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:
One day before the T.League officially kicks off its inaugural season with a men's match between the Kinoshita Meister Tokyo and T.T Saitama, chairman Koji Matsushita, players and coaches showed their excitement and jitters to be a part of Japan's first professional table tennis ...
What a difference a year makes for the SeaHorses Mikawa. Actually, it kind of makes sense because of the departure of some of their core players from last season. Although it must be taken into consideration that the SeaHorses have already faced stronger teams like the ...
Former professional four-organization minimumweight champion Katsunari Takayama will be granted his wish to receive an amateur license from the Japan Amateur Boxing Federation, it was announced at a news conference on Tuesday. The JABF said that Takayama, 35, would officially be registered as an amateur ...
Without hesitation, the Swallows sent their Giants killer to the mound for Saturday's postseason series opener, but it did not work out the way they had hoped. Instead, the Giants who came through, scoring key late runs and relying on solid pitching in their 4-1 ...
The JX-Eneos Sunflowers have completely dominated on the court in Japanese women's basketball for the last decade. But winning never gets old for the ultimate title collectors. In fact, if they capture another trophy in the upcoming Women's Japan Basketball League season, the Sunflowers will ...
Yokohama will host the IAAF World Relays next year, the city and the Japan Association of Athletics Federations announced on Friday. It will be the event's first time away from its traditional home in Nassau, the Bahamas. The competition will be held at International Stadium Yokohama ...
By posting two consecutive first-round knockout victories, boxer Naoya Inoue has begun to make people think that he might actually be better than he had been advertised. In late May, he stunned boxing fans by finishing British champion Jamie McDonnell off a little less than ...
Over the last two decades, the Japanese sports world has taken significant steps forward in aspects of athlete development such as nutrition, sports medicine and improved training methods. Teikyo University is attempting to push the country's sporting culture to an even higher level by providing ...
This time, he needed just a few punches to end the night. WBA bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue landed a picture-perfect one-two blow on Juan Carlos Payano to stunningly — and quickly — finish the match in their World Boxing Super Series quarterfinal bout in Yokohama ...
WBA bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue is fired up as he begins his campaign to prove he is the world's best boxer in the division. Two days before his World Boxing Super Series tournament debut, the 25-year-old expressed his excitement at getting into the ring on ...
