math-back menko that I own are from 1941.  Not sure why this is.  It may be that the same company produced all math-back menko and found success in the math theme.  Maybe there was some cultural phenomenon going on that made these type of backs more appealing to the kids and several companies hopped on board.  Not sure we'll ever know.  Definitely a pretty cool piece of Japanese history for sure.

This set captures the great Yokozuna Futabayama as well as many of the top-ranked wrestlers of the era.  Hard to believe that soon after this set was released, Japan would drag the United States into World War II which would ultimate cease menko production for the next 5 years until the war ended.

Here is a shout out to all the teachers out there fighting through this pandemic continuing to educate our kids and keeping them engaged in important school subjects.  Thanks especially to Fuji!

Being cooped up with a school-age kid makes me really appreciate all the hard work and effort our Nation's teachers give and sacrifice on a daily basis during a "normal" school day.  With the shift to online learning throughout the country, the new and creative way that teachers are overcoming this "new" method of teaching is nothing short of epic.  Thanks to all of our educators out there!!

Back in 1941, right before World War II started (or at least between the U.S. and Japan), an unknown Japanese company produced this Math Back menko set in order to entice kids to buy them in hopes that they would not only play with them, but use them as a learning tool as well.  There are numerous examples throughout the 1940s and 1950s of Japanese companies doing this.  They are the precursors to flash cards it seems.  These three menko that recently came up for auction are the only three of this set I have seen in my close to 20 years of collecting sumo menko making them extremely rare.  This small lot features the great Yokozuna Futabayama (75/5=), the weak Yokozuna Minanogawa(27+5=), and the even weaker Yokozuna Akinoumi shown here as an Ozeki (50+4=).  Amazingly, these menko survived the air raids and destruction of the city they resided in starting 79 years ago.

1946 was a really slim year for sumo.  Only one tournament was held and most of the rikishi were struggling to transition to the post-war occupation and an environment that wasn't friendly to traditional Japanese sports.  While baseball thrived in Occupied Japan, sumo wrestling floundered and thus, very few sumo menko sets exist from the late 1940s to early 1950s.  This 1946 menko set printed by Kagome was one of those few.  Surprisingly, the only menko I have seen from this set have been in uncut sheets and I recently discovered a full 3-sheet, 21-menko set from this hard to find "rare" release.  And as an extra bonus, I discovered this set comes in at least two types of backs, light blue and dark blue ink.  As you can see the fronts have bold colors and good quality drawings that somewhat resemble the likeness of the rikishi.  Likely this set was printed in early 1947 as it is missing Yokozuna who retired in the 1946 tournament, but the ranks are based on the Aki 1946 Banzuke.


Have an amazing Sunday!

Well, technically these menko cards have been perforated so are cut a little, but they haven't been popped out of the sheet yet.  This set that I have catalogued as the R451: 1945 Rikishi 5 set is not impossible to find surprisingly...or at least in recent years I have picked up a decent amount and have given it a "Rare" Availability Rating.  However, what makes this menko sheet so unique is not from the fact that they are uncut, but the fact that they are from 1945 and printed a little less than three months after the war officially ended in Japan.  You have heard me talk before about how ravaged the economy of Japan was during the war and for many years after.  Paper was in short supply, food was scarce, and rampant inflation and black markets sprung up all over the country.  Again, the fact that a sheet of these menko were printed and the fact that it still exists is amazing.  This set and sheet, I believe, does give us some clues to the origin.  First, the top of the sheet says "Sample Sumo Menko" which leads me to believe that maybe it survived because it was more of a salesman sample and not intended for sale.  Maybe the salesman was giving these away to drum up business.  It is pristine shape and so it must have been tucked away somewhere safe for 75 years.  Second, the back has light green ink.  I also have catalogued light blue ink and light grey ink versions which leads me to believe they were printed in different places or printed in mass quantities which led them to using different inks, basically anything they had which might explain why I have seen so many of them.  Lastly, the design, colors, and production quality is top notch leading me to believe it was made by one of the larger companies...possibly one that survived the war intact; likely Kagome Toys.  If only menko could talk....

Enjoy your week and stay safe! 

Japanese card collecting is still somewhat of a novelty outside of Japan.  Even within its borders, Japan has not produced a comprehensive guide to collecting older sports cards, nor does it have a catalog to capture set checklists.  Doing so has mainly been a non-Japanese endeavor.  The two tomes that try to conglomerate this information are the Japanese Baseball Card Checklist and Price Guide (by Engel) and my Sumo Menko and Card Checklist.  One interesting and useful bit of information is what Engel calls the "Scarcity Factor" and what I've called the "Availability Rating".  Our goal is to try and give readers/collectors an idea of how hard some of these cards/sets are to find.  Engel's approach is to try and estimate how many cards in a particular set are still in existence.  Here is Engel's Scarcity Factor scale applied to each baseball set:

NS (not scarce)--More than 1,000 copies known of most cards.

R1--between 250 and 1,000 copies known of most cards.
R2--between 100 and 249 copies known of most cards.
R3--between 11 and 99 copies known of most cards.
R4--between 5 and 10 copies known of most cards.
R5--5 or fewer copies known of most cards

 My approach is from a slightly different angle and I have calculated/estimated/guessed how hard it would be to find a sumo menko/card if you wanted to go out and purchase one today.  My scale is from an auction or purchasing point of view and basically how long it would take for one to pop up at auction if you were looking today.  He is my Availability Rating scale applied to each sumo set:

Common - Menko from this set are easy to obtain, available every month or two.
Scarce - Menko from this set show up from time to time, available a few times a year.
Rare - Menko from this set are hard to come by, available only once every few years.
Extremely Rare - Menko from this set are almost impossible to find, available only a few times in a lifetime.


Here are menko from the Extremely Rare R378: 1937 Rikishi Gunbai 5 set.  In almost 20 years of searching, here are the only 4 menko that have showed up while searching.

Menko have always been viewed as toys rather than collectibles by most Japanese.  They were meant to be played with, destroyed, and thrown away with very little concern for value, longevity, and collectability.  As such, a good amount of the 1930s menko that I run across have been well used and loved.  That is okay with me as the stories the menko could tell/do tell are what helps drive me in the menko hobby.  One very popular game that kids would play with menko is called kami-zumo, or paper sumo.  In a nutshell, paper sumo wrestlers are placed on a board and then that board is tapped which vibrates the wrestlers moving them around the ring.  The paper wrestlers eventually tangle themselves and knock each other over.  Last one standing wins.  Check out this 15-second video to give you a quick idea:




In the 1930s, this game seemed to be all the rage as I have dozens and dozens of R-series menko that were cut along the bottom and along their arms to allow them to stand and engage in paper sumo.  Here are three such examples from the R392-2: 1939 Rikishi 4-5-6 set.


You can see all the cut marks (two rikishi lost their left arm in battle, yikes).  Here is what they look like stood up:



Good luck to all the wrestlers that are competing this tournament.  It'll be an exciting 15 days for sure.  Sayonara!!

The Japanese were in a full-out war with China in 1937 and the nationalistic pride of waging the war spilled over into the national sport of Japan, sumo wrestling.  During this time, there was evidence of the war everywhere.  Images of military vehicles, weapons, and personnel adorned the ceremonial "kesho-mawashi" aprons of sumo wrestlers and one such image was placed on Maegashira Komanosato's R375: 1937 Dai Rikishi Thin 5 menko card.  After a little research I determined the aircraft was the Mitsubishi Ki-1 Heavy Bomber that saw action in Manchukuo and Northern China during the mid to late 1930s.  Whether or not these images were actual on the wrestler's aprons or just on the cards remains to be seen, but a pretty cool merging of history and card collecting.

College sumo wrestling is an integral part of the professional sumo wrestling.  Many college sumo wrestlers hone their skills at this level and then enter a professional sumo stable to train with the elite wrestlers.  These elite wrestlers have been captured on cards, menko, bromides, post cards, and all sorts of ephemera since the late 1800s.  However, college sumo wrestlers received no such honor or glory.  However, I finally ran across a small set of 1930s college sumo wrestling menko, but know little to nothing about them except for a few last names.

I see Asami (9700) from Keio University, Horiya (1000) from Namisho Commercial, and Minobe (6400) from Tennoji Normal School along with a gyoji card (3410) a few cheering spectator cards. 



I hope to do some more research to figure out exactly what I have here, but any assist would be greatly appreciated!

1. Discover and Catalog at least 5 "new" vintage sumo sets (pre-1997) - Grade A+
- Just when I think that there are no new vintage sets to collect, something always pops up.  I've discovered numerous fun sets this year including this tiny little 1940 pre-war beauty that I reported back on in November.



2. Add 2 more 1973 Calbee Sumo Cards to my collection - Grade A+
- This set is one that I am really going to have to get a going on with some gusto or I am going to "invest" upwards of $5000 on it before it is all said and done.  Why singles cards go for an average of $100 is beyond me.  I picked up 3 more this year, but I am still over 25 cards short of a complete set.  Here is a summary I did of this set back in 2016.




3.  Conduct some interviews of fellow collectors - A+
- I am glad I got this interview series off the ground with three interviews of Billy @ Cardboard History, Fuji @ The Chronicles of Fuji, and Tony from the Facebook Group "BBM Sumo Card Collectors."  I haven't done one in a while since I frankly ran out of people to interview.  Raz...you interested?  Give me a holler if anyone is up for it!



4.  Add at least 1 more Murai card to my collection - A+
- This set has proven to be hard as people warned me.  I picked up only 4 more from this T483 Murai World's Smokers set earlier this year as posted here and am up to 9 total in this set.  My goal is to complete this set in raw condition someday.


5. Continue to expand my German Card Collection - A+
- Living in Germany has been fun with respect to collecting German Cards.  I've walked away from many flea markets with some good stuff including these 1933 Salem Gold Film Stars detailed here.



6.  Add two more card catalog books to my library - C
- I thought this one would be one of the easier ones from me to complete.  I didn't pick up any physical books, but did get Engel's 2nd Vintage Edition of the Japanese Baseball Card Checklist & Price Guide in electronic form.

 7. Add to my Brandon Laird and Yuta Tabuse Collection - A+
- I've been whittling away at my two player collections all year long and Fuji has helped immensely along the way with this awesome Laird stash & sweet Tabuse haul.



8. Expand the B.League Basketball Sets - A+
- I love the BBM B.League Basketball Sets and will continue to collect them.  I picked up both the 1st and 2nd Half boxes this year, although I don't officially have complete sets in singles form...yet.




9. Update the BB-Series of Sumo Menko and Bromides - B+
- One of my most ambitious goals this year was to "fix" and update the BB-series of sumo cards and bromides in my book.  There were so many produced during the 1930s-1950s that is was daunting to just get to the spot where I am now....I reorganized all the sets and assigned catalogue numbers to them.  Now all I need to do is get them in electronic form in my book.  I see the goal line in sight, but unfortunately will not cross it this year, but the majority of the battle is over with.



10. Finish the 1974 Yamakatsu's Mini Card Bruce Lee Enter the Dragon (Series 1) Set and add to The Way of the Dragon (Series 2) and Green Hornet (Series 3) Sets - B-
- Gah, I'm still two short on the Series 1 set, about 10 short on the Series 2 set and about 35 short on Series 3.  I did have a nice haul reported back in June.  This set is getting harder as the years go by and maybe in 2019 I'll finally finish Series 1!


With no failing classes and some solid effort and help from friends, I am giving myself an:

Sumo menko from the 1930s are not all that uncommon which is really surprising given the amount of destruction that occurred in the 1940s during World War II.  What is really unusual, however, are really small menko from the 1930s.  How these survived without falling into small little crevices and being lost forever are beyond me.  These are the only six from this set that I have ever seen in the almost 20 years of me collecting.  This particular set is from 1940 and easy to date because Ayanobori was only ranked a Komusubi for a few tournaments and lines up to 1940 with the other rikishi ranks as well.  I've labeled this as the 1940 Mini Rikishi 5 set with a catalog number of R4011.

What is the smallest card set you have seen?

1932 and 1933 were very strange years in Japanese sumo.  The Shunjuen Incident had just occurred where 32 rikishi gathered at the Shunjuen Chinese restaurant in Tokyo demanding reforms from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai ultimately resulting in the postponement of the January 1932 tournament and the rikishi leaving the NSK.  The rikishi formed several new sumo groups in called the Great Japan Emerging Rikishi Group and the Progressive Rikishi Group.  (source: Sumo Fan Magazine).  Over the next 4 years these groups struggled and the last of the "rogue" wrestlers disbanded in 1937.  In 1933, during the height of this turmoil, the R331: 1933 Rikishi 4-5 menko set was produced.  A lot of reorganization was happening during 1933 with the rikishi that were left and so this set has a variety of rank mismatches which indicated it was produced over the course of many months.  Surprisingly, this set is one of the easier 1930s R-series sets to come across which might indicate sumo was entering a popular period.

I was able to finally remove one of my lone sole cards and match it to this new set that I picked up.  This is the 1937 Rikishi Left Box 5 set (Catalog # R3711).  It has one of Yokozuna Minanogawa's first Yokozuna menko in it and Shinkai's last menko as well.  It also contains a rare gyoji card.  Each menko measure about 1.0" x 2.25" and has some pretty cool gold gilding on the front.  Unfortunately some ambitious kid wrote on the back of them, but it definitely gives them character.

This set popped up the other day and I had never seen it before so I knew I needed it for my collection.  It is definitely hard to find and a nice, early R-series menko set from 1935.  It has Minanogawa and Musashiyama before they were ranked at Yokozuna!  Nothing particularly distinguishable from this set and one of the many from the 1930s that had very similar designs.