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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
BASKETBALL / B. League
Sep 19, 2016

B. League chairman heralds new era

This last decade has marked the darkest period in Japan basketball history, with the sport divided between two rival men's leagues.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Oct 27, 2015

Kakuryu needs titles to elevate place in sumo's pecking order

If for nothing else, the upcoming Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament in Fukuoka's Kokusai Center may well be remembered as the tourney in which Mongolian yokozuna Kakuryu was finally able to call himself the "best of the best" — at least for one basho.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jul 30, 2015

Time for Hakuho to bring down curtain on legendary career?

In 1971, when the great Taiho retired from the sport of sumo with 32 Emperor's Cups to his name, Hakuho was not yet born.
Japan Times
BASEBALL
Mar 12, 2015

Baseball may slowly be on rise among Czechs

Among the over 100 or so media credentials issued for the two-game Global Baseball Match 2015 between Samurai Japan and Team Europe on Tuesday and Wednesday were two for Jakub Starik and David Agner, a pair of journalists from the Czech Republic. Baseball is pretty far down the pecking order in the Central...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 12, 2014

New academy targets future sports leaders, offering unique touch of Japan

With six years to go before Tokyo hosts the 2020 Olympics, the government has fired the starting pistol on efforts to boost global cooperation in sports.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Feb 28, 2014

Another nail in the coffin of amateur sumo

Sumo currently exists in two forms around the world. Most famous, of course, is the Tokyo-based professional sport led by yokozuna Hakuho, et al. However, the amateur version, often termed “amasumo” in abbreviated form, is of interest to many in nations that lack direct access to Japanese broadcasts....
Japan Times
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Sep 14, 2013

As Baruto heads out and Kisenosato aims upward, Hiroshima is one to watch

In the runup to the Sept. 15u201329 Aki Basho sumo headlines have been dominated by the decision of former ozeki Baruto of Onoe Beya to call time on a nine year career peppered by injuries, and containing brief but highly memorable flashes of brilliance.
Japan Times
BASEBALL
Apr 15, 2013

Baseball, softball join forces in hopes of returning to Olympics

The international federations that govern baseball and softball stood united Sunday afternoon with one goal in mind: getting their sports back on the Olympic program.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Nov 18, 2012

Roller derby dames get rough and tough on the rink

The whistle blows and Kristina "Ragin' Redhead" Owens Hawkins, a jammer for the Yokosuka Sushi Rollers roller derby team, darts quickly as she approaches an aggressive pack of blockers. She scans for a weak spot between two ladies in the back. She spots a gap. It's not too big, but it's large enough...
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Aug 9, 2012

Time to expand hoop tourney to 24 nations

Yao Ming's success in the NBA, short-lived but significant, sparked widespread interest in basketball in China. Furthermore, India has placed a growing emphasis on growing the sport at all levels.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 15, 2012

Better late than never for Japan's first, "slowest" Olympian

Have you heard the one about the Japanese runner who took 54 years to finish the Olympic marathon?
Japan Times
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Apr 8, 2011

The U.S. role in advancing amateur sumo

In the second of two interviews with globally respected officials involved in the international sumo game, Sumo Scribblings recently threw a few questions over the Pacific to Andrew Freund, the face of the United States Sumo Federation. In many ways far bigger in the sport than his slim physique would...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 3, 2010

Media racism: How unsportsmanlike

Local favoritism is built into organized sports. At the macro level you have whole countries rooting for national teams at the Olympics or the World Cup. At the micro level you have fans cheering a hometown boy who plays for a team far away. By the same token, nationalistic fans denigrate opposing countries'...
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Feb 20, 2010

Proposed new league will have major obstacles to overcome

To accurately describe what's been going on for several years now in this nation's pro hoop scene, I submit the following analogy:
SUMO
Jun 4, 2009

Ozeki Kaio says harsh treatment is integral

Sumo veteran Kaio said Tuesday that harsh treatment of wrestlers in training is an integral part of Japan's ancient sport and is partially responsible for his own success.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2009

Nation grapples with pot-smoking sumo wrestlers

Sumo wrestlers with pot bellies, yes. Sumo wrestlers with pot? Now that's harder to grapple with.
OLYMPICS
Aug 22, 2008

Team USA hoping for golden birthday treat

BEIJING — Kobe Bryant turns 30 on Saturday. U.S. basketball teammate Michael Redd celebrates his 29th birthday on Sunday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Feb 10, 2008

BMW's elegant hooligan

Renowned for its high- performance cars, BMW has long had trouble shaking the image that it's a builder of slightly quirky but sensible motorcycles for wealthy, bearded men.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 25, 2007

NFL Japan raising level of play

A quarterback throws the ball, but it doesn't necessarily have a beautiful spiral and barely reaches a wide receiver who is 25 yards away.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 17, 2006

World Cup spirit runneth over

Zzzzzzzzzz. Eh? Oh, it's Saturday morning? Time for Japan Lite? Sorry for the drowsiness, but if you've been watching the World Cup soccer on TV, you'll understand. All the games are on at night here. I usually go to sleep after the 10 p.m. game and wake up for the 4 a.m. game.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jul 22, 2005

Baseball had no chance in IOC vote with Rogge at helm

Mission accomplished.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 14, 2004

Optimists head out to sea, next Olympics in view

You must forgive the fact I am not straying far from the ocean side this summer, but interesting people just keeping falling into my lap within kilometers of my home. Take this week, for example. . . .
COMMUNITY
Sep 21, 2003

Build a wicket and they will come

In 1996, a young bowler playing against the Bangladesh national cricket side dismissed two batsmen with consecutive balls -- the first delivered with his right arm, the second with his left.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 24, 2003

Samurais are in a league of their own

With the launch of the Top League (the new professional league for rugby union in Japan) just three weeks away and the World Cup due to start on Oct. 10, it is easy to forget that there are in fact two codes of rugby.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Feb 21, 2002

'Rainbow Warrior' talks rugby, politics, life

Francois Pienaar is best known as the man who unified a nation.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 21, 2001

K-1 hits the spot

Blood spurts from his nose. Another crunching blow to the head. His lights go out as he drops to the floor unconscious. Thousands of dollars go down with him.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2000

Drag racing finds new meaning with plow horses

ASAHIKAWA, Hokkaido — Skirting a fresh pile of manure, I settle in behind the well-muscled, veiny flanks of a Banei racehorse.
COMMENTARY / World
May 7, 2000

European sports play by their own rules

It is said that the military is always prepared to fight the last war and never the next. In the economic domain the same is true of politicians, who are generally at least a generation or two out of date. In Britain in 1913, there were 1.3 million miners, meaning that almost one in 10 men were working...
MORE SPORTS
Feb 12, 2000

The life and times of a sumo giant

Continuing The Japan Times' exclusive interview with yokozuna Akebono, 30, in which he talks about his life and relationships in sumo.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight