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 | BASEBALL BULLET-IN Sep 14, 2013
Lessons on ballpark seating etiquette for Japanese baseball
by Wayne Graczyk
Whose side are you on? Or, rather, which side are you on? American fan Bob Abels of Falls Church, Virginia, had no idea what was going on when a Tokyo Dome security guard told Abels to take off his shirt. Wearing the jersey of ...
Baseball | BASEBALL BULLET-IN Aug 31, 2013
Injuries affecting competition for batting, homer titles
by Wayne Graczyk
As the 2013 Japan pro baseball season enters its final month, recent injuries to the leading hitter in the Central League batting race and the Pacific League’s top home run hitter have thrown wide open the competition for those titles. Chunichi Dragons third baseman ...
Baseball | BASEBALL BULLET-IN Aug 17, 2013
Seibu Dome gives fans a fun game-viewing experience
by Wayne Graczyk
Have you been to a Lions game lately at Seibu Dome? Fellow Japan Times columnist (“When East Marries West”) Tom Dillon and I venture out to the Tokorozawa ball yard once or twice a year for a “baseball and beer” night. It is one ...
Baseball | BASEBALL BULLET-IN Aug 3, 2013
Bass still standard by which foreign players measured
by Wayne Graczyk
Over the years I’ve been asked, “Who is the No. 1 foreigner to have played in Japanese baseball?” It is difficult to choose only one from among the nearly 1,000 men who have played with Central and Pacific League teams since 1950. Also, what ...
Baseball | BASEBALL BULLET-IN Jul 20, 2013
Teams jockeying for playoff position to battle Giants, Tigers
by Wayne Graczyk
At the All-Star break for the 2013 NPB season, the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers appear to have a lock on finishing in first and second place in the Central League pennant race. Unless there is total meltdown by one of them, we will ...
Baseball | BASEBALL BULLET-IN Jul 6, 2013
Several NPB pitchers keeping hitters in check despite altered baseball
by Wayne Graczyk
OK, so now we know the ball used in Japanese pro baseball games has been changed again and, in spite of the fact there was no initial announcement by NPB, everyone seems happy about the change — except maybe the pitchers. Sluggers Tony Blanco, ...
Baseball | BASEBALL BULLET-IN Jun 16, 2013
Former Hiroshima star Hopkins now an orthopedic surgeon
by Wayne Graczyk
Gail Hopkins, the first baseman on the 1975 Hiroshima Carp Central League championship team, returned to Japan last month for some business and reminiscing about his days with the team. Old-timers will remember Hopkins and Richie Scheinblum were recruited to play for the Carp ...
Baseball | BASEBALL BULLET-IN Jun 9, 2013
2014 NPB season-opening series in California appears unlikely
by Wayne Graczyk
Reader and fan of Japanese baseball Leon DeHaven in Arizona wants to know if the proposed 2014 season-opening series between the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers in Southern California (Baseball Bullet-In, April 28) is still going to happen. “I’m ready to rent a room ...
Baseball | BASEBALL BULLET-IN May 19, 2013
Carp looking to turn things around after disappointing start
by Wayne Graczyk
There were high hopes for the Hiroshima Carp heading into the 2013 NPB season but, almost a third of the way into the schedule, the results so far might well be described as a still wait-and-see situation. The Carp are in the middle of ...
Baseball | BASEBALL BULLET-IN May 5, 2013
Antics of 'Animal' hard to forget more than 25 years later
by Wayne Graczyk
He wasn’t the best foreigner to ever play in Japanese baseball, but Brad “The Animal” Lesley was surely one of the most colorful and unforgettable characters to ever put on the uniform of a Central or Pacific League team. The news of his death ...
Baseball | BASEBALL BULLET-IN Apr 28, 2013
First regular-season NPB games in U.S. nearly set
by Wayne Graczyk
What do you make of the idea to have the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers open the 2014 Japanese baseball season in the U.S.? The tour is reportedly in the works and an official announcement should be coming sometime during May. Preliminary plans call ...
Baseball | BASEBALL BULLET-IN Apr 21, 2013
Slow pace of NPB games an ongoing problem
by Wayne Graczyk
In response to my column of March 17, a couple of readers have come in with suggestions on how to pick up the notoriously slow pace of Japanese baseball games. From the Bay Area, fan Mike Colegate sent the following e-mail. I know that ...