About this time last year, Yoshihide Kiryu was just an obscure sprinter who innocently hoped to be mentioned in Japanese track-and-field magazines, just like any other high school athlete. A year later, he’s the sport’s most sought-after man in among members of the media. ...

As the sprinters took their marks at the starting line, the big Ajinomoto Stadium was almost completely silent. It was probably the sign of the audience’s high expectations for a pair of young, rising track stars in Ryota Yamagata and Yoshihide Kiryu. The spectators ...

When young athletes leave their home nation for a bigger challenge, nobody can really halt their overflowing passion and hope. But at times, the athletes ought to be advised or given direction, helping them not get completely get lost or blow their careers. Take ...

Even in a post-Olympic year, the spotlight is still there on the swimming pool. Teenage phenoms Kosuke Hagino and Akihiro Yamaguchi are Japan’s latest stars in swimming, and are expected to lead “Tobiuo Japan” for years to come. Both received a lot of attention ...

The Japanese wide receiver might have got onto the plane not really knowing what to expect, but he returned home with a good taste in his mouth. From May 3-5, Takashi Kurihara earned a rare opportunity for a football player from Japan; he participated ...

The Japan Volleyball Association appointed 58-year-old Gary Sato as the men’s national team head coach in February. Sato is a fourth-generation Japanese-American and is the first foreign volleyball coach for Japan, men or women. Sato was a longtime assistant coach for the United States ...

Lightly laughing, Mizuki Noguchi insisted that aging isn’t necessarily so bad. The injury-prone runner said so because she thinks she is in her best physical condition in years. It’s not that she’s fortunate or anything, but she now can distinguish what kind of status ...

He grabs rebounds and blocks shots inside, he sprints as fast as anyone else and he hits jumpers with a silky shooting touch. That’s what 18-year-old Yuta Watanabe does. He does it all and has everything a basketball player could hope to have, and ...

They certainly have a physically demanding and dangerous job, but they don’t rest even off duty. The Eagles are unique bunch in the X League, Japan’s top football circuit. The players are officers in the Ninth Riot Squad of the Metropolitan Police Department, which ...

Sydney Olympic gold medal-winning marathoner Naoko Takahashi has an objection, saying a Japan Association of Athletics Federations decision takes irreplaceable opportunities away from the runners. The decision? On Thursday, the JAAF announced that its national marathon and race walk race squads for the IAAF ...

The Japan Association of Athletics Federations announced the selection of eight marathoners and seven race walkers for the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Moscow on Thursday. Popular runner Yuki Kawauchi headlines the men’s marathon squad, while Ryoko Kizaki and Athens Olympic gold medalist Mizuki ...

The Aisin Sea Horses beat the Toshiba Brave Thunders in Game 5 of the JBL Finals to clinch the championship for the first time in four years.