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:
Veteran Kazuto Ioka became the first Japanese boxer to capture world titles in four different weight divisions with a dramatic 10th-round technical knockout of top contender Aston Palicte of the Philippines for the vacant WBO super flyweight championship at Makuhari Messe Event Hall on ...
"Yeah!" "Yo!" The exact words coming out of veteran fencer Kenta Tokunan's mouth were unclear. But this much is certain: he was fired up during the saber team competition. As a matter of fact, the 31-year-old shouted every time he scored a point and pumped his fist ...
The next year and a half will arguably be the most important period in the history of Japanese basketball with the 2019 FIBA World Cup and 2020 Tokyo Olympics on the horizon. But this country is also looking beyond that, trying to develop up-and-coming stars ...
Japan's national team fencers are fired up for the upcoming Asian Championships as they seek to earn spots in the team competitions at next year's Tokyo Olympics. "Team competitions are more important at the Olympics," Japan Fencing Federation managing director Nobusuke Miyawaki said on Wednesday ...
Kosei Tanaka was only a fifth-grader when Kiyoshi Hatanaka first saw him throwing punches. It only took an instant for the former world champ to spot the kid's exceptional potential. "I thought he'd be a world champion in 10 years," Hatanaka, who was the WBC super ...
Chiba Jets Funabashi star Yuki Togashi has become a "Million Dollar Man." The diminutive point guard became the first Japanese player to earn an annual salary of over ¥100 million ($923,000), the B. League club announced at a Tokyo news conference on Monday night. Jets president ...
Olympic marathon trials have always generated major interest among the Japanese public. But the attention will be even greater this year, thanks to the first-ever Marathon Grand Championship. Thirty-one 31 male and 12 female runners who qualified for the event will take the start line ...
With a small-ball approach, Japan's women's basketball team will try to achieve big things. The Akatsuki Five wrapped up its first games of the year with a two-game sweep of Belgium in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Sunday, with wins of 91-75 and 84-71. It is certainly ...
Japan's women's basketball team concluded a two-game exhibition series sweep of Belgium with a 84-71 win at Adastria Mito Arena on Sunday. Newcomer Saki Hayashi was the heroine for the second consecutive game as she knocked down five 3-pointers for the Akatsuki Five. "I had a ...
Japan kept hitting shots from beyond the 3-point line and tamed Belgium 91-75 in the first game of their two-game exhibition series at Adastria Mito Arena on Friday night. Newcomer Saki Hayashi knocked down five 3-pointers in a 19-point performance to lead the Akatsuki Five. ...
