Shohei Ohtani and reigning champ Japan faced Venezuela team in WBC quarterfinals. Check out the highlights.

Team Japan manager Hirokazu Ibata announced he will step down from his position after the World Baseball Classic. Japan was eliminated from the WBC on Saturday with an 8-5 loss to Venezuela in the tournament quarterfinals. Samurai Japan built a 5-2 lead after three innings, powered by home runs from Shohei Ohtani and Shota Morishita.

In Japan, small gestures matter. From how to hold your bowl to what to do with rubbish, our local expert explores Japanese social etiquette – and how travellers can follow with ease.

Any decision to dispatch Japanese military vessels to the Middle East to escort ships would face “high hurdles,” a senior official said, after President Donald Trump expressed hopes that Tokyo would join the US to keep the Strait of Hormuz “open and safe.

We went to Japan as empty nesters and were able to explore new experiences together. The trip reminded me that I still enjoy my husband's company.

SYDNEY (AP) — Toko Koga headed in two goals as Japan routed Philippines 7-0 on Sunday to advance to the Women’s Asian Cup semifinals and secure a spot in next year’s World Cup in Brazil. The 20-year-old Tottenham defender scored in first-half stoppage time and again in the 76th minute as Japan improved its tally to 24 goals and none conceded so far in the 2026 championship.

Whatever the case, Samurai Japan has a major decision to make between now and then: It has to figure out what it wants to be. Because the Japanese received a definitive verdict on the state of their game in their 8–5 loss to Venezuela in the quarterfinals of the WBC. What they’re doing isn’t working.