News On Japan

Baseball: "Last Samurai" star Ken Watanabe offers encouragement to Ohtani

Jun 16 (Kyodo) - Movie star Ken Watanabe offered a message of encouragement to Japanese compatriot Shohei Ohtani when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Wednesday's Los Angeles Dodgers-Los Angeles Angels game.

Watanabe, nominated for an Academy Award for his work in the "The Last Samurai," was a guest of honor at the Dodgers' "Japanese Heritage Night." ...continue reading

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An avalanche occurred around noon on Monday along a prefectural road in Fukushima City, leaving two hot spring inns isolated once again due to record snowfall.

With just two months remaining until the opening of the Osaka-Kansai Expo, new initiatives are being introduced to enhance visitor convenience.

Six Kyoto University students have been arrested for storming the university’s main administration building during a 2022 dormitory festival with about 250 others, disrupting operations with loudspeakers, leading police to conduct a search of Kumano Dormitory on Sunday.

Foreign tourists spent a record 8.1 trillion yen in Japan last year, an amount equivalent to the cost of building 203 Tokyo Skytree towers. As Japan continues to attract visitors from around the world, many are curious about where this money goes and the financial backgrounds of those spending it.

Boat travel from Kyoto to the Expo 2025 site in Yumeshima will become possible next month as a council promoting Yodogawa river transport announced the opening of a new route from Fushimi.

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A discussion on the future of Japanese professional baseball was held with three prominent business figures: Kohei Takashima, Yozo Tachibana, and Takafumi Horie.

A major international eSports tournament has kicked off in Sapporo, drawing significant attention as a potential economic boost for the city. The five-day event, held at the Daiwa House Plemist Dome in Toyohira Ward, is expected to attract around 30,000 spectators.

Mongolian-born sumo wrestler Hoshoryu has been promoted to the sport's top rank of yokozuna grand champion. He became the first newly promoted grand champion in three and a half years. (NHK)

A new heroine was born at the 2025 Osaka International Women's Marathon, as Kana Kobayashi made a stunning performance in the final 800 meters. Kobayashi overtook Yuka Suzuki, who placed sixth at the Paris Olympics, to claim the title of top Japanese finisher.

The world of sports has always needed new ideas to develop their services and transactions, and one of the most progressive technologies today is holographic replaying.

Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani, is facing a prison sentence of 4 years and 9 months, along with 3 years of probation, as sought by U.S. prosecutors in a fraud trial.

Tomoka Nishiyama, a 29-year-old holder of three women's shogi titles, faced the final match of the professional shogi qualification series on January 22nd at the Kansai Shogi Hall in Takatsuki City, Osaka Prefecture.

Naoya Inoue, the unified world super bantamweight champion across four major boxing organizations, will face Kim Ye-jun, the World Boxing Organization's (WBO) 11th-ranked contender, at Ariake Arena in Tokyo on January 24th.