Tag - samurai

 
 

SAMURAI

Makoto Hasebe in action during a Europa League game in December 2021
SOCCER
Apr 18, 2024
Frankfurt's Japanese veteran Makoto Hasebe to retire at age 40
Hasebe made his international debut in 2006 and featured in 114 games for Japan while serving as captain from 2010 to 2018.
North Korean defender Kim Kyong Sok and Japan winger Daizen Maeda compete for the ball during a World Cup qualifying match on March 21 in Tokyo.
SOCCER
Mar 31, 2024
Japan handed 3-0 win after North Korea called off World Cup qualifier
With 12 points after four games, Japan has now qualified for the third round of World Cup qualifiers as well as the 2027 Asian Cup.
Satoshi Tanaka (second from left) scores Japan's second goal against Ukraine during the second half of their under-23 soccer friendly on Monday in Kitakyushu.
SOCCER
Mar 26, 2024
Japan beats Ukraine in under-23 soccer friendly
Japan bounced back from a 3-1 loss to Mali in another friendly three days earlier.
North Korean fans cheer on the national team during a World Cup qualifying match against Japan on Thursday in Tokyo.
SOCCER
Mar 24, 2024
The many twists and turns for Japan's canceled World Cup qualifier in Pyongyang
On Sunday, FIFA ultimately determined that the match wouldn't go ahead at all, which could hand Japan a place in the next round.
North Korean fans watch the World Cup qualifying match between Japan and North Korea on Thursday in Tokyo.
SOCCER
Mar 22, 2024
North Korea-Japan World Cup qualifier called off over 'unforeseen circumstances'
North Korea appears to have decided not to stage the match in its capital over worries about infectious diseases in Japan.
Japan's Ao Tanaka in action with North Korea's Yu-Song Kim during Samurai Blue's win over North Korea in World Cup qualifying on Thursday in Tokyo.
SOCCER
Mar 22, 2024
Japan earns scrappy win over North Korea in World Cup qualifier
The Samurai Blue now have three wins from three in their group and are firmly on course to reach the next stage of qualifying.
Japan head coach Hajime Moriyasu holds a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
SOCCER
Mar 20, 2024
'Frustration' to drive Japan in North Korea World Cup qualifiers
The pre-tournament favorites and four-time champions exited the Asian Cup in the quarterfinals last month after losing 2-1 to Iran.
Japan fans during the women's team's Olympic qualifier against North Korea in Tokyo last month.
SOCCER
Mar 20, 2024
Japan warns football fans not to go to North Korea for World Cup qualifier
Japan and North Korea play in Tokyo on Thursday as part of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, before the return fixture next week.
Chojuro Kawarasaki plays Kuranosuke Ooishi in Kenji Mizoguchi’s 1941 film “Genroku Chushingura” (The 47 Ronin). The story, sometimes told with 46 retainers, has fascinated Japanese audiences since first being performed as a puppet play in 1748. 
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Mar 15, 2024
Edo samurai spirit: From the battlefield to the stage
Life under the Tokugawa shogunate wasn't exactly freedom but neither was it constant war. The Japanese instead sated their bloodlust with theater.
Czech Republic's Ondrej Satoria pitches against Japan during the World Baseball Classic at Tokyo Dome on March 11.
BASEBALL
Mar 14, 2024
Ondrej Satoria reflects on electric WBC showdown against Shohei Ohtani
Satoria, an electrician by day, struck out the Japanese superstar during the World Baseball Classic.
Hajime Moriyasu names his squad for Japan's two upcoming World Cup qualifiers against North Korea on Thursday.
SOCCER
Mar 14, 2024
Koki Ogawa and Yuto Nagatomo called up for Japan's matches against North Korea
Winger Junya Ito was overlooked after leaving the Japan squad during the Asian Cup amid a reported sexual assault allegation.
The men's soccer teams of North Korea and Japan clash in the East Asian Football Championship in Tokyo in December 2017.
SOCCER
Mar 12, 2024
Japan-North Korea World Cup game to stay in Pyongyang, says JFA
The JFA said it had been informed that the game on March 26 would be played at the 50,000-capacity Kim Il Sung Stadium.
New series "Shogun" focuses on power struggles during Japan's samurai era, with warlord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) finding himself in danger of being bested — and perhaps beheaded — by rival Lord Ishido and his allies.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Mar 9, 2024
New ‘Shogun’ series is a cut above the original
From the 1980 original to ‘Last Samurai’ to now, Hollywood is getting better at depicting Japan.
An ukiyo-e print by Utagawa Kuniteru depicts the assault of Asano Naganori on Kira Yoshinaka, an incident that triggered the tragedy of the 47 Ronin and one that was re-created in the play “Chushingura.”
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Mar 8, 2024
Revenge: A dish seldom served in Japanese history but still cold as ice
When Confucius was asked, "Should we kill those who are evil?" The response came, "What need is there for you to kill?"
Japan's Misho Nishikawa hits an RBI double against Team Europe in the sixth inning of his team's 5-0 win at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Wednesday.
BASEBALL
Mar 7, 2024
Collegian Misho Nishikawa helps Samurai Japan top Team Europe
Japan's national team beat Team Europe, a selection of European stars, 5-0 on Wednesday.
Shinji Okazaki won the Premier League title with Leicester in the 2015-16 season.
SOCCER
Feb 26, 2024
Former Samurai Blue striker Shinji Okazaki set to retire
Okazaki earned 119 caps for Japan and played at three straight World Cups, starting with the 2010 tournament in South Africa.
Japan's national women's soccer team, Nadeshiko Japan, trains in Chiba on Feb. 13.
SOCCER
Feb 20, 2024
Japan heads to Saudi Arabia for Olympic qualifier against N. Korea
The game against North Korea was initially scheduled to be held in Pyongyang.
Junya Ito's lawyers speak to reporters on Monday in the city of Osaka.
SOCCER
Feb 19, 2024
Junya Ito files lawsuit seeking ¥202 million from women accusing him of sexual assault
Soccer player Junya Ito filed a lawsuit with the Osaka District Court on Monday seeking about ¥202 million in compensation from two women who alleged the winger and his trainer sexually assaulted them last year.
Japan's Hiroki Ito stands on the pitch with his teammates after their loss against Iran in the Asian Cup quarterfinals in Doha on Saturday.
SOCCER
Feb 5, 2024
Japan's Asian Cup exit raises questions ahead of World Cup qualifiers in North Korea
Former Japan star Keisuke Honda, who was part of the team that won the Asian Cup in 2011, said the country's soccer needed "innovative change."
Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu and Takumi Minamino look dejected after the team lost its quarterfinal match to Iran on Saturday.
SOCCER
Feb 4, 2024
Japan's well-traveled squad tastes bitter pill at Asian Cup
The exit was a predictable end to the tournament for a team that never lived up to its billing as favorites.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores