AP A car bomb exploded outside a mosque Sunday, killing at least 37 people and wounding another 141 in a mostly Shiite Muslim neighborhood in the southern Pakistan city of Karachi — the third mass-casualty attack on the minority sect in the country this ...
It's a dangerous, unpredictable world. Twice in January Chinese warships in the East China Sea challenged Japan's Maritime Self Defense Forces patrols in a manner deemed threatening. And on Feb. 12 came North Korea's nuclear test.
Here's an open secret: Japanese men have a bad international reputation on the romance front.
SELLING WOMEN: Prostitution, Markets and the Household in Early Modern Japan, by Amy Stanley. University of California Press, 2012, 282 pp., $49.95 (hardcover) In the vast cultural landscape, Japan fascinates the mainstream with manga and anime, the martial arts, Zen and kimono. Of course, ...
Kenta Maeda shook off worries about his form with five shutout innings as Japan beat China 5-2 in first-round Pool A of the World Baseball Classic on Sunday at Fukuoka Dome. Japan improved to 2-0 following a tough win over Brazil in Saturday evening’s ...
As Tokyo Yakult Swallows slugger Wladimir Balentien went through his pregame stretching, he surveyed the field where the newly minted Central League champion Yomiuri Giants were wrapping up batting practice and barely suppressed a laugh while noting, “everything has gone right for them this ...
For the next couple of weeks, the prevailing narrative of most Hanshin Tigers games will be the impending retirement of star outfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto. Fans will fawn, opponents will reflect and the media will pay tribute to a career more than worthy of high ...
The big news last week was that the Japanese Professional Baseball Players Association decided to compete in next year’s World Baseball Classic. The next challenge two-time defending champion Japan faces may come when it’s time to actually fill out the roster. The timing of ...
All season the Seibu Lions have put the ‘cats have nine lives’ theory to the test, and so far the Pacific League’s resident felines are still kicking. On June 4, the Lions were 19-27-1 and in last place, 11 games behind the first place ...
D.J. Houlton is dealing with a case of deja vu. The right-hander is living in a new city, pitching for a new team and playing in a new league. So much has changed for him in the span of a few months. Still, Houlton ...
Yoshinobu Takahashi looked more relieved than happy after his 300th home run. Many fans and observers had expected it to come earlier in his career, before later wondering if it would come at all. That helped give the moment feelings of both admiration and ...
With another NPB All-Star Series in the books, Japanese baseball shifts its attention back to the pennant races in the Central and Pacific Leagues. That also means there’s just half the season left for individual players to stake their claim for one of the ...
After batting practice prior to a game against the Hiroshima Carp, Yokohama BayStars manager Kiyoshi Nakahata walked past a throng of fan club members on his way to the clubhouse. For any other NPB manager, this would mean little more than a wave or ...
Lastings Milledge nearly put a ball into orbit against the Chunichi Dragons on a cool night at half-full (at best) Jingu Stadium last Thursday. After rounding the bases, Milledge celebrated his handiwork with a salute to teammate Wladimir Balentien and a seamless transition into ...
The Tokyo Yakult Swallows survived the interleague season. They took their fair share of bumps and bruises and played some of their worst baseball over the course of 24 games against the Pacific League, but in the end managed to come out on the ...
So at what point does the other shoe drop for Mitsuo Yoshikawa and Kenji Otonari? Expectations weren’t particularly high for either pitcher entering the season, yet both are off to hot starts that statistically have them among the best in Japan. The duo is ...
Japanese baseball went five full seasons without a no-hitter until the Hiroshima Carp’s Kenta Maeda threw one against the Yokohama BayStars April 6. Fifty-four days later, Yomiuri Giants lefty Toshiya Sugiuchi no-hit the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. It’s enough to make you wonder if ...
