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May 19, 2024
 

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Kaz Nagatsuka

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Kaz Nagatsuka
Kaz Nagatsuka is a staff writer covering Japanese sports, including Japanese professional baseball, basketball, American football and individual sports. He has covered big sporting events such as the World Baseball Classic, the NFL Super Bowl and soccer's World Cup.
For Kaz Nagatsuka's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
MORE SPORTS
Dec 17, 2007
Frontiers' Brennan embraces life in Japan
KAWASAKI — Like a ball rolling on the field, a football player's future is never predictable.
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Dec 16, 2007
Confidence helps Yonamine elevate game for HeatDevils
The Japan Times will be featuring periodic interviews with players in the bj-league — Japan's first professional basketball circuit — which has entered its third season. Tsubasa Yonamine of the Oita HeatDevils is the subject of this week's profile.
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Nov 18, 2007
Takushi yearns to make impact
The Japan Times will be featuring periodic interviews with players in the bj-league — Japan's first professional basketball circuit — which has entered its third season. Naoto Takushi of the expansion Ryukyu Golden Kings is the subject of this week's profile.
BASKETBALL
Nov 15, 2007
Hokkaido residents embrace new pro basketball team
SAPPORO — It wasn't until recent years that Hokkaido was believed to be a place that wouldn't come into being, mainly because of the far, isolated location from the mainland of Japan — Tokyo particularly — and its chillier climate.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 8, 2007
Chunichi begins preparations for Konami Cup Asia Series
The Chunichi Dragons, who ended their 53-year NPB title drought by winning the Japan Series last week, went through a casual workout at Tokyo Dome on Wednesday afternoon to prepare for the Konami Cup Asia Series 2007, which begins on Thursday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 1, 2007
Fighters help to put smile on fan's face
SAPPORO — Takako Miura says she beats her two plastic sticks together so hard when rooting for her beloved Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters that she almost breaks them.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / 2007 NPB PLAYOFFS
Oct 30, 2007
Fighters coach Shirai stays focused on next game, not Game 2 loss
SAPPORO — The series is only tied at 1-1. But the Fighters have seriously got to find a way to play their trademark brand of ball.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 29, 2007
Cool customer: Seguignol keeps composed, produces in big games
SAPPORO — Channeling his anger into production, that's what Fernando Seguignol exhibited in his first at-bat of the 2007 Japan Series.
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Oct 28, 2007
Kawachi confident as bj-league begins third year
...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / 2007 NPB PLAYOFFS
Oct 28, 2007
Tanishige's hot bat, steady leadership spark Dragons during postseason
SAPPORO — More than a century of postseason baseball has taught us many things, including this somewhat conspicuous lesson: A guy who struggles in the regular season suddenly can delivered a bigger, better effort during the playoffs.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / 2007 NPB PLAYOFFS
Oct 27, 2007
Inaba embraces playoff pressure
SAPPORO — Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters outfielder Atsunori Inaba wrapped up his workout and came back to the dugout with a crisp smile on his face, just like he's done all year.
BASKETBALL
Oct 12, 2007
Sea Horses beat Sunrockers in JBL opener
In a sense, it was a typical fashion of basketball. One team build a huge lead early, but the other came back with lots of determination.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 6, 2007
Fans fuel Fighters' bid for another Japan Series
SAPPORO — Forty-two thousand, two hundred and twenty two. That's the listed maximum capacity of Sapporo Dome. Apparently somebody forgot to tell the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters fans.
BASKETBALL
Oct 5, 2007
JBL chief declares a new beginning
Although its name has been tweaked just a little bit, the nation's top hoop circuit is hoping to make big changes in a bid to boost the Japanese basketball scene.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 1, 2007
Gay braves rain in convincing 100 win
YOKOAHAMA — Track and field is an all-weather sport. But with Sunday's conditions the competitors could be forgiven for failing to post any convincing outcomes in an event in which nearly all the contests were hit by a steady, chilly rain.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Sep 22, 2007
Takeda brings commanding presence to Hammies' rotation
In a rare show of emotion, with runners on first and third in the first inning, Hokkaido Nippon Ham pitcher Masaru Takeda pumped his left fist after striking out Tohoku Rakuten's Jose Fernandez by throwing a fastball on the inside of the plate.
BASKETBALL
Sep 17, 2007
Kawachi excited to be coaching again
This is the fourth straight year that the legendary streetball AND1 Mix Tape team comes to play in Japan. This year, its opponent is the bj-league All-Star team and the league's commissioner, Toshimitsu Kawachi, will be back on the sideline as head coach of the bj-league team.
BASKETBALL
Aug 2, 2007
Late Japan rally falls short against S. Korea
Although Japan head coach Kimikazu Suzuki tried to rely his veterans' experience and composure, it was his youngsters that took center-stage late in the game.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 2, 2007
Kinoshita frustrated by tough adjustments at training camp
He knew it would be hard. But maybe he didn't imagine that it would be this hard.
MORE SPORTS
Jul 29, 2007
Kinoshita begins bid to be first Japanese to play in NFL
Noriaki Kinoshita firmly took his first step toward becoming the first Japanese player to make it on an NFL roster on Thursday.
Japanese stripper bids to have her porn movies taken off internet
Plaintiff Miyuki Ariga (left) speaks at a news conference along with her lawyer, Yoshitomo Morohashi, after filing a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court on Monday.
America wasn’t made for walking, and it’s killing them
A 2010 study found that U.S. adults averaged 5,117 steps daily and that this was lower than the averages found in similar studies in Switzerland, western Australia and Japan.
U.S. envoy to Japan makes landmark visit to front-line island near Taiwan
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel meets with members of the Self-Defense Forces stationed on Yonaguni, Okinawa Prefecture, on Friday.
Japan passes bill to introduce 'blue ticket' fines for cyclists
A new system under which bicycle riders pay fines for minor traffic violations to escape criminal punishment is expected to be introduced in Japan no later than 2026.
Japan survey finds 30% of student interns experience sexual harassment
The proportion of recent graduates in Japan who have worked as interns have experienced sexual harassment during their internship was 30.1%, according to a labor ministry survey, up 4.6 percentage points from the previous survey in fiscal 2020.
Can AI-generated inventions be patented? A Tokyo court says no.
The Tokyo court's ruling comes amid ongoing debates on how to regulate generative AI and is part of a transnational class action lawsuit.
A new initiative rethinks old Tohoku crafts
The colored patterns of Tsuguru "nuri," made in Aomori Prefecture, are achieved by applying multiple coatings of lacquer, which are later polished down to reveal layers of colors beneath.
Xi and Putin mark ‘new era’ amid efforts to counter U.S. ‘containment’
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend an event in Beijing on Thursday. During Putin's visit, the leaders showed off their growing alignment amid efforts to push back against the U.S.-led world order.
Unraveling the Japanese prose of Yukio Mishima
Author Yukio Mishima accepts the Arts Festival Award in the drama category at the 20th Arts Festival Award Ceremony on Jan. 22, 1966.
New Taiwan president to set tone for ties with China at inauguration
Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te arrives at the CyberSec 2024 Exhibition in Taipei on Wednesday.

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