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Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 15, 2014

Hall of Famer Winfield impressed by Otani's versatility

When Dave Winfield was drafted by the San Diego Padres in 1973, it was as a pitcher. When he entered the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001, it was because of his career as a batter and outfielder. He briefly played both positions in college, and when he looks at the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters' Shohei Otani...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 6, 2014

O'Malley, Ramirez are worth a look as skippers

Now in the final month of the 2014 Japanese baseball regular season, the "A-Class" teams in the Central and Pacific leagues look forward to October's Climax Series of playoffs, while the three also-rans in both divisions begin thinking about next year.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 24, 2014

Japan's universities can't win

In view of the disparity in professors' pay between Japanese and American universities, the notion of elevating Japanese universities' global rankings simply by bringing in outstanding 'foreign talent' as instructors and researchers is a castle in the sky.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 20, 2014

MLB names four stars for series against Samurai Japan

As the Nichibei Yakyu extravaganza returns for the first time in eight years, Major League Baseball looks set to bring a serious squad to Japan come November.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Jun 7, 2014

BayStars pitcher Ino producing better results

It took Yokohama BayStars pitcher Shoichi Ino five starts before he won his first game in 2013. The rookie then bounced in and out of the rotation, and it wasn't until September that the right-hander took a game into at least the seventh inning for the first time. He posted only five wins and had to...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 1, 2014

Maru, Kajitani on verge of NPB stardom

As spring training camps for the 12 Japanese pro baseball teams opened on Saturday, let's take a look at a couple of young players on the verge of becoming two of the best in the Central League; Hiroshima Carp outfielder Yoshihiro Maru and Yokohama BayStars infielder Takayuki Kajitani.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 27, 2013

Kawakami's philosophy as manager never wavered

A famous Tetsuharu Kawakami watchword was wa (harmony).
Japan Times
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Nov 11, 2013

Kokubo gets started in Japan dugout with one eye on future

Hiroki Kokubo got his feet wet as Samurai Japan manager by sweeping Taiwan in a three-game exhibition series between the two countries over the weekend.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 9, 2013

Kokubo introduced as new manager of Samurai Japan

The Japanese baseball national team has a new outlook and a new man in charge.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
May 13, 2013

J. League's opening game stirs memories 20 years on

Players involved in the J. League's first-ever game share their recollections of the beginning of a new era for Japanese soccer.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
May 5, 2013

Dai Tamesue: Japan's 'samurai hurdler' keeps rising to new challenges

Though word-class track athlete Dai Tamesue may have hung up his spikes, he has plenty of insights to share on how sports can play a bigger role in society.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 22, 2013

How the Boston bombing investigation unfolded

Within hours of the Boston Marathon bombing, investigators were already overwhelmed. Bloody clothing, bags, shoes and other evidence from victims and witnesses was piling up. Videos and still images, thousands of them, were pouring in by email and Twitter.
Japan Times
BASEBALL
Mar 19, 2013

Dutch trailblazers Meulens, Jones hand baton to younger generation

Hensley "Bam-Bam" Meulens was the first native of Curacao to make it to the major leagues. He played for the New York Yankees from 1989-1993, and spent the next three years in Japan before joining the Montreal Expos in 1997 and the Arizona Diamondbacks, the final stop of his MLB career, in 1998.
SPORTS / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 3, 2013

Many stories behind names for foreign players in Japan

While Japan and the rest of the baseball universe are deep in the World Baseball Classic fever, the conventional major league and Japanese teams are going about their business getting ready for their respective April 1 and March 29 opening days.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Jan 27, 2013

You read about them here first

Ever since 1897 The Japan Times has reported daily in English on people, places and goings-on in and beyond this country. During those 116 years, our articles have often included information that never made it into the Japanese-language press — as in 1934, when the Society Page carried an interview...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 13, 2013

Anniversaries abound around NPB

The year 2013 will mark a season of notable anniversaries for Japanese baseball franchises and ballparks. It is Japanese year Heisei 25, the 25th anniversary for Tokyo Dome, Japan's first indoor stadium, and the 20th for Fukuoka Yahoo Japan Dome, the country's first-and still the only-retractable roof...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 21, 2012

NPB playoff format less than ideal

There's nothing like October baseball. On a given day in Japan, fans with cable or satellite TV systems can watch games — sometimes non-stop — from the wee hours of the morning until late at night. American and National League Division Series and Championship Series and the Japanese Climax Series...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 14, 2012

Kakunaka's fortunes change in a hurry

We are establishing a new "prize" here. It is the Baseball Bullet-In "Out of the Blue Award" with recognition given to the player in Japanese pro baseball who has the best season among those virtually unheard of and who came from seemingly nowhere to become a star.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 9, 2012

Final countdown under way for Ishii, Kokubo

Infielder Takuro Ishii of the Hiroshima Carp has announced his retirement as an active player effective at the end of the 2012 season. Ishii joins infielder Hiroki Kokubo of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks who will also hang up his spikes when his club concludes its schedule in October or November.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 21, 2012

NPB may have solution to WBC problem

Perhaps Nippon Professional Baseball has come up with something that will finally convince the Japanese Professional Baseball Players Association to reverse course and compete in the next World Baseball Classic.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 29, 2012

Vancouver fest offers a warm (but not humid!) welcome

Summers in Tokyo, indeed in most of Japan except for Hokkaido or Okinawa, are often unbearably hot and humid, with temperatures in the mid to high 30s and humidity reaching as high as 90 percent. This summer, in the wake of last year's Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown, use of air conditioning will...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2012

Unprofitable Mazda may be forced to sell assets, sever community ties

Should Mazda Motor Corp. dump the Hiroshima Carp?
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 25, 2012

Mariners, A's begin preparations for opening series

The first day of the major league season is only a few days away, and the Seattle Mariners and Oakland A's arrived in Japan ready to get things started.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 23, 2012

NPB, players embrace normalcy ahead of upcoming season

Fans in the stands supporting their favorite teams and players this spring signalled more than just the return of baseball. It was the beacon of a slight return to normalcy.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 16, 2012

Female knuckleballer Baker makes mark on diamond

When she was 7 years old, Chelsea Baker switched from playing softball to baseball because her older brother, Gary, was playing the latter.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
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