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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 ...
Clinching the Pacific League pennant a little early gave the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles a chance to really enjoy the moment. Ace Masahiro Tanaka, 22-0 this season, was on the mound for the last inning of the PL pennant race on Sept. 26 at ...
Ryozo Kato had the ideas to be the commissioner Japanese baseball needed, but not the muscle. Early in his tenure, you could hear the sincerity with which he spoke of trying to make NPB better for both fans and players. It is somewhat ironic ...
Ichiro Suzuki took off his helmet to reveal a head a little more salt than pepper as he bowed in appreciation of the reception he was receiving after joining an exclusive club with the 4,000th professional hit of his career between Japan and the ...
Esteban German is looking for a sign. Not one of a divine nature, but something — anything from the movement of a shoulder to the shifting of weight — that can serve as his cue to leave the safe haven of first base and ...
It was Friday morning in Japan when Detroit Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer earned his 17th win of the MLB season. As the visiting Tigers were wrapping up a 10-3 road drubbing of the Cleveland Indians, Masahiro Tanaka was an ocean away in Sendai, perhaps ...
There normally wouldn’t be many reasons to keep close tabs on a 35-57-1 team that’s 22½ games out of first place. Then again, most teams in that position don’t have a pair of players as worthy of the spotlight as the Tokyo Yakult Swallows’ ...
If this year’s NPB All-Star Series was about anything, it was about Shohei Otani. Media and fans couldn’t get enough of the 19-year-old Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters rookie, and it was a good thing too, because he was everywhere. He pitched, he hit, and ...
The Orix Buffaloes hit their first home run of the year long before any games were played, or at least that was the common refrain. Orix fleeced the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters before the season by sending pitcher Hiroshi Kisanuki and infielder Keiji Obiki ...
The next time Masahiro Tanaka takes the mound for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles he'll be trying to win his 12th consecutive decision since opening day.
The paths of former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo and former owner and team president Peter O’Malley didn’t cross during the latter’s recent trip to Japan. O’Malley was in Tokyo on Saturday to open an exhibit in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame ...
The Chiba Lotte Marines have done just fine without a real power hitter in their lineup for most of the season. With slugger Josh Whitesell limited to just 24 games, manager Tsutomu Ito’s squad has come up with clutch hits, scraped together just enough ...
It’s the waiting that’s the hardest part for Alex Ramirez. The wait for the next at-bat, for the next opportunity to contribute to the Yokohama BayStars, for another chance to show there is still life in his bat. The BayStars’ final interleague series of ...