Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
Baseball Topics
Japanese Baseball Sep 25, 2013
Carp reach first Climax Series
The Hiroshima Carp will head to their first Climax Series after beating the Chunichi Dragons 2-0 Wednesday. Bryan Bullington (11-9) pitched seven shutout innings to lead the Carp to victory, which secured Hiroshima a top-three finish in the Central League. Brad Eldred went 3-for-3 ...
Japanese Baseball Sep 24, 2013
Lions rally past Eagles
Shogo Akiyama and Takeya Nakamura hit back-to-back RBI singles as the Seibu Lions came from two runs down to beat rookie right-hander Takahiro Norimoto and the Pacific League-leading Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 4-3 on Tuesday night. Facing a 2-0 deficit in the eighth, Seibu ...
Japanese Baseball Sep 24, 2013
Lions pitcher Ishii plans to retire
Seibu Lions veteran left-hander Kazuhisa Ishii announced Tuesday that he will retire at the end of the season, lowering the curtain on a 21-year career with a combined 182 wins in Japan and the major leagues. “I’ve been thinking that the time has come,” ...
Japanese Baseball Sep 23, 2013
Giants win pennant before beating Carp
by Jason Coskrey
The Yomiuri Giants raced out of the dugout after the final out, as streamers and confetti rained down from the stands, and tossed their manager into the air eight times. So what if the title had been secured a little more than three hours ...
Japanese Baseball Sep 23, 2013
Eagles move closer to Pacific League pennant
Rookie Sho Miyagawa allowed just one hit in seven innings Monday as the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles beat the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 5-0 and Japan’s newest franchise moved closer to its first Pacific League pennant. The Eagles, who began playing as an expansion ...
Japanese Baseball | NPB NOTEBOOK Sep 22, 2013
Home run king Balentien nearing another conquest
by Jason Coskrey
Wladimir Balentien has hit more home runs than any NPB player has ever hit in a single season and through Sunday had 13 games left to add to his record total which stood at 58. As if Balentien’s year wasn’t already impressive enough, the ...
Japanese Baseball Sep 21, 2013
Carp make Giants put celebration on hold
Hiroshima Carp ace Kenta Maeda allowed a hit in six scoreless innings in a 7-4 win over the Yomiuri Giants on Saturday, denying the defending Japan Series champs a chance to clinch the Central League pennant for at least another day. Maeda (15-5) struck ...
Japanese Baseball Sep 21, 2013
Oh 'can't imagine' being NPB head
Fukuoka Softbank Hawks chairman Sadaharu Oh on Friday denied reports that he could succeed Ryozo Kato as Nippon Professional Baseball Commissioner. Oh has served as special adviser to Kato, who announced a day earlier he will resign by the start of the Japan Series ...
Japanese Baseball Sep 19, 2013
Giants edge closer to pennant
D.J. Houlton held the Chunichi Dragons to two earned runs over six-plus innings as the Yomiuri Giants won 3-2 Thursday, meaning they could potentially capture their second straight Central League pennant this weekend. After the second-place Hanshin Tigers lost to the Hiroshima Carp, Yomiuri ...
Japanese Baseball Sep 19, 2013
Baseball chief Kato to step down in October
Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato announced Thursday his resignation to take the fall for the uproar over the secretly altered baseball. The 72-year-old Kato, who was elected to a third two-year term in July last year, said he will quit after the regular ...
Japanese Baseball Sep 18, 2013
Egawa helps power Hawks comeback
Tomoaki Egawa hit a two-run homer in the eighth and drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth as the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks overcame a six-run deficit on Wednesday to defeat the Pacific League-leading Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 11-10. The win pushed the Hawks into ...
Japanese Baseball Sep 17, 2013
Surging Carp win seventh straight on sayonara homer
Right-hander Kan Otake went the distance and Yoshiyuki Ishihara belted a sayonara home run to lift the streaking Hiroshima Carp to a 2-1 victory over the Hanshin Tigers on Tuesday evening. The Central League’s third-place Carp, who are aiming for their first postseason appearance ...