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Japan Times
BASEBALL
Aug 20, 2018

Yu Kato helps shine light on women's baseball in Japan

Yu Kato wants to bring women's baseball into the spotlight. She wants people to see what she can do on the diamond and also how talented the rest of her Saitama Astraia teammates are. She wants to everyone to know there is quality baseball being played in the Japan Women's Baseball League.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 8, 2021

Baseball deserves to lose its antitrust immunity

It never truly had any legitimate usefulness; the antitrust exemption, which no other professional sport enjoys, is as nonsensical a thing as exists in the law.
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 / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Nov 1, 2021

Are buzz cuts mandatory for members of Japan's high school baseball teams?

When asked about the reasons behind the rule, many coaches talked about the need to focus on the sport, tradition and that it's easier to play that way.
BASEBALL
Nov 25, 2022

‘Mr. Baseball’ endures as go-to resource for players headed to Japan

Many who accept offers to play in Japan will surely prepare for the experience the same way those before them have for 30 years: by watching 'Mr. Baseball.”
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2020

Fukushima dreams: A young baseball star, a father and their shattered town

Kazuo Ouchi drives down a single-lane road through sheets of rain until he reaches a gravel driveway leading to a weathered farmhouse. Yellowing lace curtains are drawn tight over the windows, shutting out the weak winter light.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2019

U.S. baseball fans are too old, too white and too few

One thrilling World Series can't make the sport's viewership problems go away.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 18, 2015

Excavating Japan's buried baseball history with Masanori Murakami

Sometimes historical analysis can't compete with a good personal story, as Robert K. Fitts — a baseball expert and former archaeologist — proves with his newest book, "Mashi: The Unfulfilled Baseball Dreams of Masanori Murakami, the First Japanese Major Leaguer."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 29, 2019

'Gentle Black Giants': Diplomacy, sport and Japan's early love for baseball

'Gentle Black Giants' reveals a little-known chapter of Japanese baseball's early years and the impact that a collection of Negro Leagues players had on its development.
Japan Times
BASEBALL
Mar 8, 2017

Hall of Fame boss Idelson deepening understanding of Japan baseball

Jeff Idelson, president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, has spoken to groups of kids before.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jan 19, 2015

Japan to co-host Premier 12 baseball world tourney

Japan was the first-ever champion of the World Baseball Classic, lifting the championship trophy on foreign soil in 2006. If Samurai Japan repeats the feat at the inaugural Premier 12, the Japanese will get to do all their celebrating at home.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Apr 16, 2013

Taking cues from soccer could help baseball reach goal

Judging by popular opinion, many seem to think convincing MLB to commit to sending its top players to the Olympics is the key to getting the sport back into the program in the future, preferably in time for the 2020 Games.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / BASEBALL BULLET-IN,WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC
Feb 17, 2013

Upcoming WBC sparks excitment for Japanese baseball enthusiasts

It's time once again to gear up for the World Baseball Classic.
Japan Times
BASEBALL
Mar 18, 2023

Baseball icon Miguel Cabrera soaks up a lot of lasts at World Baseball Classic

As Cabrera, 39, gets ready to hang up his spikes, he is soaking up a lot of lasts, starting with his fifth and final World Baseball Classic.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 2, 2020

An invisible baseball curves through Japanese literature

There's a long history of pivotal baseball anecdotes in Japanese literature, with well-known writers such as Yukio Mishima and Haruki Murakami incorporating their love of the game into their work.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Aug 26, 2019

U.S. fan uses trading cards as one way to stay on top of Japanese baseball

If you went out in search of a dedicated Japanese baseball card enthusiast, you might not think to look in Maryland.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Aug 2, 2013

Guts, glory and shaved ice: Koshien baseball

Summer is not summer in Japan without two things: 1. Heat (OK, so maybe it's not the heat, it's the humidity); and 2 . . .
Shohei Ohtani gets a kiss from his dog Decoy at a game in August 2024. The Japanese slugger-pitcher’s return to his country to kick off the Major League Baseball season has sparked immense excitement, highlighting his unparalleled career and symbolic role as a national hero.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 18, 2025

Superstar Shohei Ohtani for prime minister

He’s unavoidable in Japan: His face adorns ads for cosmetics, mattresses, English conversation schools and, most recently, convenience store rice balls.
A portrait of legendary Japanese baseball star Shigeo Nagashima is displayed at his funeral in Tokyo on Sunday.
BASEBALL
Jun 8, 2025

Mourners pay tribute to Japanese baseball legend Nagashima at funeral

Nagashima, nicknamed "Mr. Professional Baseball" for his commanding performances and presence, served as Giants manager after retiring as a player.
The numbers and accolades are only part of what made Ichiro Suzuki great. His devotion to his craft, idiosyncratic methods and dry sense of humor made him a transformational figure.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 27, 2025

Four lessons to learn from Ichiro's greatness

The numbers and accolades are only part of what made Ichiro great. His devotion to his craft, idiosyncratic methods and dry sense of humor made him a transformational figure.
When Fighters interpreter Shinju Sakuma set her mind on becoming a language liaison in sports, she picked a sport she enjoyed watching and an employer who thinks outside the box.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Feb 26, 2024

Rookie female interpreter provides voice for foreign baseball stars in Japan

Shinju Sakuma, who will graduate from Rikkyo University in Tokyo this spring, is believed to be the first female interpreter in NPB history.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani reacts to a standing ovation from fans after hitting his 50th home run of the season, against the Marlins in Miami on Sept. 19.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 23, 2024

For baseball fans, 2024 brought The Summer of Shohei Ohtani

The superstar was the center of attention for almost a full calendar year during a season straight out of a Hollywood movie.
Shohei Ohtani belts a home run in the fifth inning of the second game of the Tokyo Series between the Dodgers and Cubs.
BASEBALL
Mar 20, 2025

In pictures: Tokyo's weeklong celebration of baseball's best

All the stops were pulled out to showcase the best players on both sides of the Pacific as the MLB kicked off its 2025 season in Tokyo Dome.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2023

Civil servants face different treatment at Kansai baseball parades

Kobe and Hyogo government workers working at the parades will be treated as being on duty, but those of the Osaka governments will not be.
BASEBALL
Nov 16, 2023

Samurai Japan overcomes slow start to beat Taiwan in APBC opener

Shota Morishita got Japan going with a home run in the seventh inning.
BASEBALL
Nov 19, 2023

Japan tops South Korea on sayonara single in 10th to win APBC title

Japan edged South Korea on a walk-off hit by Makoto Kadowaki.

Longform

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