Top Sports Stories in Japan… (July 7)

Cloudy today, a bit of respite from the heat…

So, Saturday’s top sports stories in Japan would be:

• Thailand vs Iraq kicks off AFC Asian cup, but spotlight’s on Australia… [Daily Yomiuri]
• Sport Arbitration agency approved… [Mainichi Daily]
• Giants stumble against Yakult… [Daily Yomiuri]
• Orix happy with Yoshii… [Japan Times]

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Top Sports Stories in Japan… (July 6)

Today’s sports stuff…

• Japan unbeaten at U/20 Soccer (football) World Cup… [Mainichi Shimbun]
• Inoue hits 7-under to take lead at Woodone Open Hiroshima… [Daily Yomiuri]
• Hanshin rookie Wakatake’s debut spoiled by ONE hit… [Daily Yomiuri]

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More Japan loves Cute!

Japan’s obsession with all things ‘Kawaii’ has not lessened at all over the last few weeks, that’s for sure. ’90s Japanese adult-movie star Ai Iijima (now a mainstream celebrity) is in the news for having ‘found true love’… new ‘idols’ (cute celebrities) seem to spring up almost daily, and the sports-world is no different…

So just a quick update on one of Japan’s favorite idols at the moment, the 15 year old Ryo Ishikawa – nicknamed “hanikami oji” (bashful prince) who is in Nagoya to play in the Japan Amateur Championships, which started Tuesday. Normally a fairly quiet affair, the Aichi country club has had to triple the amount of security it normally employs for the event. A course official stated that normally they only have to do this for pro-events, and even then, only when a really famous golfer is playing.

Ishikawa is expected to have a following of perhaps 4,000 fans, but his aims are being kept realistic: “I want to aim at finishing first if I can get through the elimination rounds,” Ishikawa said.

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[source: Mainichi Shimbun]