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August 15, 2024
 

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Wayne Graczyk
Wayne Graczyk has written the "Baseball Bullet-In" column in The Japan Times since 1976. A native of New Jersey, he came to Japan in 1969 with the U.S. Air Force and is a 1977 graduate of Tokyo's Sophia University. Wayne was the long-time (1977-2004) sports editor of the Tokyo Weekender newspaper, he covers Yomiuri Giants baseball games for Nippon TV and, since 1976, he has compiled the Japan Pro Baseball Fan Handbook & Media Guide. He is a member of the Tokyo Sportswriters Club and the Foreign Sportswriters Association of Japan. Notice Wayne Graczyk, the baseball columnist for The Japan Times for the past 40 years, passed away at the age of 68 on April 19. His final column was posted on April 8. Readers can continue to access his coverage of Japanese baseball through the online archives.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 12, 2005
What's in a name? The good, the bad and the absurd
From the (e-)mail bag, Patrick O'Mara from Washington, D.C., sent the following message: "I'm writing as a new fan to the game; my wife got me into (baseball) this past season, when the Red Sox finally overcame the Yankees. My question is why do they call it the "World" Series?
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 5, 2005
Who's who (and where) among '05 foreign players
Happy New Year. Five days into 2005, and the 12 Japan pro baseball teams have spent the offseason wheeling and dealing, acquiring and firing foreign players. Confused about who left and who is left? Following is a team-by-team rundown of who's gone and who's on at this point.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 29, 2004
Eagles hope to soar in first year with acquisition of Iwakuma
Here is my final column of 2004, the most tumultuous year in the history of Japanese pro baseball.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 22, 2004
Iwakuma not the first Japanese pitcher caught in tug-of-war
The on-going tug-of-war between the Orix Buffaloes and the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles over pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma reminds me of a somewhat similar situation that occurred a quarter of a century ago in Japanese baseball: the case of another right-handed hurler, Suguru Egawa.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 15, 2004
2005 schedule reflects big changes in Japanese baseball
The 2005 Japan pro baseball schedule was released last week, and one look at the table gives you an idea there will be a whole new ball game next season. Three separate slates were unveiled, one for each of the Central and Pacific Leagues as usual, with Japan's first-ever interleague calendar tacked...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 8, 2004
Skipper Deeble proud of his Aussies in Athens
One of the big baseball stories of 2004 was the winning of the silver medal in the Athens Olympics by Australia, which upset a highly rated Japanese team twice during the Summer Games. The 1-0 and 9-4 victories by the Aussies stunned Japan, which had to settle for bronze, and it also raised the excitement...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 1, 2004
Dodgers coach Colborn feels right at home in Japan
Thrilled to be back in Japan last month as the pitching coach on the 2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Japan Tour was Jim Colborn, former pitching instructor for the Orix BlueWave and currently mentor to the mound staff of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 24, 2004
Lonely days in Fukuoka
The imminent sale of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks baseball team to the Softbank Internet company may yield great results down the road but, right now, the elimination of the "Daiei" name seems to have cast an atmosphere of sabishisa (loneliness) over the city and the entire northern Kyushu area.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 17, 2004
Mound relief almost backfired for MLB pitchers
...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 10, 2004
Ishii, Otsuka do their best to fill shoes of Japan's biggest stars
The organizers of the Major League Baseball All-Star show currently touring Japan were not able to convince Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners or Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees to play in this year's Nichibei yakyu, but the appearance of Japanese pitchers Kazuhisa Ishii and Akinori Otsuka has...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 3, 2004
Stocking of new Sendai team just part of busy NPB offseason
Get ready, fans, for what promises to be a whirlwind, action-packed offseason with an extra-hot hot stove league or, as they say here in Japan, the "hot hibachi" league. Going to be a heckuva offseason.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 27, 2004
Foreign heavy hitters show some 'appeal' during Japan Series
Congratulations to the Seibu Lions on winning their first Japan Series in 12 years.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 16, 2004
Seibu Lions look to have slight edge in Japan Series
The 2004 Japan Series begins Saturday with the Central League champion Chunichi Dragons of Nagoya facing the Pacific League, playoff-winning Seibu Lions, based in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, in the best-of-seven showdown to decide the No. 1 pro baseball team in this country.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 14, 2004
Arias, Petagine, Woods may play musical chairs in offseason
Three foreign players, all first basemen on Central League teams this past season, may be about to embark on a National Football League quarterback-style game of musical chairs.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 6, 2004
Sapporo story: Fighters' first season in Hokkaido a big success
Stage 2 of the Pacific League playoffs begins Wednesday night in Fukuoka, with the regular season first-place finisher Daiei Hawks hosting the second-place Seibu Lions in a best-of-five series.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 29, 2004
Fan power prevails as crisis in Japanese baseball subsides
It appears we will come out of the so-called Japanese baseball crisis with the two-league system intact, six teams each in the Central and Pacific circuits, a new team in Sendai and interleague play in 2005.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 15, 2004
Furuta deserves standing ovation
Yakult Swallows catcher Atsuya Furuta, in my opinion, deserves a round of applause; in fact, a standing ovation, for the job he has done as head of the Nippon Professional Baseball Players Association. I believe he has tirelessly served the players here during the crisis that has gripped Japanese baseball...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 2, 2004
Dragons hoping Ochoa's lucky No. 4 can bring them success
The Chunichi Dragons have won the Central League pennant four times in the past 30 years, and each time the club had a strong foreign player who wore the uniform No. 4 and contributed greatly to the team's championship seasons.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 4, 2004
Pro teams to feel pinch as top Japan players head to Athens
Twenty-five players will be leaving their Central and Pacific League teams this week, headed for Athens and the quest for gold at the Summer Olympics.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 21, 2004
Reversal by owners likely to keep two-league system in place
Two weeks ago, it appeared Japanese pro baseball was surely headed for a 10-team, one-league restructuring for next season.
Japan to revise consumption tax exemption for overseas tourists
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo in April
Japan's tourism industry hit by cancellations after megaquake alert
A beach closed due to a megaquake alert in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, from Friday to Thursday.
Focus shifts to incoming typhoon as Tropical Storm Maria dissipates
Newly formed Tropical Storm Ampil, which is forecast to approach eastern Japan this weekend, is seen on the left side of this satellite image.
Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
Japan issued its first-ever megaquake alert. What does that mean?
Naoshi Hirata (center), chairman of a committee tasked with evaluating the risk of a Nankai Trough earthquake, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
France brings down the curtain on its Olympic party with Tom Cruise and Leon Marchand
Fireworks are set off during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday.
Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’
By Thu-Huong Ha

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