Jose Osuna and Munetaka Murakami each homered for the second straight day to lift the Yakult Swallows to a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the DeNA BayStars on Friday in the Central League. Osuna, who homered twice and drove in six runs the night before in Nagoya, tied it 3-3 in the sixth inning at Tokyo's historic Jingu Stadium. Murakami then led off Yakult's eighth to put the hosts in front against DeNA reliever Hiromu Ise (0-1). Murakami, who had a Triple Crown season in 2022, did not hit his first home run of the season until last Sunday, against the BayStars in Yokohama. He went 3-for-4...
Kyodo News
In the latest measure to protect players and fans at the national high school baseball championship, the tournament's governing body said Friday it will test out a midday interval this year to reduce exposure to the extreme summer heat. On days with three games, a two-session format will see one or two morning games followed by an interval of some hours prior to the evening session, according to the Japan High School Baseball Federation. "It's abnormally hot," said Seibu Lions pitcher Kona Takahashi, who led Maebashi Ikuei to the 2013 summer championship. "Measures have to be considered for th...
Kyodo News
The Bank of Japan is considering forecasting Japan's core inflation will be around 2 percent in fiscal 2026 in its new outlook report, aided by a positive cycle of pay and price hikes, sources familiar with its thinking said Friday. The Japanese central bank is also studying revising upward its inflation outlook for fiscal 2024, which began this month, from the current 2.4 percent. The bank is expected to raise its forecast for fiscal 2025 from 1.8 percent to around 2.0 percent, the sources said. At its two-day meeting from next Thursday, the BOJ is widely expected to keep short-term interest ...
Kyodo News
The Nikkei stock index ended down 2.7 percent Friday, hit by global economic concerns stemming from escalating conflict in the Middle East and semiconductor issues being dumped amid fears of a slowdown in growth in the industry. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average finished down 1,011.35 points, or 2.66 percent, from Thursday at 37,068.35. The broader Topix index ended 51.13 points, or 1.91 percent, lower at 2,626.32. On the top-tier Prime Market, decliners were led by electric appliance, machinery and metal product shares.
Kyodo News
Detroit Tigers pitcher Kenta Maeda's early season struggle continued Thursday as he served up three homers and gave up six runs in 2-2/3 innings in a 9-7 loss to the Texas Rangers. The veteran Japanese right-hander got a no-decision after the Tigers rallied to tie the game at 7-7 in the bottom of the fourth. His ERA rose to 7.64 in his first season with the Tigers. The Rangers' Marcus Semien, Jonah Heim and Adolis Garcia homered off Maeda in the first, second and third innings, respectively. Maeda allowed seven hits while walking two and striking out two at Comerica Park. "I can't throw anythi...
Kyodo News
The Nikkei stock index plunged over 3 percent Friday morning on selling spurred by concerns over escalating conflict in the Middle East. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 1,260.89 points, or 3.31 percent, from Thursday to 36,818.81. The broader Topix index was down 74.38 points, or 2.78 percent, at 2,603.07.
Kyodo News
As the already two-year-old Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, Estonia's commander-in-chief has advocated a new strategy for the Eastern European country he says would bring victory. "The initiative I would highlight is what the Estonian government proposed a few months ago. We call it the Victory Strategy," Gen. Martin Herem said during a recent interview with Kyodo News. "The main idea is that if each Ramstein coalition country supports Ukraine with 0.25 percent of its GDP, then we would exceed the resources that Russia is using for the war. And that should give Ukraine enough power to l...
Kyodo News
Defending champion Japan will play their first group game of the Premier 12 baseball championship against Australia after the draw for the November tournament was made Thursday. World No. 1 Japan takes on 11th-ranked Australia in the Group B opener on Nov. 13 at Vantelin Dome Nagoya. The rest of the games in the group will be played in Taiwan, where the host, South Korea, Cuba and the Dominican Republic comprise the six-team opening round. No. 2-ranked Mexico hosts Group A starting on Nov. 10 and will be pitted against the third-ranked United States, Venezuela, the Netherlands, Panama and Puer...
Kyodo News
Tokyo stocks extended losses Friday morning, with the benchmark Nikkei index losing more than 2 percent, as heavyweight semiconductor issues, in particular, drew selling on concerns about the negative economic impact of rising U.S. and Japanese yields.
Kyodo News
Tokyo stocks opened sharply lower Friday, weighed down by major semiconductor-related companies that declined in line with their U.S. counterparts overnight. In the first 15 minutes of trading, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 546.00 points, or 1.43 percent, from Thursday to 37,533.70. The broader Topix index was down 23.23 points, or 0.87 percent, at 2,654.22. On the top-tier Prime Market, decliners were led by precision instrument, machinery and metal product shares. At 9 a.m., the U.S. dollar fetched 154.61-62 yen compared with 154.60-70 yen in New York and 154.27-28 yen in Tokyo at ...
Kyodo News
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