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Farmers in the city of Tamura, Fukushima Prefecture, have begun planting rice in a district once designated a no-go zone because of radioactive fallout ejected by the disaster-hit Fukushima No. 1 power plant.
Recently I was asked to write a blurb for a new liquid plant-nutrient. As soon as I saw the name of the product, 早根早起 （Hayane Hayaoki), I smiled at this example of linguistic creativity.
Life in Japan just seems tailor-made for certain foreign residents, who slip into the fabric of this society as smoothly as a hand slides into a glove. American Curtis Patterson, a professional koto player and music teacher, is a case in point. Not only ...
Denmark’s Emmelie de Forest won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday night with her ethno-inspired flute and drum tune “Only Teardrops,” despite tough competition from spectacular stage shows by performers from Azerbaijan and Ukraine. Juries and television viewers across Europe awarded the barefoot, ...
One team’s quest for a first title has ended. The other team’s fight will continue next season. The Yokohama B-Corsairs outplayed the Rizing Fukuoka in Sunday’s bj-league championship game, controlling the tempo for larger stretches and making enough timely baskets to fill an instructional ...
Toyama Grouses coach Bob Nash guided his team to its first winning season, and that’s something the franchise, which began play in the fall of 2006, can consider a major accomplishment. Call it a big step in the right direction. The Grouses, who went ...
The Kyoto Hannaryz stunned the host Ryukyu Golden Kings in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series on Saturday afternoon. The Hannaryz’s 82-57 victory represents a big departure from their 0-4 record during the bj-league regular season against the Golden Kings. Game 2 ...
The Ryukyu Golden Kings are one of three bj-league franchises with two or more championships. But the other two — the Osaka Evessa (three titles) and Hamamatsu Hiagshimikawa Phoenix (two) — are not playing in the conference semifinal round of the playoffs. Osaka didn’t ...
Ryukyu Golden Kings star Anthony McHenry receives the 2012-13 regular-season MVP award, and Matt Garrison of the Niigata Albirex BB is the bj-league's Coach of the Year.
The reigning champion Ryukyu Golden Kings have been so good for so long that veteran forward/center Jeff Newton’s recent monthlong absence due to a knee injury was far from a crisis. Newton missed eight games and underwent knee surgery to repair his left meniscus ...
The Ryukyu Golden Kings are gearing up for a run at another title. The Tokyo Cinq Reves are closing out their inaugural season. Teams with vastly different agendas kept things close for the opening 10 minutes on Sunday in their bj-league series finale at ...
In professional team sports, these are among the chief characteristics of championship teams: confidence, swagger and a diversified cast of proven playmakers. Season after season, the Ryukyu Golden Kings, Okinawa’s ultra-successful basketball team, have delivered master class after master class in the aforementioned traits. ...
In his four seasons leading the Ryukyu Golden Kings, Dai Oketani managed the team to extraordinary success — four Final Four appearances, two championships and a record of 147-59 in the regular season (2008-12). Now, Oketani is 1-0 against his former club. In an ...
Rebounding is all about desire, technique, hustle and even a few lucky bounces here and there. And a 19-rebound game is also about basketball IQ, which is something Ryukyu Golden Kings big man Jeff Newton has a lot of. A five-time champion in the ...