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October 08, 2025
 

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BASEBALL

Japanese Baseball

MLB
Japanese Baseball
Hanshin pitcher Hiroto Saiki (left) and infielder Teruaki Sato were among the Central League title winners this season.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Hanshin star Teruaki Sato leads list of NPB title winners
Sato finishing with 40 homers and over 100 RBIs should make him the Central League MVP frontrunner.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Hawks take step toward Japan Series redo with Pacific League title
Unlike last year, this team is battle-tested, with injuries being the source of much of the adversity the Hawks have faced.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Japanese baseball grapples with shrinking player base
Behind the buzz created by Shohei Ohtani lies a troubling reality: The number of young players in Japan has fallen sharply in recent years.
Japan's Shohei Ohtani delivers a pitch against the USA during the World Baseball Classic final at LoanDepot Park in Miami on March 21, 2023.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 26, 2025
Baseball-hungry Netflix to carry World Baseball Classic in Japan
The news comes as Netflix is reportedly on the verge of entering the MLB fray by picking up the U.S. rights for the Home Run Derby
Masahiro Tanaka walks off the field after the end of the fifth inning during the Giants' game against the Dragons at Tokyo Dome on Wednesday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 14, 2025
Masahiro Tanaka still two giant steps away from Meikyukai
By Jason Coskrey
The Giants pitcher's pursuit of 200 career victories between NPB and MLB remains stuck at 198.
Masakazu Hori, the principal of Koryo High School in Hiroshima Prefecture, speaks to reporters in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, on Sunday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 10, 2025
Hiroshima school exits Summer Koshien tournament over bullying
An outcry over alleged violence earlier this year within the Koryo High School baseball team had prompted calls on social media for their withdrawal from the tournament.
The Carp's Sandro Fabian hits an RBI single against the Swallows during the first inning at Jingu Stadium in Tokyo on July 21.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 5, 2025
Central League votes to adopt designated hitter rule from 2027
By Jason Coskrey
The change means NPB’s two leagues will operate under the same set of rules for the first time since the Pacific League adopted the designated hitter in 1975.
Swallows slugger Munetaka Murakami celebrates after hitting a home run against the BayStars in Yokohama on July 29.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Aug 4, 2025
Return of Munetaka Murakami could get hearts racing at Jingu Stadium again
By Jason Coskrey
The Swallows have not been good this year but have a chance to end the season on a positive note.
“Yakyu / Baseball: The Transpacific Exchange of the Game” is set to remain on display in Cooperstown for at least five to 10 years — and possibly indefinitely.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 29, 2025
Behind the scenes at the Baseball Hall of Fame's new Yakyu/Baseball exhibit
By Joshua Mellin
The exhibit tells a sweeping, richly visual story about the deep and evolving connection between Japan and America’s shared national pastime.
Tigers pitcher Jon Duplantier eats <i>umeboshi</i> pickled plums to replenish sodium.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 23, 2025
NPB teams trying to fight off Japan's torrid summer heat
On June 27, Seibu Lions pitcher Tatsuya Imai was replaced after suffering heatstroke while pitching during a game held at the team's Belluna Dome.

‘We have drawn lessons,’ Indian Army chief says of brief clash with Pakistan
Indian Army chief Upendra Dwivedi waves as he arrives to attend the ceremonial reception of Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in New Delhi in May.
Japanese immunologist among three Nobel medicine prize winners
Shimon Sakaguchi, an immunologist and distinguished professor at Osaka University, attends a news conference after winning the 2025 Nobel Prize in medicine, in Osaka Prefecture on Monday.
Spanish tourist injured in latest bear attack
Shirakawago, a U.N. World Heritage site in Gifu Prefecture
Americans and Canadians unite in battling 'eating machine' carp
A Fisheries and Oceans Canada team patrols the Grand River in Dunnville, Ontario, in search of invasive grass carp specimens on Sept. 25.
Trump hails 'wisdom and strength' of Japan's incoming prime minister
Sanae Takaichi, the newly elected leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, gives a news conference after the LDP presidential election in Tokyo on Saturday.
OpenAI’s Sora 2 is drowning in Japanese 'AI slop'
OpenAI has rolled out a social app powered by Sora 2, its artificial intelligence video generator, which was quickly flooded with videos featuring iconic Japanese intellectual property.
Trump has his eyes on the prize — but a Nobel win looks unlikely
A protester holds a sign with an image depicting U.S. President Donald Trump and the words "Nobel" written on it, as supporters and family members of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, demonstrate to demand the immediate end of the war and the release of all hostages, outside the U.S. Consulate in Tel Aviv, on Sept. 2.
‘Takaichi trade’ stalls as political reality calls for wait-and-see approach
Tokyo stocks staged a powerful rally on Monday. On Tuesday, they rallied again, then retreated.
‘We have drawn lessons,’ Indian Army chief says of brief clash with Pakistan
Indian Army chief Upendra Dwivedi waves as he arrives to attend the ceremonial reception of Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in New Delhi in May.
How a family-run landscaper turned the Osaka Expo green
The team at Ryokukou Garden consists primarily of a single family, including Toshiki Tanisaki (second from right), who led the company's efforts at the Osaka Expo, Chikako Tanisaki (fifth from right), who performs daily maintanence at the expo, and Takeshi Tanisaki (fourth from right), who added a nursery to the family farm more than 50 years ago.

Podcast

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

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons
Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

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