Menu
Search
 
April 25, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

BASEBALL

Japanese Baseball

MLB
Japanese Baseball
The Tokyo Yakult Swallows' Munetaka Murakami bats during spring camp on March 14 in the city of Urasoe, Okinawa. Murakami returned from a spring injury on Thursday but was taken off the roster again the next day.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Munetaka Murakami's return cut short as Swallows’ struggles deepen
The Tokyo team’s star slugger returned on Thursday but was taken off the roster again the next day.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Baystars pitcher Jackson 'honored' to wear No. 42 on Jackie Robinson Day
The stars almost aligned perfectly on Tuesday night for the American, who pitched six strong innings on the day that the baseball world celebrates the Dodgers legend.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
NPB can learn from MLB amid backlash to its new social media policy
Arguing that the rights of NPB and its broadcasters are in peril because fans upload short videos from games is a hard sell.
Eagles rookie Rui Muneyama (center) poses with pitcher Takayuki Kishi (right) and infielder Hideto Asamura after a win in Sendai on April 3.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Apr 7, 2025
Rookie duo off to hot starts at plate in new NPB campaign
By Jason Coskrey
Seiya Watanabe and Rui Muneyama both have at least 10 hits so far this season.
The Giants' Gakuto Wakabayashi (right) celebrates with Giants manager Shinnosuke Abe after his game-winning hit against the Swallows at Tokyo Dome on Friday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 28, 2025
Giants rally to beat Swallows in dramatic season opener
By Jason Coskrey
The Giants rallied from three-runs down in the ninth inning.
The Hawks' Ryoya Kurihara fields a ball during spring camp in Miyazaki on March 7.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 27, 2025
Incumbent Hawks face fresh challenge from rising Fighters in Pacific League
By Jason Coskrey
Flamboyant manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo and his up-and-coming Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters may finally be ready to pose a challenge for the favored Hawks.
Giants ace Shosei Togo is expected to get the start on opening day.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 26, 2025
Big-spending Giants aim to hold off BayStars and Tigers in competitive Central League
By Jason Coskrey
The Giants spent big as the club aims to win its first Japan Series title since 2012. But can the BayStars or Tigers spoil the Kyojin's fun?
The Tigers Teruaki Sato (center) celebrates with his teammates after their win over the Dodgers.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 17, 2025
NPB clubs show there's more to Japanese baseball than MLB stars
By Jason Coskrey
The four exhibition games between the MLB and NPB clubs showed that the well of talent in Japan runs deeper than the nation’s big leaguers.
The BayStars used data analytics to inform the decision to have Hayato Horioka pitch against the Giants last fall. The bet paid off, with Horioka helping to seal the game and Yokohama advancing to the championship.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 17, 2025
'Moneyball' disciples aim to upend Japanese baseball for second year
By Yuki Furukawa and Haruka Iwai
Yokohama is honing its indicators that predict how well a pitcher will perform at any given moment.
Swallows mascot Tsubakuro performs during a game at Jingu Stadium in June 2023.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Feb 21, 2025
Swallows employee who portrayed popular mascot Tsubakuro dies
By Jason Coskrey
Tsubakuro became a ubiquitous presence at Jingu Stadium after his debut in 1994.

Japan must correct Trump’s false data for trade talks, says Kono
Former Foreign Minister Taro Kono
Japan wants to 'separate' tariff and security issues. That may be tough.
Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, poses with a "Make America Great Again" cap at the White House in Washington on April 16.
Social media helps fuel growing 'sex tourism' in Japan
People walk down a street in the red-light entertainment area of Kabukicho in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on March 31.
Japan set to fine cyclists on the spot for rule violations from 2026
Under new rules, those who use smartphones while riding a bicycle would be subject to the maximum fine of ¥12,000.
Naked man’s rampage in Saitama linked to one fatality and 10 injured
Police believe Daisuke Nishimura may have been involved in roughly 20 incidents in the 90 minutes leading up to his arrest, including a fatal hit-and-run and multiple assaults.
Amid uncertain tariffs, is now the time to buy a new iPhone?
An Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in September. Prices for the newest iPhone models start at around ¥100,000 ($700) in Japan.
Built in a flash, Osaka Expo pavilions wrestle with sustainability
Kengo Kuma & Associates oversaw the construction of the Malaysia pavilion, which is encased in interwoven rows of bamboo that appear to ripple.
Japan weighs using U.S. rice imports as tariff negotiation tool with Trump
A restaurant owner pours California-grown Calrose rice into a rice cooker at his restaurant in Tokyo
Is Japan’s parliament ready to welcome more youth to its ranks?
Lower House lawmaker Kai Odake in his Tokyo office on Wednesday
Crow meat, goat tartare: Mauvaise Herbe raises its game
Crow meat, shaped into a ball and attached to a foot of the bird, is one of the peculiar offerings of game at Mauvaise Herbe.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027
Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER