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Shohei Ohtani is joining a franchise that has long been a trailblazer in an increasingly diverse and global game.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 13, 2023

In a land of stars, Los Angeles can’t stop talking about Ohtani

Dodgers fans were still beside themselves days after Ohtani agreed to the most lucrative contract in sports history.
U.S. golfer Tiger Woods reacts on the 9th green on day 2 of the British Open Golf Championship in 2022.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 9, 2024

Tiger Woods and Nike end partnership after 27 years

Despite rumors, Nike maintains that it’s still committed to golf.
The Eiffel Tower Stadium, under construction for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, in Paris on April 13
OLYMPICS
Apr 16, 2024

Stadiums rise at Paris landmarks ahead of Olympics

"The city's being tidied up and the monuments are clean. It's going to be great," said one resident.
Ippei Mizuhara, seen during Shohei Ohtani's introductory news conference with the Dodgers in December 2023, has agreed to plead guilty to charges of bank fraud and filing a false tax return.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 9, 2024

Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter to plead guilty to bank fraud

Mizuhara agreed to plead guilty to one count of felony bank fraud and one count of filing a false tax return.
Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, outside a U.S. federal court in Santa Ana, California, on Tuesday
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 5, 2024

Ohtani's ex-interpreter pleads guilty to stealing nearly $17 million

Ippei Mizuhara admitted to one count of bank fraud, which carries a maximum 30-year prison sentence, and one count of filing a false tax return.
Amid the rising popularity of saunas, the Consumer Affairs Agency is urging users to exercise caution following a spike in the number of sauna-related accidents.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 7, 2024

Japan's consumer watchdog warns of accidents in the sauna

Users are urged to exercise caution to avoid severe injuries amid a spike in accidents as saunas become more popular.
Wrestler Yui Susaki, who won gold in the women's 50 kilogram weight class at the Tokyo Games, is among the Japanese athletes tipped to repeat as Olympic champions in Paris.
OLYMPICS
Jun 27, 2024

Japan predicted to finish sixth in Paris Games medal count

According to Gracenote's virtual medal table forecast, the Americans are favored to top the overall medal count with 123.
French fans cheer on their team during an Olympic rugby sevens match on Sunday. Fans are back in force at the Games and providing a lively atmosphere for the competition after COVID-19 forced the Tokyo and Beijing Olympics to be mostly played without spectators.
OLYMPICS
Jul 29, 2024

The Olympic roar is back in Paris after two pandemic-hit Games

The sights and sounds of the Olympics have returned to normal this year, with fans able to attend the Games without restrictions for the first time since 2018.
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.
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.
Fluminense and Al Ahly players line up prior to a FIFA Club World Cup match in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, last year
SOCCER
Sep 25, 2024

LGBTQ fans welcome in Saudi Arabia, 2034 World Cup bid chief says

In August, Amnesty International said Saudi Arabia failed to meet FIFA’s own human rights requirements in their bid for the World Cup.
Shohei Ohtani rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Mets in Game 4 of the NLCS in New York on Thursday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 18, 2024

Shohei Ohtani making major impact on viewership numbers during MLB playoffs

Game 5 of the NLDS between the Dodgers and the San Diego Padres was the most-watched MLB postseason game ever in Japan.
Yoshiko Hara (left) plays basketball with members of her Fukushima Club basketball team.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Jul 31, 2023

Pioneer in basketball for disabled people looks to inclusiveness

Through basketball, Yoshiko Hara aims to have players in her club acquire physical strength and stamina, as well as learn about group rules and manners.
Mariko Hayashi, chairwoman of the board of trustees at Nihon University, bows to the media after giving a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 8, 2023

Nihon University chairwoman apologizes for student drug scandal

Mariko Hayashi denied reports that she was kept in the dark about facts surrounding the case, which involves the university's American football team.
A junior high school team poses for a picture on Oct. 30, 1929, the fourth day of the fifth Meiji Shrine Games.
JAPAN / History / Longform
Sep 16, 2023

Rugby turns 200: A history of the sport in Japan

As the sport of rugby turns 200, Japan hopes to celebrate its own success in a game that first arrived in the 1860s.
Roberta Wilson-Garrett, who has Parkinson's disease, poses with her GyroGlove, made by GyroGear, which uses a gyroscope to help stabilize tremors before this week's Consumer Electronics Show on Jan. 8 in Las Vegas.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 12, 2024

High tech glove stymies Parkinson's disease tremors

GyroGear has built the world's most advanced hand stabilizer, with strategic partners that include Taiwanese technology group Foxconn, according to founder Dr. Faii Ong.
On the amateur circuit, domestic tournaments such as the Dream Girls Cup, which took place in Tokyo last month, have generated significant publicity for youth sumo.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Mar 6, 2024

Sumo's popularity is booming. The recruitment of new pros is not.

Sumo is not immune to the labor shortages plaguing the rest of aging Japan.
Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya celebrates after winning gold in the women's Olympic marathon in Sapporo in August 2021.
OLYMPICS
Jun 26, 2024

At Paris Olympics, women athletes finally reach parity

When the event was revived by French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin, he saw it as a celebration of gentlemanly athleticism "with female applause as its reward."
Canada's Evan Dunfee poses as he celebrates winning bronze in the men's 50-kilometer race walk at the World Athletics Championships in Doha on Sept. 29, 2019.
OLYMPICS
Jul 23, 2024

Chilled athletes embrace strategies to beat Paris heat

In a warming world, heat acclimatization has moved rapidly from the fringes of sports science into the mainstream.
A banner is displayed by Northern Ireland fans in protest against the redevelopment of Casement Park for use in Euro 2028, at Windsor Park in Belfast last October.
SOCCER
Aug 24, 2024

Derelict stadium for Euro 2028 highlights Belfast’s bitter divide

The issue is stirring up old divisions and proving to be an early headache for the Labour government.
Morinari Watanabe speaks during an interview on Wednesday in Tokyo
OLYMPICS
Sep 28, 2024

IOC presidential candidate Watanabe vows to update Olympics

Watanabe, 65, said he is seeking the IOC's top post with the believe that "there are things that must be done for children and the athletes who perform in Olympic Games."
Leaves of marijuana plants from which hemp fibers are extracted at Japan's largest legal marijuana farm in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture, on July 5, 2016
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 21, 2023

Does a university cannabis scandal point to a larger trend?

A drugs scandal at Japan’s biggest university draws attention to a troubling statistic: Cannabis use among young people is on the rise.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen during a practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix. Saudi Aramco has perhaps the most visible presence among fossil fuel giants at Formula One races as one of the series' top sponsors.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Sep 30, 2023

F1 says it will reach net zero by 2030. But can it shake its polluting image?

Formula One's pledge faces myriad challenges, including its long-standing ties to some of the world's dirtiest fossil fuel companies.
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.
Zhang Yufei was among the 23 Chinese swimmer who tested positive for a banned substance months before the Tokyo Olympics.
OLYMPICS
May 16, 2024

World Anti-Doping Agency combating trust issues ahead of Paris Olympics

WADA is facing a allegations it helped cover up the positive tests of elite Chinese swimmers before the Tokyo Olympics.
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.
During the Olympics, only medalists are automatically tested, but the International Testing Agency wants to find ways to target potential dopers before the end of an event.
OLYMPICS
Jul 4, 2024

Anti-doping testing agency sharpens its tools for Paris Olympics

Benjamin Cohen, director general of the ITA, said potential tools as its disposal included biological and performance passports as well as a mountain of other data.
Ukraine's Olga Kharlan celebrates on the podium after winning Olympic bronze in the women's sabre event at the Paris Games on Monday.
OLYMPICS / Fencing
Jul 30, 2024

Ukrainian fencer dedicates medal to countrymen killed in the war

The war has torn apart old alliances in fencing, and heightened the acrimony between Russia and Ukraine.
From left: Gymnastics men's team gold medalists Takaaki Sugino, Kazuma Kaya, Wataru Tanigawa, Shinnosuke Oka (who also won gold in men's all-around) and Daiki Hashimoto at Champions Park in Paris on Thursday. The gymnastics team was one of the highlights of a successful first half of the 2024 Games for Team Japan.
OLYMPICS
Aug 4, 2024

Gymnastics and skateboarding highlight a solid first half of the Paris Olympics for Japan

Japan ended Saturday with eight gold, five silver and nine bronze medals and sat seventh on the medal table.
Paris Saint-Germain players line up before the team's club friendly against Inter Milan at Tokyo's National Stadium on Tuesday.
SOCCER
Aug 2, 2023

Second straight tour shows PSG's commitment to Japanese market

The French superclub has experienced explosive growth in its global base, especially in Asia, since its 2011 takeover by Qatari ownership.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat