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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 ...
Alex Ramirez thanked God before he reached first base. He continued along and touched the other bags as a light, constant rain fell on Jingu Stadium and the sparse crowd — 11,069 to be exact, though Ramirez would later say the place felt packed ...
The performance was special this time. Alex Ramirez celebrated on his way around the bases, kissing two fingers and pointing at the sky between first and second, but his patented post-home run ritual was missing as he was congratulated by the rest of the ...
The Yokohama BayStars had their day brightened by a pair of home runs that must have looked like rays of sunshine on a gray, rainy afternoon. Alex Ramirez recorded the 2,000th hit of his storied NPB career with a solo home run to lead ...
The last ‘homegrown’ foreign player to make any major impact for the Yomiuri Giants was volatile pitcher Balvino Galvez, whose reign of terror lasted from 1996-2000. Before him, there was Warren Cromartie, the 1989 Central League MVP who hit .321 with 171 home runs, ...
The luxury of having a bad night on the mound for the Yomiuri Giants is that no matter how bad things get, there’s a powerhouse lineup ready and willing to pick up the pieces. Hayato Sakamoto and John Bowker each drove in three runs, ...
Fred Lewis’ first season with the Hiroshima Carp will be mostly spent getting used to Japanese, ouendans and games that can end in ties. Luckily, the 32-year old is already used to playing baseball at a high level, and for now that’s enough. “It ...
The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters have spent a first-round draft pick on the top pitching prospect in Japan in each of the last two years, and in both instances that player has initially said thanks, but no thanks. For Tomoyuki Sugano the allure of ...
Tomoyuki Sugano was as good as advertised in his long-anticipated professional debut for the Yomiuri Giants, but he still went home without a win.
Ryota Wakiya's two-run single in the seventh inning gives the Yomiuri Giants a season-opening win over the Hiroshima Carp.
The sky is the limit for the Hawks, who will be looking to claim their third pennant in four seasons. Softbank lost captain Hiroki Kokubo to retirement, but replaced him with Bryan LaHair, a 30-year-old infielder who was an All-Star last season for the ...
In order of predicted finish: Yomiuri Giants Manager: Tatsunori Hara 2012: 86-43-15, 1st The Giants led the CL in runs, home runs and stolen bases last season, and there’s more where that came from. Reigning MVP Shinnosuke Abe is unlikely to replicate a monster ...
The Dominican Republic wins all eight of its games in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, capturing the title with a 3-0 shutout against Puerto Rico.