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April 26, 2024
 

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David Picker
For David Picker's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
BASEBALL / MLB
May 9, 2002
Half-Japanese Dodger making name in L.A.
CHICAGO -- Want to stump your know-it-all boss or neighbor with a good baseball question?
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 28, 2002
Shinjo-mania begins to wear thin with Giants teammates
CHICAGO -- When the San Francisco Giants arrived at Wrigley Field on Tuesday for a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs, Tsuyoshi Shinjo was batting a depressing .168. Considering how much attention he was receiving from the Japanese media, you'd think he was batting 1.000.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jan 17, 2002
Go west AND east, young men
In the good old days, Japanese baseball players used to dream about going to the major leagues. Now they just dream about playing on the West Coast.
SUMO
Jan 11, 2002
Konishiki making impact after sumo
Hollywood, home to some of the biggest stars on earth, soon may have to make room for the biggest star of all. Former sumo wrestler Konishiki on Thursday revealed his plans to make it big in Tinseltown.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Nov 29, 2001
Japanese fans headed for a World Cup headache
The crosstown trip from my office in central Tokyo to National Stadium is a breeze. On Tuesday night it took 35 minutes, and I arrived in time to see the Toyota Cup kick off.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 26, 2001
Swallows claim fifth Japan Series
The Yakult Swallows flew off with their fifth championship on Thursday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 25, 2001
Swallows a win away from fifth Series title
The big guns drew blanks for the Yakult Swallows on Wednesday, but a role player picked up the slack.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Oct 25, 2001
And the AL MVP winner is . . .
Forget about the American League Rookie of the Year Award. Ichiro Suzuki bagged that puppy back in May with a 23-game hitting streak. The million-dollar question is: Who will win the AL MVP Award? Ichiro has a shot at becoming the first rookie since Fred Lynn in 1975 to garner the honor.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 21, 2001
Swallowed up by a passion for baseball
"Spurred on by energetic cheerleaders and the pounding rhythm of taiko drums, horns, whistles and other noisemakers, (the typical Japanese fan) becomes a veritable wildman, yelling and screaming nonstop for nine solid innings." -- Robert Whiting, "You Gotta Have Wa"
MORE SPORTS
Oct 8, 2001
Hewitt takes AIG Japan Open
Another tournament, another title for Lleyton Hewitt. The top-seeded Australian beat Michel Kratochvil of Switzerland 6-4, 6-2 to win the AIG Japan Open at Tokyo's Ariake Colosseum on Sunday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 27, 2001
Buffaloes clinch pennant in grand style
Pinch-hitter Hirotoshi Kitagawa crushed a "sayonara" grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday, giving the Kintetsu Buffaloes their first Pacific League crown in 12 years.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 17, 2001
Fans seek distraction at Fighters-M's game
Sunday was supposed to be Yankees Day at the Tokyo Dome. The American national anthem was supposed to be played by a U.S. military band. Public address announcements were supposed to be made in English. One fan was even supposed to win a round-trip airline ticket to New York. Out of respect to those who lost their lives in last Tuesday's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., the Nippon Ham Fighters canceled the festivities on Thursday. But the game against the Chiba Lotte Marines was held as scheduled.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Sep 13, 2001
How many Rhodes must a man walk down before he gets some attention in the dailies?
I had the pleasure last week of meeting Tokyo's most talkative taxi driver. He picked me up in Shibuya and dropped me off in Roppongi some 15 minutes later. In that time we talked baseball nonstop with the Giants-Carp game humming in the background.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 23, 2001
Petagine ignites 23-hit attack as CL All-Stars square series
YOKOHAMA -- Pitching a professional baseball game in Yokohama Stadium has always been Daisuke Matsuzaka's dream. It came true on Sunday night during Game 2 of the 2001 Sanyo All-Star Series. By the third inning, however, it turned into a nightmare.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jul 5, 2001
A vote of confidence for MLB balloting
Kudos to Ichiro Suzuki. The Seattle Mariners right fielder was recently selected by fans to start the 50th All-Star Game in the Emerald City next week. Not only did he lead the majors with 3,373,035 votes, he becomes only the 13th position player in league history to start the mid-season classic as a rookie.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
May 24, 2001
Perez is talking the talk in Japan
All it took for Eduardo Perez to learn the names of his Hanshin Tigers teammates was one embarrassing moment.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Apr 19, 2001
Here's why MJ will stay away
Michael Jordan is "99.9 percent sure" he won't return to the NBA. I can do one-tenth better: I'm 100 percent.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 23, 2001
Giants' Maru-chan talks softly and carries a big stick
No one would've blamed Domingo Martinez if he never returned to Japan after the 1998 baseball season. After hitting .283 and smacking 30 home runs for the Pacific League champion Seibu Lions that year, the designated hitter wasn't given a gold watch or even a thank-you note for his efforts. Instead he was cut loose faster than you can say "Sayonara, big guy."
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 22, 2001
What's in store for the third Musketeer?
By now Ichiro Suzuki is making a name for himself in America. The only question is what that name is. When The Associated Press and some other news organizations report on the former Orix BlueWave star, they refer to a player named "Suzuki." But back here in Japan he's always been known as "Ichiro." So, what does the right fielder want to be called? A recent commercial for the Seattle Mariners holds the answer.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Feb 8, 2001
Ichiro deserves a break today
Ichiro Suzuki is a beef tongue enthusiast. He likes it so much that the owner of a Japanese grocery store in Seattle is stocking up on the tasty treat. In fact, Ichiro recently gave the proprietor a list of his favorite Japanese delicacies. Soon the major leaguer will be drinking Pocari Sweat, chewing BlackBlack gum and dunking Men's Pocky into his Boss coffee right there in Seattle.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Over 40% of Japan's municipalities at risk of vanishing, study finds
Of 1,729 local municipalities nationwide, 744 have been identified as being at risk of disappearing.
Princess Aiko makes debut at imperial garden party
Princess Aiko attends an imperial garden party in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Yen inches closer to intervention point as BOJ meeting starts
The rate of the yen against the U.S. dollar is displayed in the trading room at foreign exchange brokerage Gaitame.com in Tokyo on Thursday.
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.
Tokyo's Koto Ward by-election a race unlike any other
Natsumi Sakai, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s candidate and one of four female candidates running in the by-election, touts her experience as a cancer survivor and midwife as having prepared her to tackle issues that women currently face.
Kyotographie's strong 12th edition shines light into the margins
Yassine Alaoui Ismaili, who goes by Yoriyas, turned to photography, shooting motion while in motion himself, after an injury forced him to give up his career as a professional breakdancer.
For amateur sumo, a fresh start offers hope against time-wasting and gamesmanship
Wrestlers prepare for the start of a bout at the 2023 Sumo World Championships in Tokyo. Starting this month, placing one hand on the clay first is no longer allowed.
LDP veteran Nikai's youngest son expected to succeed him in Wakayama
Toshihiro Nikai, former secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, announced in March that he would not run in the next Lower House election to take responsibility for the political funds scandal that rocked his party and his own faction.
New workers name Shohei Ohtani as 'dream boss' for two years running
Shohei Ohtani has been overwhelmingly voted as the “dream boss” for people who started working in April, according to a survey.

Podcast

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

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass
Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

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