Jim Allen

Teruyo and I stanning at the stage door with Amanda Reid, who is making her broadway debut starring in the musical “Hell’s Kitchen.”

Finding a baseball MAGAT is like finding a haystack hidden behind a needle.

I have three tickets tomorrow for the Swallows and Dragons at Jingu Stadium.

Japan and NPB share a dilemma With Japan’s All-Star games coming up on Wednesday and Thursday, it is worth mentioning that the Central League will field four non-domestic signings on its roster, one short of the five play…

NPB's all-star game and Sunday's election both highlight a huge problem: How should Japan best accommodate the imported talent it so badly needs?

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Tough times for Bauer The Japan Series champion DeNA BayStars lost 4-3 in Hiroshima to the Carp Wednesday. Trevor Bauer (4-8) allowed all four Hiroshima runs on six hits including a pair of doubles and his Central Leagu…

Trevor Bauer's struggles continued Wednesday, but at least he didn't murder anyone, unlike two NPB pitchers I've known...

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Photo of fans on a Japanese baseball field during the pandemic

A story Kyodo News did not want published: how NPB teams have used their COVID 19 emergency powers to drastically reduce and control press access to this day.

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Japan’s white lies In Japan, one becomes accustomed to people saying things that are patently false. The hero interviewee who jacked a fat pitch into the third deck at Osaka Dome for a decisive home run will typicall…

A story Kyodo News did not want published: how NPB teams have used their COVID 19 emergency powers to drastically reduce press access to this day.

jballallen.com/japans-white...

Inside out On Sunday, I wrote about how my sudden shift from Japanese baseball insider to outsider taught me about Japan’s group dynamics and its media in “Japan’s Sound of Silence.” B…

After 26 years inside the world of Japanese baseball, I am finally finally free — and it feels good.

In a country where most fight to stay on the inside, I’m now on the outside, where truth is permitted and sometimes even welcomed.

jballallen.com/inside-out/

Japan’s sound of silence In 26 years as a credentialed member of Japan’s baseball media, I never quite came to grips with how companies, political parties and public figures have generally managed to prevent or delay…

There are powerful forces behind the Japanese media's spineless reporting -- as I learned the hard way this spring when trying to continue reporting on baseball as an independent after being mandatorily retired.

jballallen.com/japans-sound...

Japan’s most dominant Who has been the most dominant pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball history, and how would one go about answering this question? It’s not an easy answer, since baseball careers represent m…

How would you go about identifying the most dominant pitching seasons in NPB history? I gave it a shot as I try to identify Japan's most dominant seasons and stretches?

The best three-year stretch in history might be a surprise...

jballallen.com/japans-most-...

Have 2 tickets to the July 1 Hawks-Fighters game at Tokyo Dome if anyone Is interested.

Ike was hated by Republicans who wanted a president who believed that some people were born to rule and others were born to be exploited.

Baseball thinking, neurodiversity and Japan It’s often said one can learn a lot about societies by observing how it treats its most vulnerable members. Are they exploited, shunned, persecuted, or neglected? Or are they welcomed and all…

Baseball has difficulty dealing with people who think differently, and Japan shares this handicap.

My experience as a neurodivergent member of Japan's baseball media.

jballallen.com/baseball-thi...

Nagashima: A giant among Giants Japanese baseball’s most popular player ever, Shigeo Nagashima, passed away last week at the age of 89, and across Japan, ballparks began flying their flags and observing moments of silence f…

I've thought long and hard about the late Shigeo Nagashima and his place in the baseball cosmos, not as the ultimate player or manager, but as the ultimate showman in a nation that badly needed him.

jballallen.com/nagashima-a-...

At the ballpark with Jim You can attend a Japanese baseball game with Jim, the only foreign journalist to ever cast votes for the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, by appointment. To arrange a date, contact Jim Allen at: gui…

Interested in attending an NPB game with the only foreign journalist to cast votes in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame?

jballallen.com/at-the-ballp...

In addition to private ballpark tours, I am offering guided historic private and group tours of Tokyo, making use of my 40-plus years experience in Japan.

Since being put out to pasture by Kyodo News, I have found an interesting new side gig, giving tours of Tokyo for a local company, where I put my 40 years of fascination with Japan to good use.

I am, however, now hosting private tours--including trips to ballparks--for those visiting Japan.

Marines look at new base The Lotte Marines, in cooperation with the city of Chiba and Chiba Prefecture are looking at relocating across the street from their current digs, city-owned and Lotte-operated Chiba Marine Stadium…

Lotte Marines looking to abandon Chiba Marine Stadium and move across the street.

jballallen.com/marines-look...

With a win finally under his belt, Seibu Lions pitcher Kona Takahashi opens up a bit about his disastrous, winless 2024 season that interrupted his smooth progress toward MLB.

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Photo of Kona Takahashi

With a win finally under his belt, Seibu Lions pitcher Kona Takahashi opens up a bit about his disastrous, winless 2024 season that interrupted his smooth progress toward a move to MLB.

jballallen.com/takahashi-op...

Prime time Former Yomiuri Giants star Warren Cromartie and I had an argument the other day about when ballplayers reach their prime, and since I tend to be a know-it-all, I looked to see what the evidence sug…

A recent disagreement with Warren Cromartie led me down a research rabbit hole, asking when exactly do Japanese players reach their prime?

jballallen.com/prime-time/

NPB news: April 5, 2025 “It can’t get worse than this” That’s what Hawks manager Hiroki Kokubo said Saturday after SoftBank’s second straight loss to the Seibu Lions, the Hawks’ fifth straight at home. Of course, there are many things…

DeNA and Hiroshima played a game of closer Russian Roulette, three Swallows had a memorable game, and Hawks manager Hiroki Kokubo thinks things "can't get worse."

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"When publicizing your product is a bad thing" -- my subscribers newsletter is now out.

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NPB news: April 3, 2025 Masahiro Tanaka made his first start as a Giant Thursday, when we had a Maddux and an entertaining pitchers’ duel in Osaka. Yesterday, I spoke too soon about how the winless had all won, forg…

Masahiro Tanaka is back as a Giant, there was a Maddux and a spiffy pitchers' duel between Anthony Kay and Jon Duplantier, while Seibu remains winless regardless of what I wrote Wednesday.

jballallen.com/npb-news-apr...

NPB’s fear of fan video a telling sign Japanese pro baseball showed its true colors this week, when the Nippon Ham Fighters revealed Monday that they were smacked down for asserting the individual team rights that NPB trumpets as the fo…

As promised: The fight over letting fans share video of games, and NPB's refusal to sell its marquee products and games overseas reveal Japanese pro baseball's hypocritical heart of darkness, how team independence masks their true subservient status.

jballallen.com/npbs-fear-of...

NPB news: April 2, 2025 Nobody’s perfect in Japanese pro baseball, not the Lotte Marines dropped their home opener Wednesday following their weekend sweep of the SoftBank Hawks, and not the Yomiuri Giants’ Hay…

Japan's winless have won, and nobody's perfect, not the Lotte Marines, who finally lost, and not Hayato Sakamoto, who faces a taxing situation...

jballallen.com/npb-news-apr...

NPB news: April 1, 2025 Only one team remained undefeated in Japanese pro baseball Tuesday, when three teams entered with 3-0 records. The Lotte Marines, unbeaten on the field, were however, beaten by the rainy weather in…

New Dragon Kyle Muller had a nifty nine-strikeout NPB debut, DeNA's Andre Jackson kept rolling, and Livan Moinelo gave SoftBank some good news on a dark day.

jballallen.com/npb-news-apr...

Photo of Jay Jackson and Jim Allen

Pitcher Jay Jackson is finally leaving pro baseball. As a player, he won a legion of fans, suffered serious heartbreak, and was entrapped in a bizarre legal entanglement. He also helped me learn how one part of Japanese baseball is not like the others'.

jballallen.com/jay-jackson-...

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福留孝介の写真

福留孝介：今永選手は、私が越えられなかったMLBの壁を超えている.　「もっともっと積極的になれてたら良かったと思う。」
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