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August 29, 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.
Hawks pitcher Livan Moinelo has a 1.13 ERA in 19 starts this season.
BASEBALL / Sac Bunts
Aug 18, 2025
Candidates preparing to make final pitches for Sawamura Award
The prize’s committee did not deem anyone worthy last year and simply did not name a winner.
Masahiro Tanaka walks off the field after the end of the fifth inning during the Giants' game against the Dragons at Tokyo Dome on Wednesday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 14, 2025
Masahiro Tanaka still two giant steps away from Meikyukai
The Giants pitcher's pursuit of 200 career victories between NPB and MLB remains stuck at 198.
The Tigers' Teruaki Sato connects on his 31st home run of the season during the third inning against the Swallows at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Sunday.
BASEBALL / NPB NOTEBOOK
Aug 11, 2025
Red-hot Tigers slugger Teruaki Sato sets himself apart with home run surge
Reaching 30 home runs this season was just the latest benchmark for the Hanshin Tigers slugger, who has set himself apart from the crowd this season.
The Carp's Sandro Fabian hits an RBI single against the Swallows during the first inning at Jingu Stadium in Tokyo on July 21.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 5, 2025
Central League votes to adopt designated hitter rule from 2027
The change means NPB’s two leagues will operate under the same set of rules for the first time since the Pacific League adopted the designated hitter in 1975.
Swallows slugger Munetaka Murakami celebrates after hitting a home run against the BayStars in Yokohama on July 29.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Aug 4, 2025
Return of Munetaka Murakami could get hearts racing at Jingu Stadium again
The Swallows have not been good this year but have a chance to end the season on a positive note.
The Angels David MacKinnon runs to first after recording an RBI single for his first MLB hit on June 22, 2022.
BASEBALL / Sac Bunts
Jul 31, 2025
Former Seibu player David MacKinnon hopes to connect baseball world with new podcast
MacKinnon decided to retire earlier this year after playing in MLB, NPB and KBO during his career.
Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
BASEBALL / Longform
Jul 26, 2025
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear
Across his 28 seasons of professional baseball, Ichiro grew to become a superstar — first in Japan and then in North America — and then an icon.
Ichiro presents then-Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson with the bat he used to break the single-season hits record in 2004.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 24, 2025
Hall of Fame always held deeper meaning for Ichiro
Ichiro, who will be inducted into the Hall on Sunday, is so familiar with the storied museum that he could probably lead the tour that new inductees receive.
The BayStars' Trevor Bauer pitches during a game at Jingu Stadium in May.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 29, 2025
BayStars' Trevor Bauer dejected and searching for answers as slump continues
Bauer has lost four straight decisions and allowed 19 runs in his last 20⅓ innings. 
The Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani joined Yankees slugger Aaron Judge as being the first two players to earn nods for next month’s All-Star Game in Atlanta.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 27, 2025
Shohei Ohtani selected for All-Star Game after leading fan vote in NL
The Yankees' Aaron Judge led all MLB players in the voting and earned a starting spot in the American League.
Goldin Auctions CEO Ken Goldin speaks to a collector in Ikebukuro on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS
Jun 17, 2025
Ken Goldin brings his sports memorabilia from Netflix to Tokyo
Goldin Auctions CEO Ken Goldin brought some high-end sports memorabilia for the public to see on his first trip to Japan.
The Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani throws against the Padres during the first inning at Dodger Stadium on Monday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 17, 2025
Shohei Ohtani makes Dodgers pitching debut
Ohtani made his long-awaited return to the mound — and his first pitching outing in Dodger Blue — as an opener against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium on Monday.
Junto Nakatani celebrates after defeating Ryosuke Nishida to unify the WBC and IBF bantamweight titles at Ariake Coliseum on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Jun 9, 2025
Junto Nakatani remains on collision course with Naoya Inoue after latest win
Nakatani will have to move to a higher weight class to challenge Inoue.
Junto Nakatani (right) fights Ryosuke Nishida during the fifth round of their bout for the WBC & IBF world bantamweight titles at Ariake Coliseum on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Jun 8, 2025
Junto Nakatani wins slugfest against Ryosuke Nishida to unify WBC and IBF titles
Nakatani improved to 31-0 with his fourth successful title defense.
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.
Toyoko Kids: The lonely street children of Tokyo
Many young people who feel neglected at home flock to the Toyoko area to find a community where they can fit in.
Japan unveils new overtourism countermeasures
The majority of tourists in Japan tend to stay in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto, resulting in overcrowding in popular tourist spots and a strain on transportation systems.
South Korea couple beat same-sex barriers to parenthood
South Korean lesbian couple Kim Kyu-jin (left) and her wife, Kim Sae-yeon, pose with a "pregnant woman" badge during an interview in Seoul last month.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Opportunities await the bold in the Year of the Wood Dragon
2024 marks the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac, with the year predicted to be a good time for fresh starts.
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
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.
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.

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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