Kaz Nagatsuka - The Japan Times

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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:

BASKETBALL

Aug 11, 2006

Japan unveils roster for World Championship

Speed, agility, experience and poise -- versatility, unpredictability and desire, too. These are trademarks of the 12 basketball players named to the Japan National Team on Thursday night.

Japan Times

MORE SPORTS

Aug 2, 2006

Festival raises interest in American football ahead of 2007 World Cup

Baseball, soccer, basketball . . . and next up, football.

BASKETBALL

Jul 25, 2006

Orimo, Setsumasa taking on leadership roles for Team Japan

Five players attended the postgame press conference after Japan's win over Iran on Saturday, and Takehiko Orimo and Takahiro Setsumasa were always the first two to speak.

BASKETBALL

Jul 19, 2006

b-j league releases schedule

The bj-league announced the game schedule for the 2006-07 regular season on Tuesday. The season will tip off Nov. 4 with a Saitama Broncos-Toyama Grouses game at Tokorozawa Municipal Gymnasium, Saitama Prefecture and a Tokyo Apache-Osaka Evessa contest at Ariake Colosseum. The regular season concludes April 1. Preseason games begin in September.

BASKETBALL

Jul 15, 2006

Japan to face Iran at Kirin Cup

announced Thursday that the Japan national team's opponent has fallen changed from Lebanon to Iran in the Kirin Cup Basketball 2006 from July 19-22. Lebanon pulled out of the tournament because its team activities have been behind. Beirut, Lebanon's capital city, has been under attack by Israeli forces recently, although the release did not reference the situation.

BASKETBALL

Jul 4, 2006

Broncos introduce new coach

TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. -- The bj-league's Saitama Broncos announced Kenji Yamane as their new head coach on Monday.

SUMO

Jun 14, 2006

Hakuho ready to climb another level in Nagoya

Despite having sumo's highest rank in sight, ozeki Hakuho is not necessarily getting himself all psyched up.

BASKETBALL

Jun 14, 2006

Kirin Cup ticket giveaway

The Japan men's basketball team will take on Puerto Rico in the Kirin Cup Basketball 2006 July 19-22.

BASKETBALL

May 27, 2006

Igarashi counting on World Championship to show his stuff

The higher the goal you set, the more chances you have to achieve it.

BASKETBALL

May 23, 2006

Goya No. 1 draft pick in bj-league

It was a defining moment for the anxious players -- now happy to be professional hoopsters.

BASKETBALL

May 4, 2006

Tabuse still has eyes on NBA dream

Yuta Tabuse always watches NBA games, even when he's at a dinner table. And the sought-after dream has not changed at all since then.

BASKETBALL

May 1, 2006

Commish Kawachi looks to future of bj-league

The bj-league commissioner Toshimitsu Kawachi has watched game after game in his league all year, and as the inaugural season successfully came to an end at the weekend with the playoffs, he has no regrets and lots of hopes for the future.

BASKETBALL

Apr 29, 2006

Inaugural bj-league playoffs to rock Ariake this weekend

No matter where your team is seeded, if you lose, you go home -- that's how the bj-league playoffs go.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Mar 19, 2006

WBC experience has Tamura thinking big

SAN DIEGO -- Hitoshi Tamura is not only a growing slugger in Japan, but he's also drawing attention on the World (Baseball Classic) stage.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Mar 16, 2006

Ump Davidson works game; fans still unhappy over decision

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The biggest contributor to the United States' win over Japan on Sunday was there again for Japan's 6-1 win over Mexico.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Mar 13, 2006

Japan pitchers must step up

It was such a humiliation for the Japanese pitchers.

BASKETBALL

Mar 8, 2006

Kimura thinks outside the box as chairman of new hoop circuit

As the bj-league representative and president of Invoice inc., Ikuo Kimura draws a clear line from the conventional sports chairpeople and directors.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Mar 3, 2006

Unselfish Matsunaka putting it all on the line for 'Hinomaru' in WBC

Team Japan cleanup hitter Nobuhiko Matsunaka doesn't care how he swings the bat. Numbers are subordinate in the mind of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks star, especially in the World Baseball Classic.

BASKETBALL

Feb 2, 2006

Art of defense key to the bj-league championship

Defense rules in basketball, a stale cliche that rings as true in the bj-league as it does elsewhere in the hoops world.

BASKETBALL

Feb 1, 2006

Johnson changes roles for Saitama

The Saitama Broncos, struggling through the bj-league season, announced on Tuesday that head coach Charles Johnson will become a player/coach beginning in February. The league office said a player/coach is not authorized to coach while playing.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.

The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces

By Stephen Mansfield

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Live like a lord or lady for a night at Ozu Castle

Live like a lord or lady for a night at Ozu Castle

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