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November 22, 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
Mar 18, 2012
Tokyo Dome turns 25
Can you believe this will be the 25th season of play already at the Tokyo Dome?
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 11, 2012
Disaster had major impact on NPB
Here we are, exactly one year after the Great East Japan Earthquake struck at 2:46 p.m. on March 11, 2011. Japanese baseball has been greatly affected by the quake, the tsunami triggered by it and the subsequent radiation threats from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 4, 2012
Mahara's injury leaves a big question mark for Hawks
A couple of teams expected to be pennant contenders in Japanese baseball this season will have to patch up some holes after the loss of a key player due to injury and another who may have to play out of position.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 26, 2012
Many NPB veterans hanging on too long
How does a professional baseball player know when it is time to retire?
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 19, 2012
Retooling Hawks need newcomers to contribute
You might think Fukuoka Softbank Hawks manager Koji Akiyama is worried about the coming season and successfully defending his 2011 Japan Series championship. After all, he's lost three of his best pitchers and his All-Star shortstop from 2011.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 12, 2012
No starting pitcher announcement creates confusion, intrigue in Central League
Japan's Central League has said it is considering to join its Pacific League cousin in adopting the "yokoku sempatsu" policy of announcing starting pitchers in advance this season. The starters for each Pa. League contest are officially designated 24 hours prior to game time, and anyone can watch the...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 5, 2012
Takada says being GM, manager equally challenging
Playing as a teammate with Shigeo Nagashima and Sadaharu Oh was awesome. Yu Darvish should win more than 15 games this season with the Texas Rangers.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 29, 2012
Expect Hall of Famer Ryan to be a positive influence for Darvish
Did you watch on TV that news conference last week introducing Yu Darvish as a member of the Texas Rangers?
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 22, 2012
'Boomer' came up short in latest bid for Hall of Fame
It was a good week for the Hiroshima Carp family as two former pitchers were elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. Manabu Kitabeppu and the late Tsunemi Tsuda garnered enough votes to enter Tokyo's version of Cooperstown. Their induction ceremony will take place at an All-Star Game at Kyocera...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 15, 2012
Nakajima, Aoki reminders that posting system is an inexact science
There were some strange goings-on in the attempts by Japanese stars Hiroyuki Nakajima and Norichika Aoki to leave their clubs and carve out careers in the major leagues via the posting system.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 8, 2012
Nine years later, A's and Mariners set for Japan openers
Happy New Year.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 25, 2011
Interest heats up for new-look BayStars
Merry Christmas to all readers of the Baseball Bullet-In, and the fans in Yokohama should have a relaxing holiday season now that their team has been sold, it has a new manager, new owner and a new look after limping through a few — shall we say — less-than-spectacular seasons.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 18, 2011
Future could be brighter for NPB hitters in 2012
The 2011 Japanese pro baseball season will be forever remembered as the year of the pitcher. This is due to the new NPB baseball and the slightly darker stadiums because of energy-saving measures implemented following the triple disasters of March 11; earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant problems....
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 11, 2011
Free agency likely to make negative impact on Hawks
They call the baseball off-season the "Hot Stove League" but, this winter, it might be called the "Overheated Stove" or the "Microwave League." As predicted in this column a few weeks ago, the flurry of activity in December would be fast and furious, especially because of the delayed end to the Japan...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 4, 2011
Red Sox manager Valentine should be right at home in return to MLB
So, Bobby Valentine will be the new manager of the Boston Red Sox. Surprised? Not me. The now 61-year-old former skipper of the Texas Rangers, New York Mets and Chiba Lotte Marines said a few years ago while still working in Japan, "I plan to be in uniform until I'm 70 years old."
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 27, 2011
BayStars have chance for fresh start under new ownership
Last week, we examined the history of the Yokohama BayStars and discussed the impending sale of the Central League team and change of ownership from Tokyo Broadcasting Systems Inc. to the DeNA company, and we mentioned where TBS had tried to turn around the fortunes of the club in 2010 by hiring Takao...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 20, 2011
BayStars continue burgeoning baseball tradition in Yokohama
It looks like a go for the sale of the Yokohama BayStars franchise and, assuming all goes well, the team will officially become the Yokohama DeNA BayStars by the beginning of next month. It is good the club will be staying in Japan's second-largest city with its great stadium location and fan base....
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 13, 2011
PL champion Hawks are vital part of vibrant Fukuoka
While I was flying from Tokyo's Haneda Airport to Fukuoka for the Pacific League Climax Series final stage last week, a thought occurred to me. What if the Wright Brothers could come back and take a similar flight today? What would they think of the advances made in aviation since they made that...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 6, 2011
Kuriyama facing tough transition in new role with Fighters
The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters have indicated the next field manager of the team will be former Yakult Swallows outfielder Hideki Kuriyama, with a formal announcement to be made this week following the conclusion of the Pacific and Central League Climax Series.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 23, 2011
Busy offseason ahead for NPB, players
Every year when I renew acquaintances with returning foreign players — whether it be at spring training camp in Okinawa or Miyazaki, an exhibition game or an early regular-season game -I ask them as an ice-breaker, "How was your winter?" The answer I get most often is "short."
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Tokyo Metro’s overseas efforts begin in earnest with London deal
Tokyo Metro will soon have a role in the running of London's Elizabeth Line, a major train route serving the U.K.’s capital city and environs.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ex-yokozuna Kitanofuji dies at 82
Yokozuna Kitanofuji enters the ring during the May 1970 grand sumo tournament in Tokyo.
Man charged with murder allegedly made victim date other men for money
A car carrying suspect Ryotaro Masuda, who was indicted for allegedly beating his 25-year-old girlfriend to death, leaves the Shibuya Police Station in Tokyo on Thursday.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.

Podcast

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

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world
mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

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