Japan Today

peterl comments

Posted in: Newborn infant’s corpse found at sewage plant See in context

If medical abortions were easier to obtain, and more affordable, this sort of thing would happen less often.

Good point. I agree. Having access to safe and affordable ways to abortion would reduce these cases. Sadly, there are many countries in the world where abortion is not allowed or not available, and thus women are left to resort to extreme (and often unsafe) ways. It is sad that the male who impregnated the women, often times either refuses to accept any responsibility as well, or just runs away from the situation.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: 2 arrested over video of unhygienic acts at Yoshinoya restaurant See in context

I think any food that is open to the public is apt to be disgusting. Although it may be environmentally unfriendly, having things wrapped in plastic, like in convenience stores, is the only way to have any semblance of avoiding food being contaminated by any stranger. When you think of open-air buffets, not only in Japan, it can seem disgusting what may go on food.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Posted in: Japan beats U.S. 3-2 to win World Baseball Classic title See in context

That was a great game with great pitching on both sides. This whole WBC has proven that we need it and the players love it. I love seeing the fans in the stands cheering for their country, playing music, and dancing in the stands. The energy throughout was tremendous. This will definitely boost the interest in baseball and the upcoming season.

Pitching is just as important as batting. Some would say more.

True, pitching is just as important as hitting. However, it's not fair to say that the pitchers for Team USA are a bunch of nobodies. I often peruse the websites and Youtube channels of diehard baseball fans, experts, and enthusiasts, and they all say the same thing: Only real fans and experts can truly understand that players like Adam Wainwright, Lance Lynn, Merrill Kelly, Kyle Freeland, Devin Williams, etc. are really good baseball pitchers. These players have lasted quite long in the majors for a reason. They can pitch. Are they the cream of the crop? Maybe not. But Team Japan was also without some of their best players like Seiya Suzuki from the Chicago Cubs, or their best shortstop, Hayato Sakamoto, or the 2022 Central League's best pitcher, Koyo Aoyagi.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Posted in: Japan edges Mexico 6-5 to reach WBC final against U.S. See in context

What a game! The back-and-forth between two great teams. My hats off to Team Japan and Team Mexico. They provided one of the best, if not the best, and most exciting baseball games. And the energy from the crowds there. Wow! This is why the WBC is so special and needed. It is good for the game of baseball. To see players play with pride for their country.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Posted in: Japan beats Italy 9-3 to reach World Baseball Classic semifinals See in context

Now, if it ends up being amongst the US, SKorea, Japan, and Cuba, for example, then THAT might be where it gets fun an interesting, although at least the US team isn't fielding professional players.

Uh, Japan did play Korea and totally beat them. Also, Japan did beat Cuba in the first WBC. Also, the U.S. is fielding professional players. Ever heard of Mike Trout, Paul Goldschmidt, Pete Alonso, Nolan Arenado, Tim Anderson, Trea Turner, Mookie Betts, and Kyle Schwarber? They are a literal murders row of hitters.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Ohtani long HR powers Japan to victory over Australia at World Baseball Classic See in context

Agree, and in the previous game, Sasaki Roki showed examples that he might be as good on the mound as Ohtani. And Yoshida-san is making Boston Red Sox fans happy. The Japanese team is stacked, and could will be the best in this year's WBC.

I agree. And, I've become a fan of Sasaki's, not only because of his skills on the baseball mound, but off of it. I heard a story about him apologizing to the Czech player, William Escala, who he hit on the leg, and taking pictures with him, giving him a signed baseball, and two bags of Japanese sweets. He obviously felt so bad about it.

https://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic/news/roki-sasaki-apologize-to-czech-republic-player-for-hit-by-pitch

It goes to show that the WBC is not only entertaining, but serves to build international relationships and friendships.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Ohtani long HR powers Japan to victory over Australia at World Baseball Classic See in context

This game proved once again why baseball is one of, if not THE most boring sports in the world to watch on TV. Live? Sure, you get the crowd and the atmosphere (game itself is still boring),

I guess haters will always hate. I've been to and watch baseball games and I don't think they're boring. Being at the games, you get more crowd interaction and get the chance to talk with others since there are some breaks to do so. It's just like soccer, there ain't a lot of scoring, but being with the crowd and experiencing the electricity they generate makes it so much more exciting. Pretty much any sport you can think of, will have people complaining that it's boring, or makes no sense. For instance, I've heard people complain when a basketball game, or American football game is low-scoring. It seems like a game has to have many scores to make it exciting. I would have to disagree with that.

don't forget that the other teams are mostly fielding triple AAA players at best, and not their pros,

That's a slap to the face to those teams. Yeah, they may not be professionals, but I thought the Czech and Aussies played their hearts out and earned the respect of their competitors and other nations' fans.

I think it's hypocritical of people who say things like "They only beat lesser opponents" when they win, and then "Oh, they got lucky" when they beat better opponents".

It's also hypocritical when they say "Japan has top-notch professionals playing on their squads, so they won" and then say "Oh, their NPB records like the home run record mean nothing because anyone can play in the NPB, even AAA players".

0 ( +5 / -5 )

Posted in: Japan reaches World Baseball Classic quarterfinals See in context

Yes, he would need a few more years of productive baseball to be considered for the Hall of Fame. And I agree that the scary thing is, that as filthy he is as a pitcher already, he would be even better if he concentrated solely on pitching. If he did, he would hands-down be the best pitcher on the planet.

There are many pitchers in MLB that are as good or better than he is, just as a pitcher.

I wouldn't say that there are "many" pitchers better than he is. After all, he did finish fourth in the AL Cy Young last year. He pretty much ranked top five in most pitching categories (e.g. strikes per 9 innings, E.R.A., batting average RISP, etc.). I think there are way more pitchers worse than he is. I would bet that that most teams will be coming after him as a free agent, for mostly his ability as a true number one ace pitcher, rather than as a great hitter.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Ohtani long HR powers Japan to victory over Australia at World Baseball Classic See in context

When the ball leaves Ohtani's bat, it just sounds different. You know it's gonna go yard. And his swing is a thing of beauty and I like how he adjusted his stance a couple of years ago to provide more stability and power. No more front leg lifting. And to think that he is a pitcher and does that at an elite level as well. He is, as everyone says, truly a unicorn.

4 ( +9 / -5 )

Posted in: Japan reaches World Baseball Classic quarterfinals See in context

None of the "hyped" pitchers from Japan are ever going to be "Hall of Famer's" in MLB. Sure they are decent, but none have lived up to their hype, mainly due to injuries, and much of that, in my opinion, is due to overuse (abuse) here in Japan, when they were younger.

I think Ohtani has a shot at being a Hall-of-famer. He was hyped up before coming to the majors, and I think he has adjusted well to major league hitting. He has filthy stuff with tons of movement on his ball. I think Yamamoto also has a shot at doing well in the majors. He has movement on his pitches as well and should transition to the MLB game when he is ready to go there. Last night, against Australia, I saw a lot of his pitches drop suddenly, or take wicked curves to befuddle many of the batters.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Japan baseball manager demands more after thrashing S Korea 13-4 See in context

That was a surprising result. Japan's hitters just mowed through all the pitchers that Korea threw at them. Tremendous effort by Samurai Japan.

Still waiting for Murakami to make a contribution.

Still waiting for Murakami to get a hit too, but he has contributed by hitting a few sacrifice flies to bring runners home and push runners into scoring position. I'm sure he will break out of his funk soon.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Posted in: Argentina beats Netherlands in penalty shootout See in context

(to the last poster: what’s wrong with England and Portugal?)

You can't win games by sitting at home.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Posted in: Morocco reaches World Cup semifinals with 1-0 win over Portugal See in context

It's karmic that Ronaldo and his team are out. After his arrogant statements about his former club Real Madrid and dissing on his teammates and boss, I think he kind of deserves this. If he had any gripes about his teammates lack of skill, then he should've said it to their faces and done it behind closed doors in the locker room; not to the media first. It's no mystery why they hate him in Spain, and why according to the Portuguese newspaper, "A Bola", 93.6% Portuguese didn't want Ronaldo to start against Morocco. Wow! Even his people don't like him.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Argentina beats Netherlands in penalty shootout See in context

I too am disgusted by the Argentina team's lack of sportmanship. They were flopping left and right. Also, once they won, they showed no class. I hope Croatia whoops them and puts them on a plane home after the next match. I'm now rooting for any team, but Argentina (and Portugal). I hope Croatia, Morocco, or France wins it all.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Posted in: Japan's last-16 exit reflects highs and lows under Moriyasu See in context

I think Mr. Moriyasu did a fantastic job. The players he selected for this squad was a good mixture. The lineups and replacements he put out were good as well. His halftime adjustments worked well. A good manager is not all about tactics, but needs to be one that can get the most out of his players, and he did just that, considering how many first-time World Cup players he had on this team. Overall, this team was young, and the older ones that were on it, played minimal roles. Players like Kamada, Maeda, Mitoma, Asano, Doan, and Ito will be back, among others. All they need to do is practice more on penalty kicks, over and over again.

They should hold their heads high for how well they performed.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Posted in: Japan beats Spain 2-1 to advance to last 16 at World Cup See in context

Great job Japan! It was a well-deserved victory with two very good scores. Yet, I think towards the end, Spain knew they would go in to the knockout round and kind of didn't try so hard to score in the waning minutes. Spain had the choice: Win, and save Germany, with a possibility of facing Croatia and then Brazil in the quarterfinals. Or, lose, and kick Germany to the curb, and face Morocco and avoid having to face Brazil.

10 ( +22 / -12 )

Posted in: Ohtani says he had good season; less glowing about Angels results See in context

“I have to say that August and September in particular felt longer to me than last year,” Ohtani said. “We were not able to play as many good games as we would like — including 14 consecutive losses. So I have a rather negative impression of this season.”

This is an honest and obvious assessment of the season from Ohtani. Even though this has been said in his own words in English, there are tweets and media coverage in the U.S. jumping on this and blowing it out of proportion that this means that Shohei is leaving the Angels and hates the organization. Imagine if he tried to speak in English this. I can predict that it would've been even more misinterpreted.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Yankees star Judge hits 62nd homer to break Maris' AL record See in context

How about a needle emoji next to the others- Bonds and Sosa and McGuire?

Good point. Come tomorrow, when Ohtani pitches one more inning, he will own a record that needs no asterisks. He will become the first player in history to have qualified as among the league's leaders as both a hitter and a pitcher. Not even Babe Ruth ever accomplished that feat.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Friend of mother who starved son to death sentenced to 15 years See in context

Anyone who bullies, uses threats, blackmail and manipulation is purely evil. She preyed on the weak and took advantage of them. 15 years is too short and I'm sure when she gets out, she will still be the same evil person. I hope her name is forever remembered and that others are made aware who she is and stays well away from her. She should forever be blacklisted.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Posted in: Woman attacked by man as she walks home See in context

When cases like this happen, I often wonder why there are no other dudes around who can put this freak in a headlock

Well, I'm no Sherlock, but I guess it's probably because at 12:10 a.m., there are basically no one walking around at night. Most people, like me, are tucked in their futons sleeping.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Ohtani's 30th home run rallies Angels to 3-2 victory over Yankees See in context

The gap between Judge and Otani though, is huge. Judge could sit out the rest of the season and Otani still wouldn't hit 50 home runs this year.

Judge is MVP by a giant margin.

I guess that's the problem with Ohtani. We've all come to take it for granted what Shohei can do. If it were any other pitcher hitting a homerun, that proves to be the game winner, it would literally be the highlight of that pitcher's career. Or, if it were any other batter who was able to suddenly called upon to pitch 7 shutout innings and get 10+ strikeouts, it would be headline news for the whole week. Imagine if Clayton Kershaw were to hit a game-winning homerun, people would be talking about it nonstop. Or if Aaron Judge pitched 7 scoreless.

The fact that Shohei is able to hit and pitch at an All-star level sometimes gets lost among people. I can't think of anyone nowadays who is coming close to doing that.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Ohtani's 30th home run rallies Angels to 3-2 victory over Yankees See in context

Judge and Ohtani are both deserved of winning the AL MVP. They both are having monster seasons. On one hand, Judge is chasing Roger Maris' 61 homers set in 1961. However, Shohei seems to set a new record every day, or matches and overcomes one that was made over a hundred years ago. Even if Judge breaks Maris' record, there is a good chance that someone else will come along and break that. I see very little chance of someone coming along and breaking the records that Ohtani is setting.

Judge is chasing history, while Ohtani is making it.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Judge hits 50th home run, Ohtani also goes deep as Angels edge Yankees See in context

I think the brilliance of Ohtani was on display in the at-bat he had against Montas, in which he homered. Montas was throwing splitter after splitter to Ohtani. By the time Ohtani saw the third splitter from Montas, he anticipated where it would be. Sure enough, he was thrown another low splitter, and adjusted well to swing the bat where he thought it would be. Lesson: You can't be one-dimensional as a pitcher; especially against someone as smart as Ohtani is.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Posted in: Ichiro expresses gratitude as he enters Mariners Hall of Fame See in context

Baseball is a team sport, and being a member of the "team" means more than small talk!

Well, Ichiro's own teammates has openly spoken about how much wisdom in English (e.g. how to stretch properly, how to set up in the outfield to space yourself properly for fly balls, etc.) he was able to convey to them without a translator. So, that means that at least he was able to perform his duty as a teammate.

Since when do baseball players need to have the English ability to talk about economics, politics, or science?

With all the athletes nowadays who do drugs, are on steroids, sexually harassing women, being wife-beaters, smacking reporters, abusing their children, fighting other players, whining about more pay, not playing until they get a new contract, drinking and driving, etc., I guess the having "not being able to speak good enough English" as the biggest gripe against Ichiro seems like such a breath of fresh air.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Ichiro expresses gratitude as he enters Mariners Hall of Fame See in context

“If a skinny, undersized guy from Japan can compete in this uniform, and then stand before you tonight to accept this honor. Then there’s no reason you cannot do it either.”

That is a much better quote than the boring comments many other athletes give in interviews, even though they speak English. Has anyone actually listened in on some of the answers given by many of the native English-speaking athletes? So many of them either give one word answers, snarl or swear at reporters, or give sarcastic comments and growl like the infamous media-hater, New England Patriots head coach, Bill Belichick.

The lesson: It is not the ability to speak the language that is the most important, but having a personality, a positive attitude, and sense of humor. It's like many of my students. They may have all the knowledge of vocabulary and grammar, but have no sense when to say something, or what to say. On the other hand, I have low level students who communicate well because they are so funny and expressive. Eventually, they end up improving at a much faster rate.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Ichiro expresses gratitude as he enters Mariners Hall of Fame See in context

Congratulations Ichiro! You're a class act and a true ambassador of the sport. I thought it was touching when he came out to catch the first pitch from "Ichiro girl" and signed her baseball for her and took a picture. Their meeting was so heartwarming and genuine.

Also, his speech was so like Ichiro; respectful to his fans and former teammates and witty. Loved his story of being at first shocked at being kissed on the lips by his former manager Lou, and then thinking that if that's the way people congratulate wins, he couldn't last being a baseball player in the MLB. His speech made several of the younger baseball players tear up, like Julio Rodriguez. They know that his knowledge of the game that he can pass on to them is so priceless.

So now after retiring he finally learns enough English to give a speech without needing his trusty translator.

FYI: Ichiro was able to make small talk with his teammates for a long time. Speaking in front of millions of people who are clinging to your every word, searching for some mistake to pounce on to twist it into a scandalous moment or soundbite, is another scary matter.

I'm sure he could try to speak in front of the media in English, but I can guarantee that something would not come out right and the media being as they are will twist it into some kind of scandal. Ichiro was smart enough to avoid that and concentrate on the play on the field. After all, baseball fans, at least the true ones, watch their favorite players for the deeds that they do, and not the words that they speak.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Posted in: Ohtani shuts down Blue Jays in Angels' 2-0 win See in context

And to think, today, he had three hits and a homerun as a hitter. That is more hits than he gave up when he was on the mound yesterday. Wow!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Ohtani matches Babe Ruth with his 1st 10-win, 10 homer MLB season See in context

You want elite, talk Justin Verlander, Degrom, Burnes, Cease, and others.

Uhh, none of them can hit 25+ homers and 65+ RBI's and steal 10+ bases. In fact, only Ohtani can make the claim to have notched at least 10 wins, 10 homers, and 10 steals in a season. No one can make that claim. Not Verlander. Not Ruth. No one. That to me is what many people don't realize. Even MLB players are in awe of what he is doing.

Ohtani is like two players in one. FYI, each team has their own meetings just for the pitchers. There are also meeting just for hitters. He goes to them both. Also, he does double the practices. He practices pitching, and then hits the batting cages. His work ethic is unmatched. That is what the non-athlete or non-baseball player doesn't seem to realize. I can guarantee that there is not one MLB team that would be over the moon to have a Shohei Ohtani on their team. He does everything at a high level, he is the model teammate and role model, and a true ambassador of the sport. And let's not forget, he is so underpaid for what he brings in value.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Ohtani matches Babe Ruth with his 1st 10-win, 10 homer MLB season See in context

Hitting a homerun in today's game is much harder. Back then, players were basically plumbers, bricklayers, etc. as their day jobs. Nowadays, there are specialist relief pitchers whose only responsibility is to pitch two innings to pass it on to the closer. These players are now specialized. To be fair, hitters have also become specialized. It would be interesting to see how Babe Ruth would fair against a Kershaw, Verlander, De Gromm, etc. nowadays. Back then, no one was throwing 90 miles per hour. Nowadays, everyone is. Also, it would be interesting to see how Babe Ruth would handle a splitter, cutter, or slider; pitches which were not thrown back in those days.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Posted in: Want to become a swordsmith? Apprenticeship opens in Japan, but the fine print might shock you See in context

The reason why the quality of the swords made is so good is because those who study hard for doing them, do it not solely for the pursuit of money. It's like all artists and artisans. The real ones do it as their passion.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Recent Comments

Popular

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites


©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.