House byline
Sports correspondent
Asuka Mori is a house byline for InfoHandle’s Sports desk.
J.League officials confirmed video assistant referees for all three 2025 J1 promotion playoff matches, extending VAR beyond the final for the first time in the second-tier promotion series.
Vissel Kobe scored a late winner against Gamba Osaka at Noevir Stadium to seize the J1 lead after the Sports Day break, tightening a title race that had been deadlocked for weeks.
Samurai Japan manager Hideki Kuriyama named his bullpen order for Wednesday’s Tokyo Dome friendly against Mexico, prioritizing left-handed matchups ahead of November’s Premier12 window.
JT Marvelous swept Toray Arrows in straight sets at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza, opening the V.League women’s season with middle blocker Mei Oshima posting a .550 attack efficiency in front of a sellout Sports Day crowd.
The Pacific League’s Climax Series opens Saturday at Belluna Dome with Seibu hosting Nippon-Ham while SoftBank waits in the final stage.
The Hanshin Tigers lead the Yomiuri Giants by one game entering the Central League’s final regular-season week before the Climax Series.
The Hanshin Tigers enter the final regular-season week atop the Central League after clinching their eighth pennant on October 3, tuning rotations before the Climax Series while the Giants chase a playoff berth two games back.
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks celebrated their Pacific League pennant at PayPay Dome while Yomiuri Giants coaches debated whether to rest arms before a potential wild-card series.
Hanshin Tigers fans flooded Osaka’s Dotonbori canal district after the club secured its first back-to-back Central League pennant when the Giants lost Saturday night.
Formula One practice opened at Suzuka Circuit with a near-capacity main grandstand as Japanese fans arrived early for the Japanese Grand Prix weekend.
Vissel Kobe beat Shanghai Port 2-1 at home to advance in the AFC Champions League Elite knockout round, with Yoshinori Muto scoring the winner in stoppage time.
Vissel Kobe beat Shanghai Port 2-1 on Wednesday at Noevir Stadium to reach the AFC Champions League Elite last sixteen on aggregate away goals.
Yokozuna contender Onosato improved to 12-0 at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Tuesday, beating komusubi Takayasu with an outside arm throw that kept the race for his first championship title alive at Ryogoku Kokugikan.
The Yomiuri Giants clinched the Central League pennant Monday night with a comeback win over the Hanshin Tigers at Tokyo Dome, securing their first league title since 2023 before a largely full house after the Asian Games baseball break.
Yokohama F. Marinos beat Kawasaki Frontale 4–3 on penalties in the J-League’s first post–Asian Games matchday, reopening the title race after a three-week pause.
Onosato and Aonishiki carry matching 11-3 records into the final day of the Aki Basho at Ryōgoku Kokugikan, where one bout decides the yusho — and, if the tie holds, the Japan Sumo Association's kettei-sen playoff decides the rest.
Okinawa Arena’s opening-week gate hit a record 19,616 over two games as the B.League season tipped off, giving the Ryukyu Golden Kings a sellout baseline—and the league a local test case beyond the Samurai Blue window.
Suzuka Circuit logistics teams staged Formula 1 freight and hospitality modules Thursday as Ise Bay shipping lanes normalized after typhoon-related delays, giving Asuka Mori’s sports desk a timing story on customs clearances, crane slots, and October race-week labor before Asian autumn qualifiers crowd Japan’s motor sport calendar.
Japan Football Association named a 26-man Samurai Blue squad for the October FIFA window, pairing Europe-based regulars with J.League form players before Asian third-round qualifiers resume against a rival chasing the same automatic berth.