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July 19, 2025
 

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Wayne Graczyk
Wayne Graczyk has written the "Baseball Bullet-In" column in The Japan Times since 1976. A native of New Jersey, he came to Japan in 1969 with the U.S. Air Force and is a 1977 graduate of Tokyo's Sophia University. Wayne was the long-time (1977-2004) sports editor of the Tokyo Weekender newspaper, he covers Yomiuri Giants baseball games for Nippon TV and, since 1976, he has compiled the Japan Pro Baseball Fan Handbook & Media Guide. He is a member of the Tokyo Sportswriters Club and the Foreign Sportswriters Association of Japan. Notice Wayne Graczyk, the baseball columnist for The Japan Times for the past 40 years, passed away at the age of 68 on April 19. His final column was posted on April 8. Readers can continue to access his coverage of Japanese baseball through the online archives.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 8, 2017
Future high-rise building could provide free views of Jingu Stadium games
It appears some apartment dwellers in Tokyo will soon have a great view of Yakult Swallows games at Meiji Jingu Stadium. A high-rise building is under construction right across the street from the ballpark. It's on the road that runs from the future site of the new National Stadium to the T intersection...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 25, 2017
MLB Network’s Martinez, Waltz inform and entertain during WBC telecasts
Good show put on by Major League Baseball and the organizers of the 2017 World Baseball Classic Asia rounds held in Seoul and Tokyo earlier this month.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 11, 2017
BayStars look to replicate Carp's 2016 success
Can the Yokohama BayStars become this year's Hiroshima Carp?
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 25, 2017
Legend Nagashima rekindles memories of an unforgettable life in baseball
It was good seeing former Yomiuri Giants third baseman and manager Shigeo Nagashima visiting the team's spring training camp in Miyazaki earlier this month. He just turned 81 this past week and is visibly handicapped by a stroke suffered in 2004 that limits movement on the right side of his body and...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 11, 2017
Flurry of stadium naming rights continues in NPB
Are you going to any games this coming season at ZOZO?
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 21, 2017
Late slugger Daryl Spencer brought passion, pride, power to Hankyu Braves
The Baseball Bullet-In this week remembers Daryl Spencer, the former Hankyu Braves slugger who died Jan. 2 in Wichita, Kansas, at the age of 88.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 7, 2017
Can Naoki 'The Flea' Nakahigashi extend his career?
Happy New Year to all Baseball Bullet-In readers, and let the countdown begin. Just 24 days until the Japanese pro ball clubs begin spring training camps on the way to opening day of the regular season on March 31.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 24, 2016
Ex-Dragons star Powell reminisces about playing days in Japan
One of the most prolific hitters among foreign players in Japan, and a most fan- and media-friendly personality, returned to the country earlier this month to say "konnichi wa" and offer batting instruction to Japanese youngsters.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 10, 2016
A plethora of familiar foreign players now on free-agent market
The NPB last week posted the rosters for each of the 12 Central and Pacific League teams, indicating which players remain on the register for 2017 and those who have been released and are under jiyu keiyaku, or free contract status.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 26, 2016
Pondering Trump's future prospects of throwing out first pitches in MLB, NPB
What kind of president will Donald Trump be regarding sports?
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 12, 2016
Sentimental reflections on late Cubs supporters after team's epic wait for World Series title
During the 11 days since the Chicago Cubs won their first World Series in 108 years, much has been written and circulated about the dedicated fans, supporters and players who lived their lives and died before they could experience the exhilaration enjoyed earlier this month by the living Cubs faithful....
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 22, 2016
Veteran pitcher Standridge's life, family enriched by adopted Japanese daughter
Joy Standridge posted on social media Oct. 6 that her husband, Jason Standridge, "pitched his last game last night — maybe forever." The Chiba Lotte right-hander started the Marines' final game of the 2016 season at home, and he won, beating the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, 7-1.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 8, 2016
Out-of-town scoreboards would enrich experience at all ballparks
Why don't the Japanese pro baseball stadiums have out-of-town scoreboards, and why do many of the main ballparks not display the home-run distances on the fences?
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 24, 2016
Making a toast to retiring beer girl Misato
The intai jiai (retirement game) is a significant event in Japanese pro baseball for long-time star players about to hang up their spikes and call it a career. It usually occurs at the end of a season after it has been announced the player is leaving the game and after league standings have been decided....
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 10, 2016
Countryside games add challenges, concerns for NPB teams
Japan's schedule of countryside games (those played away from the home franchise stadiums of the 12 Central and Pacific League teams) has concluded for the season. The last scheduled game, where the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters were to have played the Chiba Lotte Marines on Tuesday at Asahikawa was rained...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 30, 2016
Former BayStars infielder Gurriel gets opportunity to pursue dream with Astros
Good luck to the Houston Astros on acquiring Cuban star player Yulieski Gurriel. The American League club signed the 32-year-old infielder earlier this month and, after obtaining a U.S. work visa and playing some tune-up games for a team in the Astros' minor league system, he was expected to suit up...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 23, 2016
Long-lost basketball card sparks memories of Ichiro's early fame
Miami Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki is about to reach the 3,000-hit mark in Major League Baseball. The 42-year-old Japanese icon is expected to conquer the milestone this week during Miami's 10-game homestand.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 9, 2016
A primer on evolution of pro sports' All-Star events
Next week, Japan professional baseball will play its annual two-game All-Star series with contests scheduled at Fukuoka Yafuoku Dome on July 15, and Yokohama Stadium on July 16. The All-Star games are like a festival in Japan, and the series will most likely draw capacity crowds, but has the idea of...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 25, 2016
Okinawa base trouble puts dark cloud over upcoming Buffaloes-Eagles series
This week, the annual two-game series where a couple of Japanese pro ballclubs travel to play at Naha's Okinawa Cellular Stadium will take place. The Pacific League's Orix Buffaloes and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles are scheduled to play there Tuesday and Wednesday. Normally, U.S. military personnel stationed...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 11, 2016
Fighters could start trend with building of own stadium
The recent story about the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters considering the building of their own stadium on Japan's northernmost main island and move out of Sapporo Dome got me to thinking about the status of the other currently used ballparks in Japan.
Living conditions index hits lowest level in 15 years in Japan
The share of respondents to a Bank of Japan quarterly survey in June who said they have become worse off came to 61.0%, up 5.1 percentage points from the previous survey.
Tokyo emerges as a top market for global tech talent
Tokyo ranks among the world's top tech talent hubs alongside Beijing, the San Francisco Bay Area, Bengaluru, Paris, New York and Dublin, according to Colliers' newly released global tech markets report.
From stalking to death threats, female candidates still face harassment
Mayu Ushida, a former NHK newscaster running for election in the Tokyo electoral district on the Democratic Party for the People ticket, signs an autograph for a voter after a public rally at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on Tuesday.
CDP leader criticizes ‘Japanese First’ policy and calls for inclusive society
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda said it is obvious that Japanese society could not function without the help of foreign workers in manufacturing, health care, construction and public transportation.
JSA’s 100th anniversary event is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for sumo fans
Egyptian wrestler Osunaarashi has some fun with children during a special Japan Sumo Association event in 2017.
Japan's rice farmers are confounded by Shinjiro Koizumi’s policies
Kiyoshi Shibata stands in front of one of the rice paddies in Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture, where he produces the prefecture's signature rice brand Tsuyahime.
From stalking to death threats, female candidates still face harassment
Mayu Ushida, a former NHK newscaster running for election in the Tokyo electoral district on the Democratic Party for the People ticket, signs an autograph for a voter after a public rally at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Kawaii Lab redefines idol pop for the TikTok generation
Misa Kimura is the main producer for Kawaii Lab, a project by entertainment agency Asobisystem whose groups have found success by pairing a social media-first strategy with a fresh perspective on traditional idol-pop tropes.
Craig Mod's life in motion in a disappearing Japan
Mod's memoir “Things Become Other Things” chronicles his walking trips across the Kii Peninsula, surveying “a graceful end to a certain life cycle.”
With China and Trump, Japan defense report says world entering ‘new era of crisis’
A senior member of a Self-Defense Forces honor guard inspects a formation before the arrival of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba for a visit to the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on June 30.

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