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2 weeks ago | 
featured.japan-forward.com | Jim Armstrong
Reigning Formula One champion Max Verstappen continued his mastery at the Suzuka Circuit on Sunday, April 6, holding off the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to win his fourth straight Japanese Grand Prix. Starting from pole position, the Red Bull driver maintained his lead throughout the race, except briefly after a pit stop midway through, and took the checkered flag after 53 laps with a 1.423-second lead over Norris for his first win of 2025.
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2 weeks ago | 
featured.japan-forward.com | Jim Armstrong
Reigning Formula One champion Max Verstappen stormed to his fourth straight pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday, April 5, but his teammate Yuki Tsunoda had a disappointing debut for Red Bull. Verstappen edged McLaren driver Lando Norris by 0.012 seconds in the final qualifying session with a new lap record of 1 minute, 26.983 seconds at the Suzuka Circuit. Chinese Grand Prix winner Oscar Piastri, also of McLaren, was third fastest in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture.
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2 weeks ago | 
japan-forward.com | Jim Armstrong
Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda heads into his home Grand Prix with the biggest opportunity of his Formula One career. After just two races, Red Bull announced on Thursday, March 27, that Tsunoda would replace Liam Lawson at the senior team beginning with the April 4-6 Japanese Grand Prix at the Suzuka Circuit. Lawson will move down to Racing Bulls (Red Bull's second-tier team), where Tsunoda started the 2025 season. It's a huge step up for Tsunoda, who gets a seat at one of Formula One's elite teams.
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3 weeks ago | 
featured.japan-forward.com | Jim Armstrong
Katsuki Azuma went seven scoreless innings on Friday, March 28 as the defending Japan Series champion Yokohama DeNA BayStars opened the 2025 NPB regular season with a 5-0 win over the Chunichi Dragons. Azuma, who was 13-4 last season, struck out five and held the Chunichi batters to four hits on 93 pitches over seven innings before a crowd of 33,840 at Yokohama Stadium.
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1 month ago | 
featured.japan-forward.com | Jim Armstrong
Ozeki Onosato shoved out veteran Takayasu in a winner-take-all playoff on Sunday March 23 to win his third Emperor's Cup on the final day of the Spring Basho. Both grapplers won their bouts in regulation to improve to 12-3 and force the playoff where the 35-year-old Takayasu was bidding for his first Emperor's Cup against the 24-year-old Onosato.
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1 month ago | 
featured.japan-forward.com | Jim Armstrong
Sekiwake Oho upset ozeki Onosato on Friday, March 21 to leave veteran Takayasu as the sole leader with just two days remaining in the Spring Basho. In the day's final bout at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, Oho deployed a series of rapid arm thrusts to the upper body to send Onosato out and over the edge. Oho improved to 5-8 while Onosato dropped to 10-3, one win back of Takayasu.
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1 month ago | 
featured.japan-forward.com | Jim Armstrong
Roki Sasaki madę his major league debut on Wednesday, March 19 and Shohei Ohtani gave the fans a thrill with his first home run of the season as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs 6-3 to complete a two-game sweep of their MLB season-opening Tokyo Series. With the defending World Series champions leading 5-2, Ohtani came up to bat in the top of the fifth before 42,367 at Tokyo Dome and crushed a solo homer off Chicago pitcher Nate Pearson.
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1 month ago | 
featured.japan-forward.com | Jim Armstrong
Shohei Ohtani sparked a three-run rally on Tuesday, March 18 as the Los Angeles Dodgers began their World Series title defense with a 4-1 win over the Chicago Cubs in the MLB season-opening Tokyo Series. The game started out as a historic showdown between Japanese pitchers Shota Imanaga of the Cubs and Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers. It was the first time in the history of MLB that two Japanese pitchers faced each other to start the season.
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1 month ago | 
featured.japan-forward.com | Jim Armstrong
Rank-and-filer Takayasu recorded a huge upset win over grand champion Hoshoryu on Sunday, March 16 while maintaining a share of the lead at the midway point of the Spring Basho. In the day's final bout at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, fourth-ranked maegashira Takayasu got a left-handed grip on the belt of the newly promoted yokozuna and knocked Hoshoryu off balance before shoving him off the raised ring.
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1 month ago | 
featured.japan-forward.com | Jim Armstrong
With five Japanese players taking part in MLB's season-opening Tokyo Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs, local fans have plenty to cheer for and be proud of. While 2024 National League MVP Shohei Ohtani is the big attraction for Japanese fans, the locals are also cheering on his LA teammates Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki are the two Japanese players on the Cubs.
