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Toreba no Toraba: Cursed or Just Really Bad?

Toreba no Toraba: Cursed or Just Really Bad?

From the Daily Sports Online column / デイリースポーツオンラインの連載コラムから The Hanshin Tigers have won the Japan Series for the first time in 38 years, ending the second-longest drought in NPB. (The Carp have now gone 39 seasons without a championship, and will be playing for their first in 40 years next season.) Thanks in large part…

Hasegawa: How I Studied English in the Majors

Hasegawa: How I Studied English in the Majors

From 2018-23, I was a full-time lecturer at Ritsumeikan University. You might recall that for a stretch there, we were under pandemic rules, which meant that classes were conducted entirely online. Perhaps it was because of this dearth of networking opportunities, one of the school’s alumni, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, conducted a Zoom session to talk about…

Talk Show MC T-Ray?

Talk Show MC T-Ray?

Saturday, December 2. Just a three-minute walk south of Hanshin Amagasaki Station is a building that was once Kaimei Elementary School. On the first floor at the end of the hall (literally the same hallway they used when it was a school) is Nanairo Cafe – a fairly basic place where people can sit and…

NPB Awards: Murakami Makes History!

NPB Awards: Murakami Makes History!

On Tuesday night (November 28) in Tokyo, Nippon Professional Baseball held its annual awards ceremony to recognize excellent players and their contributions to the game. Here’s how it went down for our Hanshin Tigers. Matsutaro Shoriki Award: Akinobu Okada Central League MVP: Shoki Murakami Central League Rookie of the Year: Shoki Murakami Central League Best…

Episode 188: An Interview with Author John Rucynski

Episode 188: An Interview with Author John Rucynski

Host T-Ray sits down with author and professor John Rucynski, editor-in-chief of the 2022 anthology entitled A Passion for Japan. The two discuss John’s arrival in Japan, his encounter with the Hanshin Tigers, what went right for the team in 2023, and also the book that John kindly accepted T-Ray’s chapter contribution! This is the…

Victory Parades Draw a Million Fans

Victory Parades Draw a Million Fans

The Hanshin Tigers won their first pennant in 18 years. The Orix Buffaloes won the Pacific League for the third straight season. The two teams faced off in what will surely go down as a classic Japan Series. Long before the results of that series were known (and surely, you know by now that the…