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BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Apr 23, 2010

Sendai, Hamamatsu poised for big battle

With three weeks left in the regular season, it's as good a time as any for the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix and the Sendai 89ers to renew their rivalry.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Mar 30, 2010

And then there were three (foreign ozeki, that is)

Depending on the exact timing decided upon by the Sumo Association, sometime this week, sekiwake Baruto of Onoe Beya will receive an official visit from members of the association to advise him of his promotion to the sport's second rank — that of ozeki.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 7, 2010

Olympic memories are priceless

It was only fitting that hockey's beloved icon lit the Olympic torch and Canada's top current star scored the gold medal-clinching goal — in overtime, the proverbial icing on the cake — on the final day of the Vancouver Winter Games.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 20, 2010

Yes, we ski in Japan, and, yes, we ski well

When I go back to the U.S. and talk about skiing in Japan, people ask, "They ski in Japan?" I'm like, "Remember the 1998 Olympics in Nagano?" "Oh yeah," they say, wrinkling their foreheads as if recalling some 8 mm black-and-white ski movie while exhibiting enough doubt that I know they're going to look...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Feb 9, 2010

What do you make of yokozuna Asashoryu's shock announcement that he will retire?

SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jan 26, 2010

Late-night frolics mar Asa's 25th yusho

Asashoryu Akinori, to call him by his full Japanese name, remains as divisive as ever in the world of Japanese sumo.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Dec 15, 2009

Scandal can't taint Tiger's dominance

NEW YORK — To appreciate how fast and how far Tiger Woods has fallen is to understand what put him on such a pinnacle in sports.
Rugby
Nov 2, 2009

All Black McCaw predicts bright future for Japanese rugby

New Zealand captain Richie McCaw believes Japanese rugby can use Saturday's historic Bledisloe Cup match in Tokyo as a springboard to success, but warned improvements will not happen overnight.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Sep 27, 2009

Source says JBL teams in trouble, league not viable in long term

Japanese basketball is suffering from an identity crisis. Besides Yuta Tabuse, the average citizen cannot name a handful of other top-level Japanese players. Indeed, this is problem No. 1.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 19, 2009

A different kind of hardball

It's as English as dancing round a Maypole on the village green. But, wedged between a rugby pitch and fields full of practicing Little Leaguers, the University of Tokyo Cricket Club and their counterparts across town from Chuo are doing their best to put this most civilized of pastimes on Japan's sporting...
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 19, 2009

Bowling 'em over

The game of lawn bowls may appear straightforward — players in whites repeatedly roll 1.5-kg rounded plastic "bowls" over finely cut grass — but Japan's male and female singles champions are taking decidedly different approaches to the World Singles Champion of Champions, set to begin in Ayr, Scotland,...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 19, 2009

Bowling 'em over

The game of lawn bowls may appear straightforward — players in whites repeatedly roll 1.5-kg rounded plastic "bowls" over finely cut grass — but Japan's male and female singles champions are taking decidedly different approaches to the World Singles Champion of Champions, set to begin in Ayr, Scotland,...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Jul 14, 2009

Lesnar casts bad light on UFC's new image

Brock Lesnar is well on his way to becoming mixed martial arts' biggest name. As he showed in UFC 100, he's already its biggest jerk.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jul 8, 2009

Nagoya the testing stage once more — just as in 2008

As the long hot summer descends on Japan, and the people of Nagoya prepare for the annual visit of the Japanese Sumo Association, this year's basho, like that held last year, looks like being make-or-break basho for at least one rikishi in terms of reaching a career high.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ANALYSIS
May 31, 2009

Canseco's MMA debut a farce

It was exactly what you'd call a chaban, or a farce.
Japan Times
SUMO
Apr 19, 2009

Hakuho remains student of sumo despite success

Mongolian yokozuna Hakuho says his style of sumo is nothing special.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Mar 31, 2009

Hakuho remains on course to challenge the all-time greats

In the month he turned 24 years of age, Yokozuna Hakuho Sho will leave the city of Osaka, site of the March Haru Basho, an Emperor's Cup winner for the 10th time.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Mar 20, 2009

Sojourner continues with charitable efforts

Grassroots efforts play a pivotal role in helping a sport grow and develop a vital presence in a society.
Reader Mail
Jan 18, 2009

Sports strategy for everyone

I read with amusement and sadness the Jan. 14 article "Plan afoot to raise Olympic athletes' medal prospects before '16." I've lived in Japan through five Olympics now, and it has been the same after each one: great frustration over the failure of Japanese athletes to do better than they did, mixed with...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC
Dec 16, 2008

Ichiro, Dice-K headline Japan WBC candidates

Major League Baseball stars Ichiro Suzuki and Daisuke Matsuzaka headline a host of players revealed as the primary candidates to play for Japan in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, it was announced on Monday.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Oct 29, 2008

Q-chan announces retirement

Literally, Naoko Takahashi had bumps in the road in her career as a marathoner. But her days of glory and agony are finally over, and now she can walk in the street as everyone else.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Oct 23, 2008

Inukai ready to face new challenges as president of JFA

On July 12, Motoaki Inukai became president of the Japan Football Association, bypassing four JFA vice presidents and one general secretary to land the most powerful job in Japanese soccer.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Oct 17, 2008

Why is ousted Wakanoho dishing the dirt now?

In recent weeks, sumo has been taking hits left, right and center.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2008

Gagloev says he threw sumo bouts

Former sumo wrestler Soslan Aleksandrovich Gagloev, who was fired by the Japan Sumo Association for possessing marijuana in August, said he was forced to take bribes to throw matches during competition.
Reader Mail
Sep 18, 2008

Sumo association over the top

For any big fan of sumo, including myself, the recent marijuana scandal is a real blow. But what could keep me from continuing to follow the sport is not the alleged use of (gasp) marijuana by a trio of foreign wrestlers; rather it is the lack of rational thought on the part of the Japan Sumo Association,...
TENNIS
Sep 17, 2008

Russian Olympians fight to stay focused after success in Beijing

Olympic gold-medal winner Elena Dementieva admits she is having trouble focusing on her game after the euphoria of Beijing, but losing finalist Dinara Safina has no such problems heading into this week's Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
Japan Times
SPORTS / ODDS AND EVENS
Aug 21, 2008

China taking small steps to baseball success

BEIJING — Baseball is experiencing growing pains in China. In order to take a big step forward, China needs time to establish a foundation for the future.
OLYMPICS
Aug 17, 2008

Entering uncharted waters

BEIJING — Countless media reports have reminded readers that Michael Phelps will probably make millions of dollars in endorsement deals after the Summer Olympics.

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