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Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 3, 2010

Nomo blazed trail, helped mend fences with move

First in a four-part series
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 3, 2010

Media racism: How unsportsmanlike

Local favoritism is built into organized sports. At the macro level you have whole countries rooting for national teams at the Olympics or the World Cup. At the micro level you have fans cheering a hometown boy who plays for a team far away. By the same token, nationalistic fans denigrate opposing countries'...
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Mar 9, 2010

Japan picks over bones of Vancouver medal tally

Was it success or under-achievement? The Japanese squad for the Vancouver Winter Olympics returned home with five medals and 26 top-eight finishes — both better feats than at the 2006 Turin Games.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 2, 2009

Nashida keeps crowd guessing over starter

SAPPORO — Thanks to a Central League rule, Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters manager Masataka Nashida was able to play coy until the very end.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2009

Key gripes converge in Tokyo poll

With the July 12 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election drawing near, opposition parties are beginning to attack the contentious policies endorsed by the bureaucracy and Gov. Shintaro Ishihara.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Apr 29, 2009

Is sumo truly the Japanese national sport?

For the 140 or so years non-Japanese have known of the existence of sumo, many have referred to it as Japan's national sport. But are they correct about the status of this ancient form of wrestling found only in these islands, misinformed entirely, or just partly right?
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 17, 2009

Found in 'Area 51,' he goes by one name

Pitching greats Daisuke Matsuzaka and Yu Darvish are leading Japan's star-studded squad as national teams battle it out in the United States in the World Baseball Classic.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC
Feb 23, 2009

Schiller not letting steroid issue damage fight to get baseball in Games

As bad as the steroid issue has been over the past several years, International Baseball Federation president Harvey Schiller thinks he can see the light.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 4, 2008

Life — it's all in the books

Sometimes it seems I live holiday to holiday. Having just finished Respect for the Aged Day, and the Autumn Equinox (both national holidays) I am now looking forward to Sports Day in October. The problem with national holidays in Japan, however, is that they are rarely a chance to relax. Instead, they...
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 8, 2008

Selection of runner Lomong to carry U.S. flag particularly poignant

BEIJING — After a tasty buffet meal at a nearby hotel restaurant followed by a few cups of delicious green tea — I had plenty of choices; there was a separate tea menu, featuring at least a dozen varieties — I'm content to return to job-related duties.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jul 29, 2008

Olympians get spirited sendoff

Four years after Japan's best-ever performance in the Summer Olympics — a 37-medal effort in Athens — the nation is gearing up for 2008's biggest sporting extravaganza in style.
EDITORIALS
Dec 19, 2007

Shocking attack with a licensed gun

The shooting rampage last week in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, is shocking. A gunman in camouflage gear entered a sports club and fired a shotgun more than a dozen times, killing two people and injuring six others, including two children. Later, the gunman killed himself with the same gun on the grounds...
EDITORIALS
Dec 11, 2007

'Student' comes before 'athlete'

Sports are supposed to build a sound mind and a sound spirit. But recent marijuana incidents involving rugby players at Kanto Gakuin University raise the suspicion that many student athletes have forgotten the true meaning of sports. Rugby fans may ask: Where is the pride of rugby players whose tenets...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Oct 7, 2007

A Golden Age everywhere but at home

More high-profile new cars are hitting the market than have been seen for nearly 20 years, creating buzz everywhere but Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 28, 2007

The blame game

We live in interesting times. With the shortage and high cost of domestic labor, the Japanese government has brought over record numbers of cheap foreign workers. Even though whole industrial sectors now depend on foreign labor, few publicly accept the symbiosis as permanent. Instead, foreigners are...
BASEBALL / MLB'S EFFECT ON JAPAN
Apr 11, 2007

Is the MLB destroying Japan's national pastime?

Best-selling author Robert Whiting, who has penned such classics as "You Gotta Have Wa," "The Chrysanthemum and the Bat" and "The Meaning of Ichiro," has written an exclusive four-part series for The Japan Times on the effect Major League Baseball is having on the Japanese pro game, and how the poor...
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 11, 2007

J. League's Onitake optimistic about future

The Japan Times recently visited J. League chairman Kenji Onitake at his office to find out about his vision for the future of the league and soccer in Japan.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 19, 2007

Arakawa, Hillman win FSAJ Awards

Figure skater Shizuka Arakawa, the women's gold medalist at the 2006 Turin Olympics, and Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters manager Trey Hillman have been selected as the top Japanese and foreign sports figures for 2006 in voting by the Foreign Sportswriters Association of Japan.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 19, 2007

U.S., Japan gymnasts benefit from exchange

They spin and tumble, twist and turn, and bend their bodies, whipping them into shapes that often look like caricatures of pretzels.
SUMO
Nov 11, 2006

Komusubi Kisenosato

Kisenosato entered professional sumo in 2002 while still in his mid-teens. A native of Ibaraki Prefecture to the northeast of Tokyo and only age 20, he is perhaps the most promising young Japanese rikishi in sumo today.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 14, 2006

English language disaster in the making

"Hello!" said a smiling boy next to me on the train. "Well, hello," I said, startled that anyone should actually use this phrase unaccompanied by at least a giggle and at most rolling on the floor laughing.
SPORTS / MULLY'S MISSIVES
Jun 28, 2006

Divers must be dealt with

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany -- The extravagant fall by Italy's Fabio Grosso over the body of Lucas Neill which gave Italy the last-minute penalty it needed to beat Australia on Monday was once again proof that playacting players can and do prosper at this World Cup.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 17, 2006

World Cup spirit runneth over

Zzzzzzzzzz. Eh? Oh, it's Saturday morning? Time for Japan Lite? Sorry for the drowsiness, but if you've been watching the World Cup soccer on TV, you'll understand. All the games are on at night here. I usually go to sleep after the 10 p.m. game and wake up for the 4 a.m. game.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 24, 2005

Asada, Valentine win FSAJ Awards

Figure skater Mao Asada, the Grand Prix Final and world junior champion this year, and Chiba Lotte Marines manager Bobby Valentine have been selected as the top Japanese and foreign sports figures for 2005 in voting by the Foreign Sportswriters Association of Japan.

Longform

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