Tokyo, 6 May, /AJMEDIA/
Baseball: Shohei Ohtani homers twice, goes 4-for-4 as Dodgers down Braves
LOS ANGELES – Shohei Ohtani tied the MLB home run lead of 10 on Sunday after hitting two in a single game for the first time this season, going 4-for-4 with three RBIs in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 5-1 win over the Atlanta Braves.
Batting second as designated hitter, the two-way star went deep in back-to-back games to put the Dodgers on the board with a two-run shot with no outs in the first inning, launching one off a 2-1 curveball from Max Fried (2-1) over center field at Dodger Stadium.
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Audi builds first charging hub outside of Europe in Tokyo in EV push
TOKYO – Audi AG has set up its first electric vehicle charging hub outside of Europe in central Tokyo to spur use of all-electric cars in a country slow to embrace the technology.
The facility, the seventh by the automaker, opened in late April next to its dealership in Kioicho, a district close to many offices, commercial facilities and government buildings, offering four charging points with 150-kilowatt capabilities, the maker of the Q4 e-tron sport utility vehicle said.
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Basketball: Yuta Watanabe’s arrival to elevate B-League’s stature
TOKYO – Departing the NBA with 213 games under his belt, Yuta Watanabe will have plenty of suitors in his homeland after declaring he will join Japan’s B-League ahead of the 2024-2025 season.
While the signing of one of Japan’s biggest-ever basketball stars will be a coup for one team, it will provide an overall boost for a league rapidly gaining popularity following the success of the Watanabe-led national team at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Okinawa.
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Japan left to rethink COVID grants as telework facilities empty out
TOKYO – Japanese municipalities are increasingly being left to rethink the use of coronavirus-era government subsidies as remote work facilities built with the funding are falling into disuse, a survey by Kyodo News found Sunday.
Since the legal status of COVID-19 was downgraded to the same category as seasonal influenza a year ago, some facilities have already been forced to close due to dwindling usage, while others have been repurposed, hosting events such as matchmaking gatherings.
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Trains restart at Kyoto Station after report of suspicious items
KYOTO – Train services in parts of western Japan restarted at around 6 p.m. Sunday after being disrupted earlier in the day due to a report of suspicious items found at Kyoto Station, the operator said.
Police said a passenger found a backpack on a train upon its arrival at the station. They said the backpack was notable because it had kanji characters spelling out what appeared to be a chemical name.
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Football: Hidemasa Morita’s Sporting win Portuguese league as Benfica fall
EINDHOVEN, Netherlands – Japan midfielder Hidemasa Morita won his first overseas title Sunday as Sporting Lisbon clinched the Portuguese Primeira Liga with two games to spare.
Ruben Amorim-led Sporting beat Portimonense 3-0 at home on Saturday to move up to 84 points, eight clear at the top of the table. Second-placed Benfica’s 2-0 loss at Famalicao on Sunday meant Sporting cannot be overtaken by their city rivals.
