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BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 3, 2002

Kobayashi matches Sasaki's record

Kosuke Kato combined with two pitchers on a three-hitter and Masahide Kobayashi matched a Japanese record of 22 consecutive "save points" in the Lotte Marines' 3-2 victory over the Kintetsu Buffaloes on Monday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 29, 2002

Red hot Swallows close gap on Giants

The Yakult Swallows are starting to look like birds of prey.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 25, 2002

When dinosaurs ruled Chiba

At Summer Sonic last weekend, you could be excused for thinking that you'd mistakenly wandered into the dinosaur exhibition taking place nearby rather than a music festival. The Jurassic Park of musical talent on display included Guns 'N Roses, Hanoi Rocks, Siouxsie & the Banshees and Morrissey, and...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 24, 2002

Mystery ailment fells Bunch

The Chunichi Dragons American pitcher Melvin Bunch left his team and returned to the United States on Sunday, Aug. 11, for examination and treatment for what has been described as a series of anxiety attacks. So said the 30-year-old right-hander earlier this week by telephone from his home in Texarkana,...
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 24, 2002

Kawanaka leads the way as Giants triumph

Hanshin Tigers' manager Senichi Hoshino ignored the "Never, Never, Never Surrender" theme he's been preaching to his team all year. What's worse, the slogan of the year transpired onto only one guy.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL
Aug 22, 2002

Blooms to brighten summer's days -- and nights

Japan's floral symbol of summer, the asagao (morning glory; Ipomoea purpurea) is an interesting climber with beautiful blooms that has been cultivated on these islands for more than 1,000 years since being brought from China during the Nara Period (710-784). Before that, its origins are a matter of some...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 16, 2002

Japanese rugby gears up for professionalism

Summer used to be a time for rugby players to either relax or pursue other sporting interests. Between the end of season tour (which generally involved a lot of drinking with a little rugby thrown in) and the start of preseason training in late August there was plenty of opportunity to pursue other interests....
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 14, 2002

Will 'Cro' fly to Sapporo with Fighters?

In response to my July 31 column regarding the speculation the Nippon Ham Fighters may be thinking about hiring an American manager, I received the following comment from Warren Cromarite, one of five potential candidates I listed as excellent choices to manage the Fighters or any Japanese team.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 8, 2002

Cabrera nails Nos. 31, 32 as Lions whip Buffaloes

Alex Cabrera nailed his 31st and 32nd homers of the year and Kazuhiro Wada also cracked two dingers as the Seibu Lions downed defending Pacific League champions the Kintetsu Buffaloes 12-4 at the Osaka Dome on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 3, 2002

Theismann: 49ers one of top 3 teams in NFL

OSAKA -- "I think the 49ers are one of the top three teams in the National Football League," former Redskins quarterback and ESPN commentator Joe Theismann -- who has visited both team training camps this summer -- said Friday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 1, 2002

'Rami' has Swallows fans squealing with delight

Call him the Shigeki Maruyama of Japanese baseball, with a little Tony Robbins thrown in for good measure.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 31, 2002

Will Ham hire foreign skipper in Sapporo?

Nikkan Sports newspaper, in its July 24 edition, ran a story speculating who would be the manager of the Nippon Ham Fighters when the team moves to Sapporo in 2004. The headline read, "Oya ka? Gaikokujin ka?" meaning it could be former Yokohama BayStars manager and Yakult Swallows catcher Akihiko Oya...
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 27, 2002

Switch-hitting Segiugnol sets record in Orix victory

Fernando Seguignol became the first player in Japanese baseball to homer from both sides of the plate three times in a season, leading the Orix BlueWave to a 7-2 victory over the Kintetsu Buffaloes on Friday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 26, 2002

Okihara 's 'sayonara' single cools off Giants

Yoshinori Okihara singled home the winning run to give the Hanshin Tigers their second straight "sayonara" win over the Central League-leading Yomiuri Giants with a 5-4 victory on Thursday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 25, 2002

'Other Saito' starting to make a name for himself with Giants

Players with the same name on the same team are no rarity in Japanese baseball. When one of these duplicates is an exceptionally good player, he is likely to be remembered as "THE" as opposed to "THE OTHER."
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 24, 2002

Linares gets it done in Dragons debut

Cuban slugger Omar Linares ripped a two-run go-ahead single in his debut game in Japan's top league Tuesday as the Chunichi Dragons beat the Hiroshima Carp 5-1 at the Nagoya Dome to halt their losing streak at three games.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 21, 2002

A rollicking romp through ancient Edo

THE PILLOW BOOK OF LADY WISTERIA, by Laura Joh Rowland. St. Martin's Minotaur: New York, 2002,292 pp., $24.95 (cloth) While sports fans' attention is focused on Ichiro Suzuki of Seattle Mariners baseball fame, the exploits of Ichiro Sano, the Tokugawa shogunate's "Most Honorable Investigator of Events,...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 20, 2002

Comparing how American and Asian kids sponge

Americans are known for being "kechi" or frugal. We don't like to spend money and often fuss over small change. We seek out the cheapest product before buying it and then return it if we are not completely satisfied.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 17, 2002

It takes a village . . .

The feat of building a community takes vision, commitment and lots of time. But once every year, a massive village materializes on a mountainside in Niigata Prefecture in late July, only to vanish into thin air less than a week later.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 17, 2002

Holt shuts out powerful Giants

Midseason acquisition Chris Holt scattered three hits over the distance and lifted the lowly Yokohama BayStars over the Central League-leading Yomiuri Giants 3-0 at the Tokyo Dome on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2002

Isle faces other uses after '08 Olympics rejection

OSAKA -- A report issued Friday by the city of Osaka advocates turning Maishima, a man-made island off Osaka that was the centerpiece of the city's failed bid for the 2008 Olympic Games, into a business, academic and recreation center.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 12, 2002

Carp owner dies

The owner of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp professional baseball team Kohei Matsuda died of stomach cancer at Keio University Hospital in Tokyo on Wednesday. He was 80.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 11, 2002

Obando's 'sayonara' home run hands Fighters sweep over Buffs

Sherman Obando belted a game-winning homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday night as the Nippon Ham Fighters gave their dwindling number of fans one last hurrah before the All-Star break begins.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 10, 2002

Matsui nails 300th HR in losing cause

Eddy Diaz went 4-for-4 and connected for two home runs as the Hiroshima Carp spoiled Giants slugger Hideki Matsui's 300th career home run by downing Yomiuri 7-4 in Hiroshima on Tuesday.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami