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  • Hoffenheim makes offer to Usami
    Japanese Olympic hopeful Takashi Usami has had an offer to join German first-division club Hoffenheim from Bayern Munich, a Gamba Osaka source said Wednesday.
    Usami, who had been on loan to Bayern from Gamba this season, made just three appearances in the Bundesliga and his deal expires at the end of June.




  • Djokovic wins on red clay in Rome
    Top-ranked Novak Djokovic made a solid return to red-clay courts, dominating Australian teenager Bernard Tomic 6-3, 6-3 Tuesday night to open his Italian Open title defense.
    On the women's side, Serena Williams beat 46th-ranked Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-3 for her 14th consecutive victory, following titles in Charleston, South Carolina, and Madrid — and two wins in Fed Cup. Also, Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and defending champion Maria Sharapova won in straight sets at Foro Italico to reach the third round.




  • Genba sues publisher for quoting him as saying Senkakus could be handed over to China
    Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba has sued major publisher Shinchosha, claiming his reputation was damaged by a magazine article quoting him as allegedly saying Japan could hand over the Senkaku Islands to China if Beijing wants them, it was learned Wednesday.
    In the suit filed with Tokyo District Court, Genba is seeking ¥33 million in damages and an apology in print from the publisher.




  • FC Tokyo suffers first defeat in Asian Champions League
    FC Tokyo went down 1-0 away to South Korea's Ulsan Hyundai in the Asian Champions League on Wednesday, a first defeat of the competition costing the Emperor's Cup holders a home tie against J. League champions Kashiwa Reysol in the round of 16.
    Both teams had already qualified for the next stage but Tokyo only needed a draw to secure top spot in Group F and home advantage against Reysol, who finished second in Group H after a gutsy 2-0 win at Jeonbuk Motors on Tuesday.




  • Deficiency found in some solar-eclipse glasses in Japan
    A group of astronomers has warned that some eclipse glasses sold in Japan have been found to be insufficiently lightproof to safely view the upcoming annular solar eclipse and could cause retinopathy when observers see the sun through them.
    The Japan committee for the annular solar eclipse 2012, which comprises academic and amateur astronomers, called on observers to make sure they have proper glasses before the eclipse, expected to occur Monday.




  • There is trouble on Kafka's shore
    Seventy-six-year-old theater director Yukio Ninagawa is famed and honored the world over for his magnificently visualized stagings of Shakespeare and Ancient Greek tragedies — as well as modern Japanese plays.
    He was awarded a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2002, and has been invited to present his latest interpretation of "Cymbeline," at the World Shakespeare Festival in London this month.




  • Cavs' Irving named Rookie of the Year
    Once Kyrie Irving finished cracking jokes, thanking Cleveland's fans, his teammates and coaches, he looked down from the podium at the person who promised this would happen.
    He was the NBA's Rookie of the Year.




  • Japan Post profit increases 12%
    Japan Post Holdings Co. is reporting that its group net profit for fiscal 2011 increased 11.9 percent from the previous year to ¥468.9 billion, the most since privatization of the postal system started in October 2007.
    The increase was attributable primarily to the Japan Post group's bonus cut equivalent to 1.3 months' wages for the year to March.




  • DoCoMo expands offerings for handsets
    NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Wednesday it will expand smartphone services, including offering unlimited access to "anime" and music as well as a text translation service.
    The No. 1 carrier appears to be striving to reinforce its competitive edge and seeking new sources of revenue, as competition with rival carriers has intensified due to the rapid growth of smartphones.




  • Noda's call for talks with LDP boss Tanigaki on tax hike is rejected
    Saying "the time is not ripe," Liberal Democratic Party chief Sadakazu Tanigaki rejected an overture by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda for talks earlier this month to secure help from the main opposition party to pass a law raising the sales tax, political sources said Wednesday.
    Noda, who heads the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, has said he is staking his "political life" on the tax hike plan, and was apparently aiming to break the deadlock in the opposition-controlled House of Councilors, the sources said.




  • Kisenosato continues march toward victory
    Kisenosato took a big step toward becoming the first Japanese-born winner in over six years Wednesday, beating fellow ozeki Kakuryu on the second attempt to move two wins clear of the field heading into the final stretch of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament.
    Kisenosato, promoted to sumo's second-highest rank after the Kyushu meet last November, and Kakuryu (7-4) had to go through a rematch after both were deemed by ringside judges to have hit the dirt at the same time in their initial clash at Ryogoku Kokugikan.




  • Zaccheroni needs European contingent to hit ground running
    Alberto Zaccheroni may have blotted his copybook with defeats in Japan's last two competitive matches, but the national team manager will only have eyes for the here and now as he begins his preparations for the final round of World Cup qualifiers this week.
    Zaccheroni on Friday names his squad for next Wednesday's warmup friendly against Azerbaijan in Shizuoka, with the Italian set to draw heavily from his Europe-based contingent ahead of next month's qualifiers against Oman, Jordan and Australia. Losses to North Korea and Uzbekistan at the end of the previous round cost Zaccheroni the unbeaten record he had held since taking over in September 2010, but with the majority of his players arriving straight from the end of the European club season, the dynamic this time will be significantly different.




  • Fiscal stimulus puts charge into economy
    The economy grew an annualized real 4.1 percent in the three months through March from the previous quarter, beating market forecasts on strong consumption supported by the government's fiscal stimulus, the Cabinet Office said Thursday.
    The result added to the view the world's third-largest economy is recovering from the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, also helped by the acceleration of public works projects for reconstruction following the disasters, as well as a pickup in exports that signaled a recovery in the U.S. economy and diminished effects of the massive flooding in Thailand last fall.




  • Johjima scheduled for back surgery next week
    Hanshin Tigers catcher Kenji Johjima, who has been sidelined with pain in his sciatic nerve, said Wednesday he will have back surgery sometime next week.
    The 35-year-old, who aims to return to action this season, will require a month of recovery before he can resume practice after having his hernia removed.




  • Tepco halts dividends, so metro buses to run red ink
    The Tokyo Metropolitan Government's bus operations, running in the black since 2003, probably lost money for the first time for fiscal 2011, and the major reason is the dividends from Tokyo Electric Power Co. shares have dried up.
    While many bus operators, public and private, have been losing money for more than a decade amid the declining population and rise in other transportation options, the metropolitan government's bus operation has logged profits since 2003.