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Sports 2003-2004
League Without Borders
(December 28, 2004)
Good news for ice hockey fans in Asia: A full-fledged Asian ice hockey league
has been inaugurated for the current hockey season. Eight participating teams
from four Far Eastern countries - Japan, China, South Korea, and Russia - will
battle against one another atop the ice.
Getting a Kick from Futsal
(December 24, 2004)
The popularity of futsal, a five-a-side version of soccer, continues to grow.
While the number of futsal pitches and devotees in Japan is exploding, the national
futsal team, comprised of Japan's elite players, competed in the 5th FIFA Futsal
World Championship in Taipei at the end of November 2004.
Little Man on a Big Stage
(November 24, 2004)
Standing just 173 centimeters (5 feet, 8 inches) tall, Tabuse Yuta, 24, became
the first-ever Japanese player in the National Basketball Association when he earned a spot
on the Phoenix Suns' final roster of 12 players as the NBA season started.
Paralympic Glory
(October 28, 2004)
The Athens Paralympics, the twelfth quadrennial competition for disabled
athletes, was held September 17-28. Japanese athletes captured a whopping total
of 52 medals: 17 gold, 15 silver, and 20 bronze, setting records for both total
medals and gold medals.
Hitting New Heights
(October 13, 2004)
Suzuki Ichiro, the 30-year-old right fielder for the Seattle
Mariners, made history on October 1 at Safeco Field in Seattle by breaking an
84-year-old record for the most hits in a single season.
The Secret of Japan's Olympic Success
(October 6, 2004)
Japan won 37 medals at the Athens Olympics this summer, its
highest total ever. There has been considerable discussion about just what it
was that enabled Japanese athletes to achieve their record-breaking medal
tally in Athens.
Fast Breaking to Athens
(March 16, 2004)
The Japanese women's basketball team was the runner-up at the
January FIBA ASIA Championship for Women - Sendai, Japan 2004, which doubled as
the qualifier for the upcoming summer Olympics in Athens. The performance earned
the team its first trip to the Olympics since the 1996 Atlanta Games.
The Japanese Dream
(February 16, 2004)
New forms of professional mixed martial arts (MMA) that have
originated in Japan, such as K-1 and Pride, are enjoying unprecedented success.
On New Year's Eve 2003, three commercial television networks broadcast MMA events
in a ratings free-for-all. Foreign fighters have figured prominently in the popularity
of MMA in Japan.
Power Yoga
(February 13, 2004)
For most people, yoga conjures up an image of sitting quietly
and meditating, but a new fitness movement known as "power yoga," in
which participants move through a series of poses, has become popular among Japanese
women.
Skating to Success
(February 9, 2004)
Japanese female figure skaters are enjoying unprecedented success.
At the December 2003 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, Suguri Fumie (of
the Shin-Yokohama Prince Club) became the first-ever Japanese champion.
Sumo Goes International
(February 4, 2004)
A new force of sumo exponents from Mongolia has come
to the fore recently, the most prominent of which is yokozuna
Asashoryu. As sumo gains greater international recognition, wrestlers from countries
like Russia and Georgia are also making their presence felt.
Athens, Here We Come!
(December 11, 2003)
Baseball's Asian Championship, which doubled as the Olympic
qualifying event, was held at Sapporo Dome in Hokkaido from October 31 to November
7, 2003. Japan, South Korea, China, and Taiwan competed in the final round from
November 5 to 7. In sweeping its games, Japan earned a trip to the August 2004
Athens Olympics.
Hoop Dreams
(December 10, 2003)
Twenty-three-year-old Tabuse Yuta is aiming to become the first
Japanese player to make it to the National Basketball Association. Tabuse took part in the training camp of the Denver Nuggets in September
and became the first Japanese player ever to appear in an NBA exhibition game.
Pinning a Nation's Hopes
(October 30, 2003)
At the 2003 World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling held
in New York in September, Japan's women turned in a spectacular performance, capturing
the gold medal in five of the seven weight classes.
Sprinting to Glory
(October 8, 2003)
At the 9th World Championships in Athletics, held in Paris
from August 23 to 31, Japan won four medals (one silver, three bronze), its highest
total ever in the competition.
Stroking to Victory
(August 27, 2003)
At the July 2003 FINA World Swimming Championships in Barcelona, Spain, Kitajima
Kosuke set two new world records in winning both the 100-meters and 200-meters
men' s breaststroke events. In doing so, Kitajima, 20, became the first Japanese
swimmer to win two individual gold medals in a single Olympic or world championship
competition.
Victory at the Double
(August 26, 2003)
Notch up another victory for Sugiyama Ai, the ace of Japanese
women's tennis. In July 2003, Sugiyama and Kim Clijsters of Belgium won the women's
doubles crown at Wimbledon, which was Sugiyama's first Wimbledon title.
Kendo Goes Global
(August 15, 2003)
At a special exhibition titled "Expo Edo: Science and Technology of the Edo
Era," among the
most intriguing items on display are those that were made using wind-up springs,
including mechanical dolls, the performances of which are winning particular acclaim.
Fostering Baseball Talent
(July 28, 2003)
Major League pitcher Nomo Hideo has founded an amateur baseball team in Japan called
Nomo Baseball Club in what could be described as a gesture of putting something
back into the world of baseball.
Record-Breaking Climb
(June 12, 2003)
On May 22 Yuichiro Miura, 70, became the oldest person
ever to climb Mount Everest. Miura's courageous achievement impressed many people around
the world.
Ice Queens
(April 3, 2003)
Several rising young stars are taking Japanese women's
figure skating by storm. At the World Junior Figure Skating Championships
held at the beginning of March.
King of the Ring
(March 26, 2003)
When the annual Spring Grand Sumo Tournament got underway in Osaka on
March 9, all eyes were on Asashoryu, the Mongolia-born Sumo wrestler who
had just been promoted to yokozuna (the top
rank in sumo).
Double Desert Triumph
(March 11, 2003)
At the 2003 Paris-Dakar Rally, Hiroshi Masuoka, driving a Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution, became
the first Japanese ever to win the race's overall championship two years
in a row and only the fourth person ever to accomplish this feat in the
event's history.
Farewell Takanohana
(March 10, 2003)
At the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament in January
2003, Takanohana, sumo's sixty-fifth yokozuna
(grand champion), retired from active competition at the age of 30.
Winter Asian Games
(February 5, 2003)
The Fifth Winter Asian Games, Asia's sports festival of snow and ice,
are being held from February 1 to 8 in Aomori Prefecture, located on the
northernmost tip of Japan's main island of Honshu.
At the Top of the Leaderboard
(January 27, 2003)
At the men's World Golf Championships held in Mexico in
December 2002, the Japanese team of Shigeki Maruyama and Toshimitsu Izawa
held off a powerful US team to claim victory.
Gray Ping-Pong Power
(January 24, 2003)
A woman has risen to new heights in Japanese table
tennis with a most remarkable record. She is Kazuko
Ito, and at the December 2002 Japan Table Tennis Championship, she notched up her hundredth career win in the women's
singles competition at the age of 67.
Making It Big
(January 14, 2003)
Sumo, Japan's national sport by popular acclaim if not by official designation,
is undergoing a wave of internationalization as foreign-born wrestlers
climb the ranks.
Have Foot, Will Travel
(January 8, 2003)
The exploits of Hidetoshi Nakata and other Japanese soccer players who belong to European teams
are featured on TV and in newspapers every day. It seems that fans
just cannot get enough of these homegrown stars as they make their names
on the world stage.
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