Tag - professional

 
 

PROFESSIONAL

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 15, 2016
JPBPA opposes potential mid-season change to collision rule
The Japan Professional Baseball Players Association on Friday decided to oppose Nippon Professional Baseball's potential mid-year introduction of the revised guidelines on preventing home plate collisions.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 11, 2016
NPB owners willing to suspend season during 2020 Olympics
Nippon Professional Baseball's owners have signed off on a policy of interrupting the 2020 season while the Tokyo Olympics are taking place.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 1, 2016
Players union, management hold talks about pushing back start of 2017 season
The players union met with management representatives on Friday to discuss delaying the start of the 2017 season on account of the World Baseball Classic.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 13, 2016
JPBPA requests later start to 2017 season to accommodate WBC
Japan's players union on Monday asked Nippon Professional Baseball to delay the start of the 2017 season so that those who play for NPB's team in next year's World Baseball Classic can better prepare for Opening Day.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jan 19, 2016
NPB expands replay to plays at home plate, regional parks
Starting this year, umpires in Nippon Professional Baseball will be able to use video replay to assist on plays at home plate.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2015
Giants pitchers to be banned from baseball for betting on games
Nippon Professional Baseball will ban three Yomiuri Giants pitchers indefinitely for their involvement in a gambling scandal and fine the team ¥10 million.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 30, 2015
NPB mulls expanded replay, ball-tracking technology
Nippon Professional Baseball decided on Friday to consider introducing more technology into its game.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Sep 22, 2015
Baseball union leader Matsubara dies at 58
Toru Matsubara, who organized Japanese baseball's only players' strike as the secretary general of the players union, died of urinary tract cancer on Sunday. He was 58.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Sep 15, 2015
Dream Games provide taste of sport's future in Japan
It's been obvious for many years that Japan's basketball leaders needed to take bigger, bolder steps to promote the game across the archipelago.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Aug 29, 2015
JPBL finalizes division placements for 2016-17
The Japan Professional Basketball League revealed which divisions the remaining 25 clubs have been allocated to for the new men's professional circuit, which tips off in 2016, at a Tokyo news conference on Saturday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 26, 2015
New web service aims to match aspiring athletes with scouts, teams
Catching the attention of scouts is often vital for pursuing a successful career path in sports, but this isn't easy if athletes weren't part of a famous school team.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jul 21, 2015
JPBL will face many challenges from inaugural season
Unlike the J. League in the early 1990s, the Japan Professional Basketball League will not be an immediate success story when it tips off in the fall of 2016.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 18, 2015
Spring chills pose challenges for baseball players, fans
The weather throughout Japan may be warming now that we have passed the middle of April, but there were some cold, wet days at the end of March and the beginning of this month that made it uncomfortable to play — and watch — baseball.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Apr 3, 2015
Japan 2024 Task Force establishes league office for new men's pro hoop circuit
Led by co-chairman Saburo Kawabuchi, the Japan 2024 Task Force, declared it will establish a bigger, better men's professional basketball league with a broader vision. And so, Japanese basketball clubs were asked to burn the bridges behind them, accepting rigid qualifications to join it.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 26, 2013
Kato criticizes third-party investigation of ball scandal
Ryozo Kato stepped down on Friday from his post as commissioner of Nippon Professional Baseball and hit out at the report of a third-party investigation into a scandal over changes made to the ball for this season.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 25, 2013
Kato criticizes third-party investigation of ball scandal
Ryozo Kato stepped down on Friday from his post as commissioner of Nippon Professional Baseball and hit out at the report of a third-party investigation into a scandal over changes made to the ball for this season.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 3, 2013
NPB boss Kato reiterates intent to stay on job
Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato, who has come under fire after the league secretly altered its baseball, insisted anew on Monday he has no plans of stepping down in the wake of the scandal.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Jun 14, 2013
Lack of transparency on ball changes causes NPB grief
Nippon Professional Baseball did not err when it introduced a standardized baseball two seasons ago. The change was needed.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 13, 2013
NPB commissioner denies knowledge of changes to ball
Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato said Wednesday he had not been informed of changes made to this year's ball to make it more lively.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2009
'Soba' slurper's 399 bowls too tough to beat
Japanese food fighter Takeru Kobayashi, famed for his success at the annual Coney Island hot dog-eating contest — step aside. The new bottomless pit just slammed down dozens of small red "wanko" bowls of "soba" buckwheat noodles.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores