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Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 2, 2014

Kemari: a whole old ball game

The year of FIFA World Cup is upon us, with Brazil getting ready to host, and Japan scheduled to go head-to-head against Cote d'Ivoire, Greece and Colombia in June for a spot in the final 16. If six months is too long to wait, though, check out the ancient sport of kemari, to be held in Kyoto's Shimogamo...
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 28, 2013

Gamba wait for new site

Gamba Osaka, one of the original J. League members, will move into a brand-new stadium as early as 2016.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Nov 8, 2013

Kyushu Basho 2013 – a tale of two newbies

In Japanese sporting circles, mention of the name Endo has, for the past few years, come with images of national soccer team and Gamba Osaka player Yasuhito Endo. All that is about to change.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 15, 2013

After Olympic glory, middleweight boxer Murata now eyes global stardom

London Olympic gold medal-winning boxer Ryota Murata is thinking big about his professional career to come.
MORE SPORTS / MAN ABOUT SPORTS
Oct 8, 2013

Football landscape shifts with new rule changes

If Hank Williams, Jr. was still performing in the open for Monday Night Football, he might be asking you this: Are you ready for some kinder, gentler football?
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 30, 2013

Aichi city gambles on female cyclists

The Toyohashi Velodrome in Aichi Prefecture has started a program to train professional female cyclists to drum up interest in the dying sport.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 19, 2013

The influence of sports on meditation

"Running meditation." It's almost a cliché. Many people describe their running activity as a form of meditation. There are even articles that will teach you "how to meditate while running."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 6, 2013

Lively analysis of tennis from writer's closeness to the stars

When a crestfallen Andy Murray gave a choked-up television interview immediately after losing last year's Wimbledon final to Roger Federer, few would have predicted that joy would quickly replace disappointment for the shy Scot from Dunblane. Four weeks later he was back defeating the Swiss ace on the...
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
May 1, 2013

Is Hakuho on his way to becoming the greatest ever?

On sumo's list of all-time yusho winners, Hakuho currently stands tied with Kitanoumi on 24 championships to date. Just three men stand between the Mongolian and the all-time record: Asashoryu at 25, Chiyonofuji at 31 and Taiho at 32.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Apr 24, 2013

Mao certain to face massive pressure if she tries to retire

Mao Asada's recent proclamation at the World Team Trophy that she “intends” to retire after next year's Sochi Olympics took many by surprise, but I think the proclamation is far from set in stone.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Apr 13, 2013

Golf and Japanese mania for order and rules

If you haven't noticed, the most popular sports in sports-zany Japan are imports. Homegrown offerings — sumo, judo, karate and so on — rank more like your mom's oatmeal cookies.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Mar 26, 2013

Consensus: Corporal punishment in sports misguided, demoralizing, backward

The following are some readers' responses to the March 12 Foreign Element column by Richard Parker headlined "Right or wrong, corporal punishment can produce winners." See many more in the comment section below the original article.
COMMENTARY
Feb 23, 2013

Wrestling with the corruption of the Olympics

It has been scarcely a week since the International Olympic Committee announced its intention to exclude wrestling from the 2020 Summer Games, and the campaign to "Save Wrestling" is in full swing.
SUMO
Feb 20, 2013

Harumafuji dreaming big after overcoming early setback

Yokozuna Harumafuji insists the prospect of being forced to retire never once crossed his mind ahead of last month's dominating victory at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament, but the Mongolian refuses to speculate on how much more success he can achieve before he calls it a day.
EDITORIALS
Feb 19, 2013

Save Olympic wrestling

Japan should join the other countries that are opposed to the IOC's decision to possibly exclude wrestling from the 2020 Olympics and launch strong lobbying activities to save the sport.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Jan 25, 2013

Cartwright confident he can turn lowly Osaka around

Former NBA center Bill Cartwright looks forward to his first weekend as the Osaka Evessa head coach, leading the team in action against the visiting Miyazaki Shining Suns.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Oct 21, 2012

Payton says NBA players lack will to defend

Gary Payton played point guard as fearlessly and with as much intensity on defense as anyone has ever done. He's equally as bold when it comes to dishing out his opinions about the sport he still loves.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 21, 2012

Japan's hold on Olympic judo slipping

Judo became an Olympic sport in the 1964 Tokyo Games and was dominated by the country of its origin until the 2008 Games in Beijing.
Japan Times
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 11, 2012

Bolt has put himself on another level with latest run to Olympic glory

Pick a superlative, any superlative, and add two dozen or more synonyms. And still, the total wow factor created by Usain Bolt's Olympic body of work goes beyond what your list of words.
Japan Times
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 5, 2012

Japan's judoka should use London struggles as learning tool for 2016

Even though Japan invented judo and the nation's athletes have excelled at the Olympics and world championship competitions over the years, there were unrealistic expectations placed on Japanese judoka before the 2012 Summer Games.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Aug 3, 2012

Uchimura captures all-around gold

Kohei Uchimura doesn't punch in on a company time clock to begin his workday. Instead, the Nagasaki Prefecture native dons a gymnast's uniform, and like iconic painters Pablo Picasso, El Greco, et al, his daily existence is focused on producing a masterpiece.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Aug 2, 2012

Phelps most decorated Olympian in history

The first truly transcendent sports moment of the London Olympics took place around 9 p.m. Tuesday.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ICE TIME
Jul 11, 2012

Will Kim's return provide new motivation for Mao?

Great news descended upon the skating world last week when Kim Yu-na announced she was returning to competition with the goal of taking part in the 2014 Sochi Games.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jul 7, 2012

Handling of Chiba's departure latest bogey by league incompetents

The Chiba Jets' recent defection announcement from the bj-league to play in the re-branded JBL in 2013-14 triggered two reactions. And the first one is shared by most people in Japan's basketball community.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 1, 2012

Kato showed strong leadership in introducing new ball, Mizuno says

Kim Yu Na played a huge role in securing the 2018 Winter Olympics for Pyeongchang, South Korea, last year. Prior to that, David Beckham helped do the same for London, which will host this year's Summer Games.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jun 26, 2012

British drama coach Gavin Bantock at top of his game; casts take a bow

If drama were a sport, then the name Gavin Bantock would probably be known throughout Japan.

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