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DRIZZLE/RAIN
Farmers in the city of Tamura, Fukushima Prefecture, have begun planting rice in a district once designated a no-go zone because of radioactive fallout ejected by the disaster-hit Fukushima No. 1 power plant.
Recently I was asked to write a blurb for a new liquid plant-nutrient. As soon as I saw the name of the product, 早根早起 （Hayane Hayaoki), I smiled at this example of linguistic creativity.
Life in Japan just seems tailor-made for certain foreign residents, who slip into the fabric of this society as smoothly as a hand slides into a glove. American Curtis Patterson, a professional koto player and music teacher, is a case in point. Not only ...
Denmark’s Emmelie de Forest won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday night with her ethno-inspired flute and drum tune “Only Teardrops,” despite tough competition from spectacular stage shows by performers from Azerbaijan and Ukraine. Juries and television viewers across Europe awarded the barefoot, ...
One team’s quest for a first title has ended. The other team’s fight will continue next season. The Yokohama B-Corsairs outplayed the Rizing Fukuoka in Sunday’s bj-league championship game, controlling the tempo for larger stretches and making enough timely baskets to fill an instructional ...
One victory separated the second-place Yokohama B-Corsairs and third-place Toyama Grouses in the standings this season, and the evenly matched teams exhibited their competitive spirit on Friday night. This was evident in the third quarter as the teams traded baskets and highlights with equal ...
The Ryukyu Golden Kings are one of three bj-league franchises with two or more championships. But the other two — the Osaka Evessa (three titles) and Hamamatsu Hiagshimikawa Phoenix (two) — are not playing in the conference semifinal round of the playoffs. Osaka didn’t ...
The Eastern Conference semifinals start on Friday night, with the Yokohama B-Corsairs aiming for a repeat trip to the Final Four. The visiting Toyama Grouses, meanwhile, have already gone farther in the postseason than at any time in the past six seasons. Game 1 ...
Head coach Bill Cartwright returned the Osaka Evessa to respectability after a remarkable plunge in the season’s first four months. The Evessa, who were 5-19 before Cartwright showed up in Osaka in January, had fallen to heights never experienced before in the three-time bj-league ...
Despite a dreadful 0-8 start to their season in the fall, the Kyoto Hannaryz never pushed the panic button. Coach Honoo Hamaguchi, a demanding coach who sees the big picture, recognized that his team needed time to develop into a cohesive unit, especially since ...
Three historic achievements were achieved in the bj-league on Saturday. The Shimane Susanoo Magic won a playoff series for the first time in franchise history, defeating the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix. The Iwate Big Bulls were victorious in their first-ever playoff contest. And the Toyama ...
Shimane center Jeral Davis dominated defensively in Game 1 of the Western Conference first-round playoff series, helping the Susanoo Magic rout the visiting Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix 80-67 on Friday afternoon. Davis, who was named to the 2012-13 Best Five team earlier this week, swatted ...
Ryukyu Golden Kings star Anthony McHenry receives the 2012-13 regular-season MVP award, and Matt Garrison of the Niigata Albirex BB is the bj-league's Coach of the Year.
Golden Week signals the start of the 2012-13 bj-league playoffs. Which means eight teams will be in action over the next three days, including the Shimane Susanoo Magic and Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix on Friday and Saturday. The series tips off at 3:30 p.m. on ...
The Niigata Albirex torched the Sendai 89ers in Sunday’s season finale and collected their first-ever Eastern Conference regular-season title. The final score — Niigata 109, Sendai 63 — was a mere formality. The game had been decided by halftime. The 89ers trailed 54-21 at ...
The Niigata Albirex BB moved closer to a possible Eastern Conference regular-season title by beating the visiting Sendai 89ers 98-79 on Saturday night. Niigata (35-16) is one game ahead of the Iwate Big Bulls, Yokohama B-Corsairs and Toyama Grouses, all of whom have 34-17 ...
The reigning champion Ryukyu Golden Kings have been so good for so long that veteran forward/center Jeff Newton’s recent monthlong absence due to a knee injury was far from a crisis. Newton missed eight games and underwent knee surgery to repair his left meniscus ...