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Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League / HOOP SCOOP
May 1, 2018

Debora Zoli blazing a trail for female sports agents with ability, charisma

Building relationships is a vital part of being a successful pro sports agent.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League
Sep 18, 2016

Basketball veteran Orimo skeptical of B. League's benefit to national team

Just like other players, Levanga Hokkaido veteran guard/forward Takehiko Orimo is delighted about the inauguration of the B. League, the new men's top professional basketball league in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2014

Corruption rumors sideline Beautiful Game's rewards

New squalid facts, claims and rumors are emerging every week suggesting that the game of soccer may be beautiful but some of its leading figures are too close to dark and shadowy criminal forces.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
May 18, 2005

Man United fans being irrational about Glazer's takeover

I was asked an interesting question recently.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 5, 2002

Celebrate football's field of dreams

It's twenty minutes before England's opening World Cup game at Saitama Stadium and I'm sitting almost directly behind the goal, sacred posts that I'm hoping Michael Owen will tune his gold-plated radar into the moment he walks onto the pitch.
Japan Times
Events
Feb 5, 2002

Glassmaker pitches balls for the Cup

HIRAKATA, Osaka Pref. -- At first glance, it looks like a soccer ball, and you might even try to kick it. But the maker of this "ball" would beg you not to, because it is in fact a patented lampshade built of stained glass.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jan 31, 2002

Backhand compliment earns volley

The most significant volley that Marcelo Rios had to face at this year's Australian Open was the volley of abuse he received from female professionals after describing the women's game as a "joke."
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Nov 6, 2001

Ten years old and counting

Last Thursday, the J. League celebrated its 10th anniversary at a Tokyo hotel, inviting about 500 soccer officials, sponsors and past and present players.
MULTIMEDIA / SPORTS SCOPE
May 17, 2001

Time for the young ones to leave the nest

Philippe Troussier on the J. League: "The Japanese are soft and the players are soft and the referees are soft. One little bump in a game and it's a foul. These would never be fouls in Europe, in Spain or England."
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 9, 2001

Bad days are over, but J. League must change with the times

When the J. League was launched on May 13, 1993, it had 10 teams in a single-division format. Since then, the league has grown and now consists of 28 teams in two divisions.
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup / From the Spot
Nov 21, 2022

Samurai Blue have chance to win over hearts of Japanese fans again at World Cup

Japan's rise on the global stage has come as more fans feel disconnected from a squad of stars who mostly play abroad.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Oct 25, 2022

LGBTQ football fans fight for safe space in Brazilian stadiums

Although almost all top Brazilian soccer clubs have at least one LGBTQ fan group, most of which emerged in the past decade, the vast majority keep their presence to social media.
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 12, 2022

J. League targets Generation Z with TikTok partnership

The league hopes to use the short-form video-sharing platform to offer an unfiltered look behind the scenes and appeal to younger fans.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Oct 16, 2021

EA Sports making plans for FIFA without FIFA

At least two years of talks about renewing the contract that allows Electronic Arts, through its EA Sports division, to use the organization's name have hit the wall.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jul 23, 2021

Volunteer superfan brings message of gratitude to Olympics in Miyagi

Clad in his homemade samurai armor and topknot, Hirokazu Tsunoda has used sporting events over the last decade to thank the world for its support after the March 11 disaster.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2019

Canceled races, fainting players: Climate change turns up heat on sports

As a professional ultrarunner, meaning she competes at distances longer than a marathon, Clare Gallagher has tackled plenty of challenges, from mountains to heat.
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 18, 2015

White has Guam on move in 2018 qualifying

For a man who grew up on a council estate in Southampton, England, Gary White has come a long, long way.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Jun 5, 2015

Flashy FIFA's fast fall from great game to great shame borders on the farcical

In less than a week, the public face of FIFA has gone from something resembling an old-style Communist Party rally, with a defiant Sepp Blatter fronting ranks of flag-bearing youths, to what looks more like a scene from "Reservoir Dogs."
EDITORIALS
Aug 4, 2011

The Nadeshiko effect

Nadeshiko Japan, which became the first Japanese as well as the first Asian team to become the World Cup winner, irrespective of men's or women's soccer, will get another laurel. The team, which was victorious over the heavily favored United States in Frankfurt on July 17, will receive the prestigious...
COMMENTARY
Jun 29, 2010

Maradona casts spell at world's crossroads

NEW YORK — I can still hear the Mexican sportscaster shouting in the radio for more than a minute — "Dieguitooooo, Dieguitoooooo, Diego Armando Maradonaaaaaaa!" — after the Argentine soccer player scored his second goal against the British during the 1986 World Cup that Argentina would go on to...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jan 14, 2007

Time for F.A. to get serious and crack down on Chelsea's continual abuse of rules

LONDON -- The sound of laughter could be heard coming from Stamford Bridge this week when a Football Association disciplinary commission fined Chelsea captain John Terry £10,000 for lying and doubting the integrity of Graham Poll, the Premiership's leading referee.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jun 13, 2006

The beautiful game inspires sartorial sins

Soccer might be known as the beautiful game, but it has never inspired beautiful design. As the World Cup in Germany gets into full swing, patriotic fervor will move millions of fans to purchase their team's jersey, resulting in innumerable crimes against good taste.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 13, 2006

World Cup commentary a whole new ball game

It's the season of the Warudo Kappu (World Cup, duh!), the season that screams: Sakka fuan ni arazuba hito ni arazu (Those who aren't soccer fans aren't even people). At least until July 11 (the day after the World Cup final) that is, or until the sakka netsu (soccer fever) abates -- whichever comes...
BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2005

Retired athletes learn to survive life after sport

While all workers in Japan feel pressure to perform at the top of their game, that's probably more true for professional athletes than anyone else.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jul 7, 2003

Zico needs more time to mold Japan, but clock is ticking

The momentum of those calling for Zico's head increases exponentially with every defeat the Japan coach adds to the dismal record he has accumulated since taking over the fortunes of the Japan national side.
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Aug 17, 2002

Japanese players need to be more creative

"I get the impression that the players are too mechanical," said Masakuni Yamamoto, Japan's Olympic team coach, in delivering a strong message to Japanese players and soccer officials after holding his first training session with the under-21 squad Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2002

Pizza, convenience store sales surge for Japan-Russia match

Pizza deliveries and convenience store sales surged Sunday before and during the World Cup Group H match between Japan and Russia.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2002

Kickoff! Games start in Japan

The soccer World Cup opening matches kicked off in Japan on Saturday. Jubilant soccer fans and supporters from around the world flocked to the stadiums to watch the Ireland-Cameroon game in Niigata and the Germany-Saudi Arabia match later in the day in Sapporo.
Canada head coach Bev Priestman prior to a match in February
OLYMPICS
Jul 28, 2024

Canadian women's team loses six points and coach banned over drone scandal

The Canadian Soccer Association was also fined 200,000 Swiss francs ($226,346) in a case that has rocked the Paris Games.

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