Ichiro record at risk in Japan; Will Japanese players become petty?

With his sharp single to center  against the Toronto Blue Jays, Ichiro Suzuki  rewrote baseball’s record books — again.

Reuters

The Thursday hit was his 200th for the season, marking a record 10th consecutive year of reaching that plateau. Since leaving Japan to take his talents across the Pacific to the Seattle Mariners in 2001, Ichiro has reached that milestone every year. He is now tied with all-time hits leader Pete Rose for most seasons with 200 hits.

Predictably, his impressive accomplishment created quite a stir in Japan. Newspapers issued special commemorative editions and Ichiro was the lead item on Japanese morning and midday TV news programs. However, lost amid the fanfare over the speedy outfielder’s latest North American record is that one of his most-famous Japanese records — the single-season hits record — may be under threat by a journeyman American playing in Ichiro’s homeland.

Matt Murton, who is in his first season with Japan after Major League stops with the Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics and Colorado Rockies, recorded three hits on Thursday in a 6-1 Hanshin Tigers victory over the Chunichi Dragons. That brought his season total to 201 hits, becoming only the fourth player ever in Nippon Professional Baseball league to top the 200 mark.

In a post-game interview, the 28-year-old Mr. Murton said he was “humbled” by the achievement and that he was thankful for the opportunity to finally showcase his talent in Japan. Mr. Murton, who is hitting .352 with 17 home runs and 85 runs batted in as a lead-off hitter and everyday left fielder for the Tigers, has 10 games left to try to best Ichiro’s record.

Ichiro holds the Japanese record for most hits in a single season with 210, a tally he reached as a baby-faced, 20-year-old outfielder for the Orix Blue Wave.  Not to be outdone, Ichiro got to 210 in 1994 in only 130 games, while Mr. Murton topped 200 in his 134th game. Ichiro also set the Major League single-season record with 262 hits in 2004.

At his current pace of 1.5 hits per game, Mr. Murton is on track to top Ichiro’s Japanese mark with 216 hits but the question remains: will pitchers here pitch to him?

There are past examples of Japanese pitchers refusing to challenge foreign players who are close to breaking Japanese baseball records. The most prominent one involves the single-season home run record of 55 held by Japan’s all-time home run king Sadaharu Oh.

On three occasions in the last 25 years, a foreign player has tied or come close to breaking Mr. Oh’s record — only to face teams managed by Mr. Oh who refused to throw strikes to those players. While it’s possible Mr. Murton may receive the same treatment, he has a few things working in his favor.

Ichiro’s mark, while respected, may not be revered quite like Mr. Oh’s home run record. Also, Ichiro is still playing and there may be less sentimental pressure to protect his record. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Hanshin is in a tight pennant race.

The Tigers are tied for second place in the Central League with the Yomiuri Giants. Both teams are 2.5 games back of first-place Chunichi but Hanshin has 10 games left to play versus three for Chunichi and eight for Yomiuri. It would be hard to imagine Japanese pitchers willing to intentionally walk the lead-off hitter of a team still in the pennant race.

Follow Daisuke Wakabayashi on Twitter @daiwaka

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Suwa Fireworks

I got in the car, picked up my girl and drove 2 hours to Suwa in
Nagano. Yay for not planning anything. Just go!!


 

See the full gallery on posterous

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Japan Seeks Changes in Education (video)

Japan is still a place where education is respected, and most people here understand the path to a good future begins here in elementary and secondary schools.  But after teaching here for 3 years now, I think there's some room for improvement....

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Facebook×日本

Looks like Facebook is making it's push into JapanLand in earnest now...  

If you want the most attention as an internet site in Japan, you NEED a mobile presence.  Twitter didn't gain traction until they got with the program....  

Who would have thought that Twitter would have become such a huge hit in Japan – well it has and this is evident from the millions who mumble online. The reason why people are shocked at Twitter’s popularity in this country is because another social networking site already tried its luck there – Facebook.

It is no secret that Japanese are busy people, so it was no wonder that Twitter would become a hit. Twitter offered its Japanese service back in 2008 and since then has become popular with the younger generation. Then it was October 2009 when Twitter released its mobile version in Japan, this opened the micro-blogging site up to a much bigger market.

Twitter has become a huge part of Japanese life, being used on TV shows, in schools where students are taught how to tweet, and all the latest Celebes in the country are also tweeting. According to Yuri Kageyama from the Canadian Press, 16.3 percent of Internet users in Japan are said to be using Twitter – that’s compared to 9.8 percent in the U.S.

Twitter has managed to do what Facebook could not, but the micro-blogging site now has to battle Mixi. However, both social networking services are running neck-and-neck.

From Product Reviews Net-- http://j.mp/9fXU3A

So now it seems Facebook is throwing its weight into the mobile space.  Can it work?  Well 6 months ago Twitted got with the Japanese Mobile Consortium and overhauled it's mobile site... 80% of Japanese twitter users are using a mobile to tweet, y'know.  Let's see if Facebook can hook it up...  They already support emoji BTW! ♥☀☁

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Another excuse to look at teen girls in sailor suits: Japan's Idol Groups

OK, so I'm guilty of thinking that Japanese girls wearing sailor suit school uniforms, running along the Japanese streetscape are cute...
Whatever lolita complex claims you have against me aside, this is a catchy tune about summertime from the Nagoya branch of AKB48, called SKE48.

SKE48 Team KII performing at the World Cosplay Summit 2010

SKE48 is an all-female Japanese theater/idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. The audition was held during the summer and debuted in October 2008. SKE48 performs in the newly built studio in the renovated Sunshine Sakae in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, every Saturday. The first SKE48 stage was a revival of Team A's Party ga Hajimaru yo.
Akimoto was offered the chance to start a production in Nagoya along with the renewal of the Sunshine Sakae, when he was thinking of making his "48 project" a nationwide project. He had a couple of offers even from outside of Japan, so he decided to use Nagoya as the place to move on with the project. Akimoto has said that selected members from both AKB48 and SKE48 may release a single, rather than releasing two different singles.^[1] But they released their first single in 2009.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here's a song by their sister group from Tokyo, AKB48...  あたしいの制服はジャマをする, or "My School Uniform is Getting in the Way"

Before you start flaming me, remember what it was like to be in high school yourself?  I was the only one of my friends with a car and not-so-strict parents, so I could hang out even on a school night...  But my friends usually couldn't, and ESPECIALLY girls I was dating, so I ended up going home early anyway...  Again Japanese teenagers are just like teens everywhere else--in a hurry to be adults. What I didn't understand then though is that becoming an adult meant more crap I gotta do...  I wish I was a damn teenager or younger again now!!

Some info about AKB48...

AKB48 performing in Osaka, Japan, 2009.

AKB48 is an all-female Japanese theater/idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. Unlike other idol groups in Japan, AKB48 is theater-based and have their own theater in Akihabara (a district in Tokyo) where they perform once every weekday, and more than once on both Saturday and Sunday. The theater is set up on the 8th floor of Don Quijote. Some of the title songs released as a single have been made a tie-in song for a television show or a television advertisement. The name derives from a shortened, Romanized representation of 'Akihabara'.
AKB48 is divided into three teams: Team A, Team K and Team B. Currently, there are 16 members in Team A, 16 members in Team K, and 16 members in Team B, getting to the total of 48 members in AKB48. Minami Takahashi is the captain of Team A, Sayaka Akimoto is the captain of Team K, and Yuki Kashiwagi is the captain of Team B.
Again, from Wikipedia

All this aside, what are your feelings about Japan teen idol groups?  When I first moved here, there was Morning Musume...  They've grown now to covering China!  I never did understand that one, but I have lots of friends that had posters, CDs and DVDs of them...  Whether you're Japanese or Gaijin, tell me what you think about this!

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Weekend Muzik: Azian Black - Gimme 5 ft. Tough Junkie (OnMu remix)

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Gimme 5 ft. Tough Junkie (OnMu remix)

Gimme 5 ft. Tough Junkie (OnMu remix) by Azian Black

gimme-5-ft-tough-junkie-onmu-remix

My Remix of the Black Sheep song "Gimme 5" off the new album "FROM THE BLACK POOL OF GENIUS"

A couple of months ago, Dres and Audible Treats launched the Prelude Remix Contest to promote the release of Dres' new album From The Black Pool Of Genius, while giving fans and aspiring producers the unique opportunity to be involved with the project. Dres gave aspiring and established producers alike the opportunity to remix all five cuts off Dres' From The Black Pool Of Genius: The Prelude EP, with the best submission of each of the five tracks to be selected by Dres and released on the official Prelude Remix EP, which will be subsequently available via all major digital retailers in the near future. In addition to each winner having their version included on the official Remix EP, Dres will also record one 16 bar verse for each of the winning producers on a beat of their choice, and each producer will win a free drum pack from Platinum Loops: the Hip-Hop Drums – Blazin Beats Volume 1 Sample Pack. Winning producers will also receive a signed copy of the From The Black Pool Of Genius: The Prelude EP. Now, after much listening, deliberation, and consideration by Dres, the winners have been chosen.

Winners:
"Forever Luvlee" - Little Rooster
"Gimme 5" - Marcus Jacobi
"Pretty Bum" - Little Rooster
"Doin' It Wrong" - Jim B
"Road Warrior" - Digs Dorfman

Due to an overwhelming amount of quality, Dres would also like to honor those who did not make the cut but offered outstanding remixes nonetheless.

Honorable Mentions:
Jesse Semanko, Curtis Bay, Matic, DJ Prosha and DJ Navvy, Patric of NatureTone Productions, DJ Bazooka Joe, Taz of OnMugen (Azian Black), Invoker Sounds, Paul Damerau, Krisztian Jozsa, Adil Hatni, Nature Tone, O Chaim, Aayhasis Timeless, Jakob Ziegler.

Release date: Jul 2, 2010

via soundcloud.com

Check it-- My man's track is hot yo. I didn't even know Black Sheep were still recording, but why not... I mean they're in the same class as Gangstarr, Afrika Bambataa, Tribe Called Quest, The Roots and P.E. And my man OnMugen (twitter: @OnMugen) is HOTTTTT. Dude gonna get kicked outta his 'hood in Yokohama for havin' the beats too loud when he's remixin... Or else I'm gettin pulled over by Aichi cops for havin' the Benz blastin' with his tunes... Whatevz.. Check these tunes and holla atcha boi.

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Only in Japan (just damn!)

via myhumors99.com

As my buddy Adam Pasion points out, once you've lived here long enough, this stuff becomes normal... Well most of it anyway.

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