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August 28, 2025
 

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Mai Yoshikawa
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.
BASEBALL / FOCUS
Aug 27, 2025
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
A young player’s dream was to play in the National High School Baseball Championship. A series of bullying incidents this year changed all of that.
A catch-all term for tendonitis and arthritis caused by excessive smartphone use, 'sumaho yubi' may be difficult to treat for gadget-crazy Japan.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 22, 2025
Fingers sore from too much phone time? You might have ‘sumaho yubi.’
One doctor says the symptoms of smartphone-induced tendonitis and arthritis are on the rise for those in the 20s, 30s and 40s.
Two boys pose with Pocari Sweat and Aquarius sports drinks in a park near Tokyo.
SPORTS
Aug 19, 2025
The great sports drink debate: What’s best for athletes?
When it comes to the classic debate of Pocari versus Aquari, fans on both sides have strong opinions about which sports drink reigns supreme.
The Japan Boxing Commission's safety protocols have been thrust into the spotlight following the deaths of Shigetoshi Kotari and Hiromasa Urakawa, who suffered fatal brain injuries while fighting on the same card on Aug. 2.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Aug 15, 2025
Recent deaths of Japanese boxers underline importance of emergency action plans
Such plans are crucial to minimize delays and increase a fighter’s chances of survival after sustaining a serious injury in the ring.
A Cardinals fan fans himself during the seventh inning of a game against the Pirates in St. Louis, Missouri, in June 2022.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 7, 2025
Cheer with caution: Expert advises sports fans have game plan for extreme heat
The consequences of extreme heat exposure range from dehydration to heatstroke and even death.
Reporters and photographers, including long-time baseball beat writer Keizo Konishi, swarm around Ichiro Suzuki during the World Baseball Classic in San Diego in 2009.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 27, 2025
Three decades and a pile of notebooks: The beat writer who chronicled Ichiro’s career
For nearly three decades, this journalist's job revolved around one man — Ichiro Suzuki. But covering the baseball legend was never boring.
Olympic judoka Uta Abe (second from left) and Hifumi Abe (second from right) with their brother Yuichiro (center) and their parents. “I’m always consciously trying to be a good older brother,” Yuichiro said.
MORE SPORTS
Jul 8, 2025
From the Abes to the Ohtanis: How siblings shape athletic development
Sibling dynamics — whether it’s rivalry, support, or a mix of both — can have a profound impact on an athlete’s development and success.
Rio Takeda banked roughly ¥265.7 million during the 2024 season in prize money on the back of a tour-high eight wins.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Jun 15, 2025
What gender pay gap? In Japanese golf, women are on par with men
Fan and sponsorship growth has players in the JLPGA making just as much as their male counterparts, a rarity in the male-dominated world of sports.
Eating locally grown food could be part of a decokatsu lifestyle that's both good for the planet and your wallet.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Jun 15, 2025
Decokatsu could save you money and help the planet. But you probably haven't heard of it.
The ambitious government program aims to get people to live in ways that are healthier for the planet without being restrictive about it.
Novak Djokovic plays a forehand return to Italy's Jannik Sinner during their men's singles semifinal match on day 13 of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on June 6, 2025.
TENNIS
Jun 11, 2025
No rest, no gain: Novak Djokovic’s go-to tools for a mind and body reset
Japan residents with deep pockets now have a chance to replicate Djokovic’s wellness and longevity routines at Aman Tokyo.
Modern pentathlete Ayumu Saito competes in the laser run at nationals in 2022.
MORE SPORTS / Modern Pentathlon
May 25, 2025
2028 Olympic hopeful giving modern pentathlon some time in the sun in Japan
As modern pentathlon takes on a Japanese flavor with a "Sasuke"-inspired event, Ayumu Saito is working to raise the sport’s profile in Japan.
Tomomi Bitoh, seen crossing the finish line in Antarctica, on the first stop of the World Marathon Challenge, is one of the very few Japanese athletes to speak publicly about her experience with egg freezing.
MORE SPORTS
May 19, 2025
The race for more time: Japanese runner decided to freeze eggs for her future
More women in Japan are expressing interest or following through with freezing their eggs in recent years, but only a few athletes in Japan have spoken about it publicly.
Shohei Ohtani and Mamiko Tanaka announced the birth of their first child on April 19.
BASEBALL
Apr 28, 2025
Shohei Ohtani's example could change Japan's views on paternity leave
The Dodgers star went on MLB’s paternity list for the birth of his daughter. MLB is the only major North American sports league that guarantees paternity leave to its players.
Sport climber Miho Nonaka competes during the Tokyo Games in Aomi Urban Sports Park in August 2021.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 25, 2025
Beauty expert encourages female athletes to embrace game day glam
Beauty expert Miha Fukuoka believes sportswomen do not need to downplay their femininity to be taken seriously.
People walk past an advertisement featuring Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani outside Tokyo Dome on March 18.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 18, 2025
Nothing sells like Shohei Ohtani, MLB’s marketing megastar
The Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player is at the peak of his stardom, and brands are rushing to cash in with huge sponsorship deals.
Kimitaka Sakurai displays a sharpening stone for working on skate blades, in Yokohama on March 28. Regular sharpening is crucial for maintaining optimal performance and reducing skaters’ risk of injury on the ice.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 15, 2025
The man who helps Japanese figure skaters stay sharp
Skate sharpening is not a lucrative endeavor, but Kimitaka Sakurai has been doing it full time for 14 years, and he is a master at his craft.
Takuya “Moby” Okamoto after Game 5 of the 2016 World Series, which the Cubs went on to win in seven games to snap a 108-year drought
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 14, 2025
In a sea of Dodger Blue, Japanese superfan ready to cheer on the Cubs
The Dodgers may garner the lion's share of attention in Japan among MLB clubs, but don't tell that to Takuya “Moby” Okamoto, Japan's biggest Cubs fan.
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (center) runs during a 100-meter heat at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 3, 2024.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Feb 20, 2025
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown ready to sprint past Paris disappointment
Despite setting a personal best with a time of 9.96 seconds, Sani Brown finished fourth in his semifinal heat in the 100-meter sprint in Paris.
Naomi Osaka celebrates winning her second round match at the Australian Open over the Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova on Jan. 15.
TENNIS
Feb 6, 2025
Naomi Osaka on tennis, motherhood and being Japanese
Osaka returned to the tour a year ago and has had mixed results overall. But there are early signs in 2025 that she's starting to "get her pink back."
Sara Saito competes at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in October last year.
TENNIS
Jan 24, 2025
Sara Saito’s journey from tennis courts in Gunma to promising WTA pro
The 18-year-old Saito, who has steadily risen up the WTA rankings, is the only teenager among the eight Japanese players in the top 200.
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Japan Post to stop accepting some parcels for shipment to the U.S.
Japan Post's UGX will still be available for many rejected packages.
Japan aims to tighten rules for business manager visas from October
The number of foreign residents with business management residency status had reached a record 41,615 as of the end of 2024.
Tokyo releases AI-generated video of Mount Fuji erupting
A screenshot from an AI-generated video showing what could happen to Tokyo if Mount Fuji erupted
Character-crazed Japan has little appetite for Labubu
A pop-up advertisement for the newly opened Chiikawa Park in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood demonstrates how the country is chockful of cute characters — to the detriment of trends like Labubu.
Is Kishida plotting a return of the king? Or would he rather stay a kingmaker?
Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida chairs a plenary session at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Aug. 21.
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Philippines quietly deepening ‘unofficial’ defense ties with Taiwan
Filipino soldiers take part in a flag-raising ceremony on Mavulis Island during a visit by the Philippines' Armed Forces chief of staff, in Batanes, the Philippines, in June 2023. Batanes, a group of idyllic islands at the country’s northernmost tip, sits about 160 kilometers from Taiwan.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
Germany's first sakemaker offers a bold brew of ideas
Reigen, Germany's first sake brewery, makes a diverse, nontraditional range of sake that includes fruit-flavored sips and wine barrel-aged renditions.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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