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November 10, 2025
 

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Rugby
Sep 5, 2020

Can Japan make the most of its Rugby World Cup legacy?

One year after the global tournament kicked off, the impact of COVID-19 is hampering efforts to build on the hugely successful event.
Rugby
Aug 31, 2019

Home advantage: World Cup puts Japanese rugby back in the spotlight

The date is June 4, 1995, and the Japan national rugby team is facing New Zealand's mighty All Blacks in its final pool game at the Rugby World Cup in South Africa. Japan, which has already been eliminated from the tournament going into the match at Bloemfontein's Free State Stadium, has conceded an...
Japan Times
Rugby
Oct 30, 2020

World Rugby bars transgender women, baffling players

The decision earlier this month came as a shock to transgender players, especially in light of the organization's push for inclusion in the sport.
Rugby / RWC Countdown
Sep 19, 2018

Uehara finds common thread between rugby and business

Akira Uehara, the president of longtime rugby national team sponsor Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., played in the front row for Keio University's B.Y.B Rugby Football Club in the 1960s.
Japan Times
Rugby
Sep 23, 2016

Rugby fever draws Japan youth to New Zealand

The rising popularity of rugby in Japan is having spinoff effects for the nation's relationship with New Zealand as students increasingly choose to study in the rugby stronghold.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Oct 27, 2019

Former All Black Luke McAlister gives Japanese rugby a try

Now decked out in all blue, New Zealand-born rugby player Luke McAlister is giving the Shimizu Blue Sharks a taste of Kiwi sportsmanship — which includes post-game drinks.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Mar 12, 2023

Reina Iizuka: ‘Rugby and football are basically cousins’

She was the first woman to play university-level men's tackle football in Canada and now Reina Iizuka has come to Japan and joined a rugby squad.
Bristol Bears' Ilona Maher takes a selfie with fans after a match against Gloucester-Hartpury on Sunday in Bristol, England.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Jan 7, 2025

Rugby 'superstar' Maher on a mission to promote women's game

The 28-year-old has signed a three-month contract with English women's Premiership side Bristol.
Lock Otoka Yoshimura claims a lineout during Japan's Women's Rugby World Cup match against Spain in York, England, on Sept. 7.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Sep 19, 2025

Rugby chiefs want women's Global Series to build on World Cup 'energy'

The competition builds on the existing WXV tournament, created to bolster international women's rugby union between World Cups.
Former England player Sarah Hunter (right), now a member of the team's coaching staff, says her side will set its sights on winning the 2025 Rugby World Cup.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Dec 12, 2023

Women's Rugby World Cup to start in Sunderland, end at Twickenham

England, runners-up at the last two editions, will kick off the tournament at the 48,707-seater Stadium of Light on Aug. 22.
Bristol Bears and U.S. star Ilona Maher during the warmup before a match against Gloucester-Hartpury in Gloucester, England on March 2
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Aug 22, 2025

England names strong side for Women's Rugby World Cup opener against U.S.

The Red Roses have lost only once in their past 58 matches — a defeat by New Zealand in the COVID-delayed 2022 World Cup final.
Japan's Asaeli Ai Valu (left) and Atsushi Sakate celebrate with a Japanese flag after defeating Chile in their opening game of the Rugby World Cup in Toulouse, France, on Sept. 10.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Sep 16, 2023

Giant-slaying Japan turns attention to England at Rugby World Cup

Japan will have another chance to take down a rugby powerhouse when it meets England at the World Cup.
New Zealand celebrates winning the Women's World Cup in Auckland on Nov. 12, 2022.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 12, 2025

Women's Rugby World Cup players to wear mouthguards that light up on impact

The smart gumshields will send an alert to the match-day doctor warning of possible concussions, while referees will be advised to stop play upon seeing the red flash.
Chilean national rugby team players pose for a photograph with supporters during the team's welcoming ceremony at the convention centre in Perros-Guirec, France, on Sunday, ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Sep 5, 2023

First-timers Chile not at Rugby World Cup 'to take photos'

At number 22, Los Condore are the lowest ranked side in the tournament.
Japan center Ryoto Nakamura (left) breaks through to score the team's fifth try during its 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool D opener against Chile in Toulouse, France, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Sep 10, 2023

Japan opens Rugby World Cup campaign with bonus-point win over Chile

The South American debutant put on a strong showing, but was undone by errors and eventually overwhelmed by the 2019 quarterfinalist.
Uruguay's Felipe Arcos Perez is tackled during his team's Pool A match against Namibia at the Rugby World Cup in Lyon, France, on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Sep 28, 2023

Uruguay accomplishes mission with win over Namibia at Rugby World Cup

The South Americans made the most of Namibia's poor discipline to stage a second-half comeback and prevail 36-26 to avoid finishing last in Pool A.
Japan captain Michael Leitch
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
May 13, 2025

Japan rugby tightens eligibility rules on foreign-born players

More than half of the players who started last season's final of the Japan Rugby League One championship were born overseas.
Japan's Misaki Matsumura attempts to avoid a tackle by Ireland's Sam Monaghan during their match at the Women's Rugby World Cup in Northampton, England, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Aug 25, 2025

Ireland tops spirited Japan to open Women's Rugby World Cup campaign

Japan coach Lesley McKenzie was proud of the way her side stuck to its attacking game.
New Zealand's No. 8 Layla Sae (top) and Japan's lock Yuna Sato reach for the ball from a line out during their Women's Rugby World Cup match at Sandy Park in Exeter, England, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 1, 2025

New Zealand sees off Japan to reach Women's Rugby World Cup quarterfinal

Japan produced one of the shocks of the tournament by opening the scoring against the six-time world champions in just the fourth minute.
The All Blacks perform the haka in front of Scotland before their match in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Nov. 13, 2022.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Sep 7, 2023

All Blacks prepared to unleash haka at Rugby World Cup

The haka is a fierce war dance that was originally used to prepare Maori warriors for battle and has since been adopted by the All Blacks.
Namibia's players acknowledge the crowd after their 96-0 defeat to France at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in Marseille, France, on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Sep 26, 2023

Uruguay and Namibia braced for their Rugby World Cup 'final'

The two sides have met five times before with Uruguay winning four of those, including a World Cup warmup in August.
Ireland hooker Ronan Kelleher celebrates his team's win over Scotland in their 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool B finale at the State de France in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Oct 8, 2023

Ireland thrashes Scotland as England avoids Rugby World Cup stumble

England survived a Samoan scare by a point, while Wales beat Georgia to top Pool C.
South African rugby supporters celebrate the team's World Cup triumph, in Johannesburg on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Oct 29, 2023

Ecstatic South Africans celebrate Rugby World Cup glory

Supporters of the national rugby team drank beers, waved flags and partied until the early hours in a wave of jubilation that swept the country.
Hong Kong Stadium during the first day of the 2022 Hong Kong Sevens tournament in November 2022
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Apr 5, 2024

Hong Kong holds Rugby Sevens as international visitors return

The three-day competition will be the tournament's first sell-out since the pandemic, organizers said.
New South Wales Waratahs' Jake Gordon runs with the ball during his club's Super Rugby match against the Melbourne Rebels in Sydney on March 29.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Apr 10, 2024

Rugby's Club World Cup set to start in 2028

The top eight teams from Europe's Champions Cup would qualify along with the best six Super Rugby Pacific outfits and two other clubs, probably from Japan.
Wales' Louis Rees-Zammit competes during the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 11, 2024

Rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit knows NFL dream with Chiefs can end at any point

Rees-Zammit said in January he was leaving rugby union to explore an NFL career and became part of the NFL International Player Pathway Program.
South Africa loose forward Kwagga Smith scores a try during the Rugby Championship Test match between South Africa and New Zealand in Johannesburg on Aug. 31.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Sep 17, 2024

Springboks wary of Argentina menace in Rugby Championship showdown

Victory in Santiago del Estero will ensure a fifth title for South Africa and a first since 2019.
England's Sarah Bern holds the Women's World Cup trophy as she celebrates with teammates after winning the final in London on Saturday. England's women's rugby team extended its unbeaten run to 33 matches with the win.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Sep 30, 2025

World Rugby unfazed over England's dominance of women's game

England has not lost since a 34-31 defeat by New Zealand in the COVID-delayed 2022 World Cup final in Auckland.
Siya Kolisi holds the Rugby Championship trophy after South Africa's victory over Argentina in London on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Oct 5, 2025

Springboks captain Siya Kolisi hopes Rugby Championship title can inspire nation

One of the closest-fought editions of the tournament ended in dramatic style with the Springboks winning successive Rugby Championship titles for the first time.
Tsunami threat passes following magnitude 6.9 quake off Iwate
A tsunami advisory was issued for Iwate Prefecture on Sunday evening following a strong earthquake. The advisory was later called off, after waves measuring 20 centimeters were recorded in some areas.
The Toyota buyout is a major test for Japan’s reforms
Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Motor, speaks during a media preview at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Oct. 29. Minority investors are challenging the carmaker's bid to take affiliate Toyota Industries Corp. private.
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
Takaichi plans pay cuts for herself and her ministers
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi chats with her Cabinet members in parliament in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Mother of Thai girl forced into sex work in Tokyo detained in Taiwan
The Metropolitan Police Department headquarters in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
Cleanliness gets competitive at Tokyo’s Spogomi world cup
On Oct. 29, teams from 33 qualifying countries scoured the streets of Shibuya for all manners of trash as part of the Spogomi litter-picking competition.
Jon Homewood: ‘There’s beauty in what we throw away’
After a peripatetic childhood around the world, teacher and artist Jon Homewood ended up coming to Japan in 2012 for a professional opportunity.
Yokozuna duo Onosato and Hoshoryu poised for another clash of titans
Yokozuna duo Onosato (right) and Hoshoryu clash for the title on the final day of the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Sept. 28 at Ryogoku Kokugikan.
High-speed rail is expensive and difficult, but seen as a key to growth
Achal Khare, former managing director at India’s National High Speed Rail Corporation, gives a presentation during the IHRA Forum 2025 in Tokyo on Oct. 23.
A 40-year wait for ‘Mishima’ ends at TIFF
Made at a time when Japan was still grappling with Yukio Mishima’s legacy, Paul Schrader’s biopic “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters” was blocked from screening in the country for decades.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

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