Hokkaido Horse Races Canceled for Third Straight Week as Equine Influenza Spreads

The Japan Sumo Association announced the rankings for the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on August 31, with last tournament's champion Aonishiki returning to ozeki after two tournaments and taking the second position on the east side of the rankings.

Japan's high school baseball national team began preparations for the U-18 Asian Baseball Championship with a training session in Yokohama on August 28, as the squad looks to capture the continental title at the tournament opening in Taiwan on September 7.

From September 4 to 13, the German capital will become the epicenter of women’s basketball.

Families and children tried their hand at cricket at an event in Nagakute, Aichi Prefecture, on August 29, designed to build interest in the sport ahead of its competition at the Asian Games.

Around 1,500 competitors from across Japan gathered in Yamatokoriyama, Nara Prefecture, for the National Goldfish Scooping Championship, testing their skills in three-minute contests to determine the country's best goldfish scoopers.

Japan's delegation for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held a team formation ceremony at a hotel in Tokyo on August 19, exactly one month before the competition opens, with wrestler Akari Fujinami pledging that the athletes would "fight through to the very end" on home soil.

Organizers of the Asian Games and Asian Para Games are preparing evacuation plans for athletes and officials staying in temporary container houses and a cruise ship at Nagoya Port, with around 20,000 participants and related personnel expected to visit Aichi Prefecture during the 23-day competition period beginning September 19.

STAGE:0, one of Japan's largest esports tournaments for high school students, has opened in Osaka, bringing together more than 2,000 teams from across the country to compete for the title of national champion.