Pillow fighting, once a familiar pastime on Japanese school trips, has evolved into a competitive team sport, with players dressed in traditional yukata competing on tatami mats under unusual rules that include a call of "The teacher is coming!" to freeze opponents for 10 seconds.
Fukuoka-born sumo wrestler Arashifuji has earned his first promotion to the top makuuchi division ahead of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament, which opens on November 8 at the Fukuoka International Center, according to the latest rankings released by the Japan Sumo Association on October 26.
Three national anthem mix-ups occurred on the same day at the ongoing Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games, with Iran's anthem mistakenly played during medal ceremonies for Chinese Taipei and Mongolia, while South Korea's anthem was played instead of China's before a women's sitting volleyball match.
Japan's sporting weekend was dominated by the completion of professional baseball's postseason, with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars securing a remarkable sweep of the Central League champions Hanshin Tigers and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks advancing from the Pacific League.
Japanese basketball continues to improve year after year. Strong financial backing and steadily growing fan interest have turned the B.League into one of Asia’s most exciting competitions.
Japan's women's national soccer team, Nadeshiko Japan, suffered a 2-1 comeback defeat to Germany in an international friendly in Bremen on October 13, despite taking an early lead through Momoko Tanikawa.