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The consumption tax increase next April will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people's financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the impact of the hike, experts say.
Every parent is all too familiar with The Tantrum. The screaming, the flailing arms, the angry head butting — and the timing (normally in the most inconvenient public place possible).
International events undermine Japan's democracy. Shame on the International Olympic Committee for being a party to it.
Tucked away behind the main museums in Ueno, the Tokyo University Art Museum may not be on most people’s radar, but it is definitely one of the city’s top museums in terms of curatorial quality. Whenever I go there, I am always delighted by ...
Francisco Liriano showed up at PNC Park on Tuesday afternoon in a suit with his suitcase packed for a trip St. Louis. The message reverberated through the Pittsburgh Pirates clubhouse. After 21 years away from the playoffs, it was time for the best story ...
Kaz Nagatsuka is a staff writer covering Japanese sports, including Japanese professional baseball, basketball, American football and individual sports. He has covered big sporting events such as the World Baseball Classic, the NFL Super Bowl and soccer’s World Cup. He also works as a freelance sports writer/translator for Japanese magazines and websites. He has college degrees in commerce and journalism.
For Kaz Nagatsuka's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
The Toyota Motors Alvark Tokyo got off to a strong start in the inaugural National Basketball League as they prevailed both offensively and defensively in a 86-78 victory over the Link Tochigi Brex at Yoyogi National Gymnasium No. 2 on Saturday. Sixth man Keijuro ...
On Sept. 16, after a pair of National Basketball League preseason games wrapped up, four players came into the press room at Yoyogi National Gymnasium No. 2 in suits to announce something the nation’s sport had never seen before. They were there to inform ...
Fujitsu Frontiers running back Gino Gordon earned a chance to play in Japan and really cherishes the opportunity. Gordon was born to an American father, Charles, and a Japanese mother, Fujiko, in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture before the family moved back to Southern California when ...
With the National Basketball League getting under way in a couple of weeks’ time, league officials, coaches and players expressed their excitement at a news conference in Tokyo on Sunday evening. “We’re finally opening our NBL at the end of this month,” league president ...
Thirty-eight pitches. That’s the number Hideaki Wakui of the Seibu Lions tossed in Tuesday night’s game against the Chiba Lotte Marines. You may see him throw as many as that in the reminder of the season. But probably not as a starter. Wakui was ...
Japan’s men’s national basketball team has little credibility left after racking up a series of disappointing results on the international stage in recent years. Most recently, Japan finished the William Jones Cup in Taiwan earlier this month with a humiliating 1-6 record. But as ...
Everybody now talks about high school sprinting sensation Yoshihide Kiryu, recognizing the 17-year-old is the fastest current man in Japan. Well, it is perhaps arguable. Some may consider Ryota Yamagata is the nation’s sprinting champ, because, even though Kiryu’s has a better personal-best time ...
The first half of the game belonged to the Chiba Lotte Marines, but that wasn’t enough to get them out of the bog they’re stuck in right now. And their opponents, Orix Buffaloes, rose to the occasion at just the right time. The Buffs’ ...
Big man Kosuke Takeuchi had 23 points and 11 rebounds to guide the Japan men’s national basketball team to an 88-61 victory over the Philippines at Yoyogi National Gymnasium No. 2 on Sunday. Hayabusa Japan completed a three-game sweep in the exhibition series, in ...
As the final buzzer sounded and the Miami Heat captured their second consecutive NBA championship in the decisive Game 7 last week, strength and conditioning coach Nobuhisa Yoshida was no different from the Spurs players — he was completely devastated. San Antonio allowed the ...
The Marines didn’t necessarily play their best game, but it didn’t bother them. They were desperate for a “W” as the pennant race resumed. Starting pitcher Yuji Nishino pitched patiently, allowing one run in seven inning, as Chiba Lotte beat the Hokkaido Nippon Ham ...
In his fifth attempt, Koji Murofushi had his best mark of the day at 76.42 meters. And after the competition was over, he left the field with a satisfied smile, waving to the fans in the stands at Tokyo’s Ajinomoto Stadium. The figure seems ...