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A sit-in by visa violators and their families entered its second day Tuesday in front of the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau with protesters seeking government good will. The action at the bureau in Minato Ward is being organized by the Asian People’s Friendship Society, ...
Kazuhiro Shiraishi, 66, is a guest-house manager in the Izu-kogen Highlands, a famous resort area on the Izu Peninsula of Shizuoka Prefecture. Looking out onto the Pacific Ocean, and just 90 minutes by train from Tokyo, Izu has a warm climate all year round ...
“I was stopped by two men in a government-registered vehicle, blindfolded and dragged off the street. They took me away to a house in a place I did not know. I was forced into a room with blood all over the walls and floor, ...
Takashi Miike's blood-soaked vengeance tale, one of two Japanese films being shown in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, draws the biggest boos so far, with critics savaging it as overacted and cliched.
Have you ever given your best effort while striving to achieve something but felt like what you were doing was futile? That’s the feeling I’m getting about Tokyo’s bid to host the 2020 Olympics. With just over three months to go until the IOC ...
The Central League’s monthly MVP for position players has thus far been a roll call of Yomiuri Giants. Giants catcher Shinnosuke Abe won the award for the month of June, making him the fourth Yomiuri player (including pitcher Shun Tono), to win the award ...
Fans of low-scoring pitching duels would do well to avoid the Tokyo Dome this weekend. You won’t like what you see. The Big Egg figures to be a powder keg of offensive activity when the first-place Yomiuri Giants host the second-place Hanshin Tigers in ...
What a month it’s been for catchers. June has seen many of Japan’s backstops go on a tear at the plate, with most putting up their best numbers of the season. The player who has seen the biggest jump in production is Seibu Lions ...
Randy Ruiz’s career had already taken him to a myriad of places by the time he signed with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles earlier this month. Still, a move from the U.S. to Sendai can be an eye-opener for anybody. “You know what, it’s ...
Shigeru Takada’s departure from the Tokyo Yakult Swallows on Wednesday leaves the struggling Central League team under the stewardship of head coach Junji Ogawa. Ogawa’s role as interim manager is becoming a familiar one in the NPB. Takada’s exit marks the third straight year ...
As Randy Johnson stood on the mound at Tokyo Dome on Tuesday night, Chiba Lotte Marines leadoff hitter Tsuyoshi Nishioka could be forgiven for thinking he dodged a bullet. Because even though the 208-cm Johnson was towering in front of Nishioka on the rubber, ...
Dee Brown has the Saitama Seibu Lions partying like rock stars. Brown introduced a new home-run celebration called “The Rock Star” with shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, after Nakajima’s game-tying homer in the seventh inning in the Lions’ season-opening 2-1 win over the Chiba Lotte Marines ...
FRaU is one women’s magazine that’s got guts. Baseball fans may be in for a slight shock in the coming weeks, when Yomiuri Giants third baseman, Michihiro Ogasawara graces the pages of the magazine’s May issue. FRaU is a magazine highlighting the latest in ...
After winning the Japan Series two seasons ago, Chunichi Dragons manager Hiromitsu Ochiai said he wanted to start looking for the successors to his current stars. He’s gotten off to a good start this spring. The Yomiuri Giants got a small taste of the ...
The ongoing quest to get some value out of Hokkaido Nippon Ham’s Sho Nakata is continuing at spring camp. The Fighters have shifted Nakata into the outfield, hoping to finally start seeing some returns on the first-round draft pick they spent on him in ...
The No. 2 will be back at Chiba Marine Stadium this year. Albeit with a different owner. The Marines have handed former manager Bobby Valentine’s old uniform to recent signee Makoto Imaoka. The former Hanshin Tigers star earned himself a spot on the roster ...
The NPB has ramped up its efforts to speed up games over the past few seasons. Saitama Seibu Lions rookie pitcher Yusei Kikuchi plans to do his part. Kikuchi has told reporters he wants to finish games in under two hours if possible, to ...