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August 15, 2024
 

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Mai Yoshikawa
Across Japan, sports fans are sacrificing a good night’s sleep to catch their favorite Olympics events and beloved athletes.
OLYMPICS
Aug 9, 2024
Sleepless in Japan: How to recover from ‘Olympic fever’
The Paris Olympics are just about done, so sleep-deprived sports junkies can take comfort in the fact that they’ll soon be able to get a full night’s rest.
Fans wave French flags at Champions Park in Paris on Aug. 1. Olympic fever has swept through the city during the Games and some Parisians who went on vacation to avoid the hoopla are now expressing some jealousy over those who stayed.
OLYMPICS
Aug 8, 2024
Parisians who left during Olympics are now 'a little jealous' of those who stayed
Olympic fever has taken over the French capital, leaving some of the Paris residents who fled feeling a tinge of jealousy.
A lot of female fans of Japan's men's team caught volleyball fever at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where Japan qualified for the quarterfinals for the first time in 29 years.
OLYMPICS / Volleyball
Aug 7, 2024
Tears and broken hearts: Japan's female volleyball fans react to tough Olympic loss
Japan’s fierce love for volleyball has been on display for all the world to see in Paris, but it was not meant to be for the men's team in 2024.
Members of the Romanian Olympic women's gymnastics team check their smartphones during a training session early last month.
OLYMPICS
Aug 2, 2024
Social media trolls beware: Olympic athletes have had enough
Online abuse has become such an issue that the Japanese Olympic Committee released a statement asking fans to mind their manners on the internet.
Japan's Ryuju Nagayama (right) refuses to shake hands with Spain's Francisco Garrigos after a controversial decision in their under-60 kg quarterfinal bout at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.
OLYMPICS / Judo
Jul 30, 2024
What’s in a handshake? In Olympic judo, quite a lot
In a sport that emphasizes respect, Japanese judo star Ryuji Nagayama made headlines after refusing to shake his opponent's hand after a controversial bout.
Japan's Shoko Miyata withdrew from the gymnastics team herself over her drinking and smoking, although it had already appeared as though the association was prepared to send her home from the team’s training camp in Monaco.
OLYMPICS / Gymnastics
Jul 26, 2024
Ahead of the Olympics, Japan is still talking about the gymnast who won't be there
At a time when sports fans in Japan are usually united in support of the nation's athletes, one issue is proving divisive: Shoko Miyata's withdrawal.
Team France celebrates after winning gold in the judo mixed team event at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo in July 2021.
OLYMPICS
Jul 25, 2024
Is it too early to celebrate gender equality at the Olympics?
In both Japan and abroad, women are far from achieving equality in the ranks of coaching and at the administrative level.
Misaki Nobata competes at the World University Games in 2023. A hero in her hometown of Oita, Nobata is one of three Japanese shooters who will compete at the upcoming Paris Olympics.
OLYMPICS / Shooting
Jul 19, 2024
‘Sniper from Oita’ sets her sights on Paris Olympics target
In a country with strict anti-gun laws, 20-year-old university student and rifle shooter Misaki Nobata is not your typical Olympian.
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.
OLYMPICS
Jul 14, 2024
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
While news sites have suggested that being a volunteer is a way to attend the Games for “free,” that doesn’t apply to international volunteers like Mai Tarumi.
Japanese businessman Kazunori Takishima, seen at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, has attended four Summer Games and four Winter Games since his first in 2006.
OLYMPICS
Jul 12, 2024
Japanese superfan with Olympic-sized wallet eager to make new memories in Paris
The 48-year-old Tokyo native spends large chunks of his disposable income on Olympic tickets.
Japan's men's and women's gymnastics teams pose for photos during a news conference to announce the team's uniforms for the 2024 Games.
OLYMPICS / Gymnastics
Jun 24, 2024
Leotard vs. unitard debate in gymnastics still raging ahead of Paris Olympics
The German gymnastics team took a stand against sexualization in the sport in 2021, but heading into Paris, the leotard is still very much in vogue in Japan and abroad.
Temperatures in Paris could exceed 30 degrees on many days during the 2024 Games.
OLYMPICS
Jun 17, 2024
Japanese Olympians to beat heat with own AC despite Paris' plans for green Games
The Japanese Olympic Committee announced last December that it plans to pay for its athletes to have air conditioning in their rooms for “safety and security” reasons.
Fans cheer after Japan's men's volleyball team qualified for the Paris Olympics on Oct. 7 at Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo.
MORE SPORTS / Volleyball
Jun 4, 2024
Japanese volleyball’s fastest growing fan base — female superfans
More than 80% of the fans at men’s domestic competitions are said to be women in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
Things may look perfect to the outside world, but today's mom is fine with some imperfection at home.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
May 11, 2024
How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan
Five years into the Reiwa Era and the challenges Japan's moms face are unique, though the qualities that help them persevere haven't changed a bit.
Ibuki Matsumoto competes at an event in Osaka on April 21.
OLYMPICS / Skateboarding
May 6, 2024
Japan’s tween skateboarders get head start on preparations for 2028 Olympics
Hikari Satake, 11, and Ibuki Matsumoto, 12, may not be household names just yet, but they are laying the groundwork for their Olympic ambitions.
Ryoma Shimoseki (90) was playing at Kosei Gakuen High School in Tokyo when he was discovered by NFL Academy coaches.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Apr 17, 2024
Japanese NFL hopeful gets dream chance on football field in U.K.
Ryoma Shimoseki was recently announced as the newest addition to the NFL Academy as he bids to become the first Japanese to make an NFL roster.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani needs to find a way to keep his eye on the ball as he plays his first 162-game season without his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 9, 2024
Can Shohei Ohtani achieve Michael Jordan-level mental resilience?
One expert says ensuring that he can pivot smoothly into a new support system is crucial for the player.
Daiya Seto in action during the men's 400m medley final at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha on Feb. 18.
OLYMPICS / Swimming
Apr 2, 2024
Japanese swimming veteran ready to make waves at Paris Olympics
Daiya Seto wants to be a voice for meaningful change in the domestic sport.
Japan's Evelyn Mawuli (left) goes on the attack as Canada's Laeticia Amihere plays defense in the first quarter of an Olympic women's basketball qualifier on Feb. 11 in Sopron, Hungary.
BASKETBALL
Mar 25, 2024
Basketball star thrives on court again after putting herself first
Evelyn Mawuli is helping to normalize career breaks for reasons other than physical health.
Pickleball courts in New York's famed Central Park
MORE SPORTS
Mar 15, 2024
Amid boom overseas, when will pickleball land in Japan?
Over the past few years, pickleball has emerged as the fastest-growing sport in the U.S., but it has yet to take off in Japan.
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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