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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.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Dec 24, 2018
Giants experience downside of NPB free agency as Tetsuya Utsumi departs
The images late last week of lefty pitcher Tetsuya Utsumi posing for photos wearing a white Seibu Lions uniform over his dress shirt — he wore a blue tie for effect — might've been a bit jarring for Yomiuri Giants fans.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Dec 20, 2018
2018 was a busy year for gamers in Japan, with established franchises and open world epics reigning supreme
Many gamers began 2018 by teaming up with a garishly outfitted cat and rushing into battle against a big, angry monster. Some of those same people will usher out the year by punching Nintendo icon Mario in his famously mustachioed face.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Dec 20, 2018
Demetrious 'Mighty Mouse' Johnson set to make ONE Championship debut against Yuya Wakamatsu
Mixed martial arts superstar Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson will make his ONE Championship debut in Japan against Yuya Wakamatsu, the organization announced on Thursday.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Dec 19, 2018
One Championship raises U.S. profile
One Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong expects the company's recently-announced deal with U.S. broadcaster Turner Sports will go a long way toward raising the martial arts organization's profile in the U.S.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Dec 10, 2018
Crashed Ice makes Asian debut in Yokohama
Four skaters, all wearing hockey gear, brace themselves in their starting gates on the lip of a 22-meter drop atop a long course covered entirely in a layer of ice about 20 cm thick.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / SPORTS SCOPE
Dec 3, 2018
IOC continues to review esports
Is there a future for esports in the Olympics?
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Dec 1, 2018
IOC leader Thomas Bach speaks out on many issues
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said the organization is still reviewing multiple proposals concerning the possibility of extreme heat during the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Dec 1, 2018
Tomoya Mori, Ko Shimozuru recipients of Sky Perfect Dramatic Sayonara of the Year Award
Tomoya Mori sent the fans at Seibu Dome into hysterics with his sayonara double in April. Ko Shimozuru did the same in July with a home run at Mazda Stadium.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 27, 2018
Carp star Yoshihiro Maru repeats as CL MVP; Seibu's Hotaka Yamakawa receives PL accolade for first time
Yoshihiro Maru and Hotaka Yamakawa spent the year putting up career numbers to help propel their clubs to league championships.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 22, 2018
Shohei Ohtani reflects on successful first year in Major League Baseball
A little over a year ago, Nov. 11, 2017, to be exact, Shohei Ohtani strode into a room full of journalists at the Japan National Press Club and told the world he was ready to head to MLB and hoped to one day become the best baseball player in the world.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Nov 20, 2018
Japan SailGP team joins new global circuit
"This is like Formula One on water."
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 13, 2018
MLB players, San Francisco coach Hensley Meulens reflect on Shohei Ohtani's 2018 campaign
Around this time four years ago, during the last tour of Japan by major league players, the MLB world at large got its first real glimpse of Shohei Ohtani.
BASEBALL
Nov 12, 2018
Yuki Yanagita makes major impression on MLB All-Stars
If there was one standout talent from the first half of the six-game Japan All-Star Series, it was without a doubt Yuki Yanagita.
Japan Times
BASEBALL
Nov 11, 2018
Yadier Molina, J.T. Realmuto go deep as MLB stars dominate Game 3
Ronald Acuna Jr. jumped for joy as the MLB All-Stars celebrated in their dugout. In the stands, fans on the third-base side stood with both arms raised and waving from side to side. Even some of the Samurai Japan fans were cheering.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 11, 2018
Nationals standout rookie Juan Soto relishes All-Star Series atmosphere
There are few experiences in baseball like seeing the fans at a Japanese game. The scene is more soccer than baseball as they cheer, sing songs and play instruments, with the tunes, rhythms and movements changing with each batter and situation.
BASEBALL
Nov 10, 2018
Samurai Japan's Yuki Yanagita wields powerful bat in Game 2 victory over MLB All-Stars
There were stars from both MLB and NPB playing under the bright lights at Tokyo Dome on Saturday night.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 10, 2018
Retiring Twins standout Joe Mauer leaves impressive legacy as iconic catcher
Before J.T. Realmuto became an All-Star catcher for the Miami Marlins, he was playing shortstop for the baseball team at Carl Albert High School in Midwest City, Oklahoma. But one of his favorite big league players at the time wasn't a shortstop. It was Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer.
Japan Times
BASEBALL
Nov 10, 2018
Rangers pitcher Chris Martin happy to return to Japan with MLB All-Stars
For Texas Rangers pitcher Chris Martin, being back in Japan is a homecoming of sorts.
BASEBALL
Nov 10, 2018
Samurai Japan's Yuki Yanagita delivers ninth-inning heroics in Japan All-Star Series opener
Yuki Yanagita barely even watched the flight of the ball.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 8, 2018
MLB All-Stars jump on Giants early en route to exhibition victory
The MLB All-Stars prepared for their series against Samurai Japan by giving former Japan manager Tatsunori Hara a rude welcome in his return to the dugout.

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