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November 07, 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 players celebrate winning the Japan Series at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, on Thursday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 31, 2025
Hawks lay demons to rest with Japan Series win
Loss in the series last year has haunted the team and its fans, but the hardship has paid off.
The Hawks players throw manager Hiroki Kokubo into the air as they celebrate after defeating the Tigers in Game 5 of the Japan Series to clinch the title.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 30, 2025
Hawks rally past Tigers in 11th to win Japan Series
The Hawks won the final four games of the series after losing Game 1.
SoftBank pitcher Ryosuke Otsu is greeted by teammates at the bench in the fifth inning of Game 4 of the Japan Series at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, on Wednesday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 30, 2025
SoftBank pitcher's Japan Series hit may be one of the last ever
Next year’s Japan Series will mark the final time a pitcher, at least according to the rules, will have to bat in an NPB game.
Hawks starter Ryosuke Otsu pitches against the Tigers during Game 4 of the Japan Series at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, on Wednesday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 29, 2025
Hiroki Kokubo pushes right buttons as Hawks move to brink of Japan Series title
The Hawks are one win away from clinching the title.
SoftBank shortstop Imamiya (right) celebrates after making a catch off Hanshin's Sakamoto's hit in the sixth inning at Koshien Stadium on Tuesday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 29, 2025
Imamiya's spectacular Game 3 catch may live on in SoftBank lore
​The veteran shortstop said the key to his performance is preparation, especially when it comes to playing on a surface as unfamiliar as Koshien Stadium’s all-dirt infield.
Hotaka Yamakawa celebrates with his teammates after hitting a home run against the Tigers in Game 3 of the Japan Series at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 28, 2025
Hawks edge Tigers on road to grab lead in Japan Series
The Hawks lead the series 2-1.
Hawks players celebrate victory over the Tigers at Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka on Sunday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Oct 27, 2025
Hawks aim to bring energy from Japan Series blowout to Koshien
The Hanshin Tigers' famously fervent supporters will likely kick it up another few levels as the Japan Series shifts to their home park.
SoftBank's Ukyo Shuto rounds first base after hitting a double in the seventh inning at Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka on Sunday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 27, 2025
Ukyo Shuto's run into Japan Series history shows game is about more than speed
Shuto set a Japan Series record in the Hawks’ 10-1 rout of the Hanshin Tigers in Game 2 on Sunday.
Hawks slugger Hotaka Yamakawa (left) celebrates with his teammates after hitting a three-run home run against the Tigers during the second inning in Game 2 of the Japan Series in Fukuoka on Sunday.
BASEBALL
Oct 26, 2025
Hotaka Yamakawa powers Game 2 rout as Hawks get even in Japan Series
Yamakawa drove in five runs to help the Hawks even the series at 1-1.
Tigers starter Shoki Murakami pitches against the Hawks during Game 1 of the Japan Series in Fukuoka on Saturday. Murakami pitched seven innings, allowing just one run and six hits.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 26, 2025
Tigers pitcher Shoki Murakami perseveres in Fukuoka, turning rocky start into ‘amazing’ outing
Murakami did not have his best stuff and found it hard to get into a rhythm early, but he stuck to his guns and bounced back.
The Tigers' Teruaki Sato hits an RBI double against the Hawks during the sixth inning in Game 1 of the Japan Series in Fukuoka on Saturday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 25, 2025
Tigers slip past Hawks in Game 1 of Japan Series
Hanshin won its fourth straight postseason game.
Hikaru Kawase and the Hawks will try to finish the job in this year's Japan Series after falling short in 2025.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 24, 2025
Hawks motivated to take down Tigers after last year's Japan Series collapse
Fukuoka hosts Hanshin Tigers in Game 1 of the Japan Series on Saturday night — and is determined to finish the job this time.
Masanori Murakami became the first MLB player from Japan when he made his debut with the Giants on Sept 1, 1964.
BASEBALL
Oct 16, 2025
New film explores how Japan and the U.S. found common ground through baseball
Baseball has been a shared love between Japan and the United States for over 150 years — a sport that has connected the nations despite disagreements large and small.
The BayStars' Tatsuo Ebina (center) celebrates with his teammates after his walk-off hit against the Giants at Yokohama Stadium on Sunday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 12, 2025
BayStars reach final stage of Climax Series after dramatic sayonara win over Giants
The BayStars are trying to win back-to-back Japan Series titles.
The BayStars' Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, seen during a game on Oct. 1 in Yokohama, opened the Climax Series with a 4-for-4 day that included two home runs.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 12, 2025
Yoshitomo Tsutsugo produces vintage performance in Climax Series opener
BayStars manager Daisuke Miura credited Tsutsugo with giving the team momentum.
BayStars starter Anthony Kay pitches against the Giants in Game 1 of the CL Climax Series in Yokohama on Saturday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 11, 2025
BayStars take down Giants in Game 1 of Central League Climax Series
Yoshitomo Tsutsugo finished with two home runs in the victory.
Hanshin pitcher Hiroto Saiki (left) and infielder Teruaki Sato were among the Central League title winners this season.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Oct 6, 2025
Hanshin star Teruaki Sato leads list of NPB title winners
Sato finishing with 40 homers and over 100 RBIs should make him the Central League MVP frontrunner.
The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks' Ryoya Kurihara hits a two-run double against the Seibu Lions in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, on Saturday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Sep 29, 2025
Hawks take step toward Japan Series redo with Pacific League title
Unlike last year, this team is battle-tested, with injuries being the source of much of the adversity the Hawks have faced.
Yuki Joseph Nakajima after placing sixth in the men's 400-meter final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Thursday
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Sep 22, 2025
World championships bring few medals but win big with the crowds
Japan is now looking ahead to the Asian Games in Nagoya in 2026, the next world championships in Beijing in 2027 and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Noah Lyles celebrates as he crosses the finish line to give the United States the victory in the men's 4x100-meter relay at the world championships at Tokyo's National Stadium on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Sep 21, 2025
U.S. men grab gold in 4x100-meter relay on final day of worlds; Japan sixth
The U.S. beat Canada to the gold medal to win the men's relay.
The Toyota buyout is a major test for Japan’s reforms
Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Motor, speaks during a media preview at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Oct. 29. Minority investors are challenging the carmaker's bid to take affiliate Toyota Industries Corp. private.
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
ChatGPT nickname and Trump tariffs nominated for Japan’s buzzword of 2025
Women hold toys depicting Myaku-Myaku, the official character for the 2025 Osaka Expo, during a media day ahead of the event's public opening day in Osaka in April.
SoftBank is said to have explored potential takeover of Marvell
SoftBank explored a potential takeover of U.S. chipmaker Marvell Technology earlier this year, in what would have been the semiconductor industry's largest-ever deal.
The second life of Japan's net cafes
Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
Across borders and screens, Tokyo film festival finds humanity in migration
“Mother Bhumi” takes place in a multiethnic rice-farming community where Chinese, Thai and Malay lineages intertwine.
Takaichi’s balancing act: Supporting Taiwan and stabilizing China ties
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shakes hands with Lin Hsin-i, Taiwan’s presidential adviser, on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Saturday in this image posted to Takaichi's official X account.
From 1973 to 2025: A Japanese American skater’s long ride to recognition
Judi Oyama at Winchester Skatepark in San Jose, California, in January 1979. The Skateboarding Hall of Fame inductee and Guinness World Record holder still skates and hopes to inspire older women.
More Japanese universities pushing toward teaching in English
Waseda University in Tokyo
Young Indonesians in Japan find their political voice
Indonesian students at Hiroshima University hold posters of the 17+8 Demands, demanding transparency and action from their homeland’s government.

Podcast

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

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes
By Alex K.T. Martin

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