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June 04, 2025
 

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Jason Coskrey

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Jason Coskrey
Jason Coskrey is a sports writer for The Japan Times. His primary focus is Japanese baseball, but he has also covered soccer, American football, boxing and basketball. He previously worked for the Marietta Daily Journal in Marietta, Ga. A native of Detroit, he is a graduate of the University of Alabama-Birmingham.
Shigeo Nagashima (left), then the manager of the Tokyo Giants, waves to fans with players and coaches during a victory parade in central Tokyo in 2000. Nagashima died at the age of 89 on Tuesday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 3, 2025
Japanese baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima dies at 89
Long before the rise of Shohei Ohtani and Ichiro Suzuki, Nagashima was arguably the most famous player in Japanese baseball history.
The Fighters' Franmil Reyes celebrates after hitting a walk-off home run against the Marines on Sunday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 3, 2025
What you need to know ahead of NPB interleague play resuming
Since 2005, one constant has been Pa League dominance.
South Korea's Yonsei University is one of the 12 teams that will compete in the first AUBL tournament in August.
BASKETBALL
May 30, 2025
League backed by Nets owner looks to raise profile of college basketball in Asia
The AUBL will holds its inaugural tournament in August.
Fighters starter Hiromi Ito pitches against the Hawks in Fukuoka on April 29.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
May 26, 2025
Fighters already showing last season's playoff run was no fluke
Nippon Ham manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo has dialed back his antics lately, and perhaps with good reason — because it looks like the players are ready to take center stage.
Carp pitcher Hiroki Tokoda has seven hits this season, including a double.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
May 20, 2025
Can the Central League hold out against designated hitters?
There have been plenty of calls for the league to adopt the DH over the years. But some prefer the status quo.
Trey Cabbage celebrates after hitting a home run at Tokyo Dome on May 1.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
May 19, 2025
Giants' Trey Cabbage not weighed down by pressure to replace Kazuma Okamoto
Cabbage has taken the majority of the at-bats in the cleanup spot since Okamoto suffered an elbow injury on May 6.
Japan's Shohei Ohtani carries the Japanese flag onto the field before the start of the World Baseball Classic final against the United States in Miami on March 21, 2023.
BASEBALL
May 15, 2025
Historian Rob Fitts discovers earliest ever reference to baseball in Japan
The widely held belief is that American Horace Wilson introduced the sport to Japan in 1872. Fitts' discovery revises the timeline to 1869.
The Giants' Kazuma Okamoto, seen during a game on April 16, suffered an elbow injury during a game against the Tigers on Tuesday at Tokyo Dome.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
May 6, 2025
Giants star Kazuma Okamoto expected to miss extended period with elbow injury
Giants manager Shinnosuke Abe told reporters Okamoto will miss a lot of time.
Tigers slugger Teruaki Sato knocks in a run during Hanshin's win over the Swallows at Koshien Stadium on Friday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
May 6, 2025
Confident Hanshin slugger Teruaki Sato taking game to next level
Even with everything Sato, a three-time All-Star, has already accomplished, his start this year has some wondering if he has finally put everything together.
Christophe Lemaire rides Admire Daytona, who was bred in Japan, during the UAE Derby at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on April 5.
MORE SPORTS / Horse Racing
Apr 29, 2025
Could this be Japan’s year at the Kentucky Derby?
Japan has made great strides in thoroughbred racing, and many feel it is no longer a question of "if" a Japanese horse will win the event but "when."
The Tokyo Yakult Swallows' Munetaka Murakami bats during spring camp on March 14 in the city of Urasoe, Okinawa. Murakami returned from a spring injury on Thursday but was taken off the roster again the next day.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Apr 21, 2025
Munetaka Murakami's return cut short as Swallows’ struggles deepen
The Tokyo team’s star slugger returned on Thursday but was taken off the roster again the next day.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife Mamiko Tanaka attend a Lakers game in Los Angeles on Dec. 8, 2024.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 20, 2025
Shohei Ohtani announces birth of daughter
Ohtani announced the birth of his first child in a post on social media.
BayStars pitcher Andre Jackson throws during Game 1 of the Japan Series on Oct. 26 last year.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 16, 2025
Baystars pitcher Jackson 'honored' to wear No. 42 on Jackie Robinson Day
The stars almost aligned perfectly on Tuesday night for the American, who pitched six strong innings on the day that the baseball world celebrates the Dodgers legend.
Giants fans cheer during an exhibition game against the Dodgers at Tokyo Dome on March 15.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Apr 14, 2025
NPB can learn from MLB amid backlash to its new social media policy
Arguing that the rights of NPB and its broadcasters are in peril because fans upload short videos from games is a hard sell.
Tony Blanco played in Japan for eight seasons and hit 181 home runs in NPB. The Dominican slugger was among more than 200 killed when the roof of a popular nightclub collapsed on Tuesday in the Dominican Republic.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 12, 2025
Tony Blanco remembered in Japan and Dominican Republic after nightclub tragedy
Blanco, who spent eight seasons in Japan with three NPB clubs, is remembered as a 'great guy' with a tremendous sense of humor.
Eagles rookie Rui Muneyama (center) poses with pitcher Takayuki Kishi (right) and infielder Hideto Asamura after a win in Sendai on April 3.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Apr 7, 2025
Rookie duo off to hot starts at plate in new NPB campaign
Seiya Watanabe and Rui Muneyama both have at least 10 hits so far this season.
Damar Hamlin poses with students at The American School in Japan in Chofu, western Tokyo, on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Apr 1, 2025
NFL comeback star Damar Hamlin shares life-saving message in Tokyo
Hamlin’s comeback is bigger than football. It is also a vehicle for him to do something he has done his entire life — help others.
A clean-shaven Trey Cabbage poses during his introductory news conference with the Giants on Jan. 30 in Kawasaki.
BASEBALL / Sac Bunts
Mar 31, 2025
Giants' new players make strong first impression on opening weekend
A group of new faces helped the Kyojin sweep their season-opening series for the first time since 2012.
The Giants' Gakuto Wakabayashi (right) celebrates with Giants manager Shinnosuke Abe after his game-winning hit against the Swallows at Tokyo Dome on Friday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 28, 2025
Giants rally to beat Swallows in dramatic season opener
The Giants rallied from three-runs down in the ninth inning.
The Hawks' Ryoya Kurihara fields a ball during spring camp in Miyazaki on March 7.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 27, 2025
Incumbent Hawks face fresh challenge from rising Fighters in Pacific League
Flamboyant manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo and his up-and-coming Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters may finally be ready to pose a challenge for the favored Hawks.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic
After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
Japanese baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima dies at 89
Shigeo Nagashima (left), then the manager of the Tokyo Giants, waves to fans with players and coaches during a victory parade in central Tokyo in 2000. Nagashima died at the age of 89 on Tuesday.
Toyota Industries receives $33 billion buyout offer from group companies
Toyota group companies could establish a new holding company to privatize Toyota Industries.
South Korea’s Lee pledges to heal deep wounds as ‘president for everyone’
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung waves with his his wife, Kim Hye-gyeong, following his inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly in Seoul on Wednesday.
Lee Jae-myung projected to win South Korean presidential election
Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's candidate in South Korea's presidential election, speaks during his final campaign event in Seoul on Monday night ahead of Tuesday's vote.
Japanese baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima dies at 89
Shigeo Nagashima (left), then the manager of the Tokyo Giants, waves to fans with players and coaches during a victory parade in central Tokyo in 2000. Nagashima died at the age of 89 on Tuesday.
‘A garden is a grand teacher’: The Kamakura Gardener nurtures via YouTube
American Robert Jefferson runs a YouTube channel called The Kamakura Gardener that invites viewers to enjoy the pleasures of gardening, cooking and slow living.
Waves of umami: Awaji Island's culinary trove
Silversea Cruises' culinary program takes guests on a rich gourmet experience at wellness retreat Zenbo Seinei, where the local produce is presented in an eight-course meal.
Hegseth to prioritize China and more allied spending in Asia — but questions remain
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrives for a trilateral meeting between Japan, the U.S. and Australia at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday.
'Godzilla The Art Exhibition' reimagines film icon as monstrous muse for modern art
Artists offer their own interpretations of Japan's most famous monster at "Godzilla The Art Exhibition."

Podcast

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

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic
By Alex K.T. Martin

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