Japanese football star Kazuyoshi Miura extended his decades-long playing career on Wednesday less than a month before his 56th birthday, joining Portuguese second-division outfit Oliveirense on loan. (sportsbrief.com)

Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara lost the women's doubles final at the Australian Open on Sunday, falling short in their quest to become the first all-Japanese pair to win a Grand Slam. (Kyodo)

A retirement ceremony was held on Saturday for former sumo Grand Champion Hakuho at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. (NHK)

The Japan Sumo Association says two wrestlers will be promoted to the second-highest juryo division. One of them has become the fastest to reach the tier in decades. (NHK)

Ozeki Takakeisho won his third title on the final day of the New Year Grand Sumo tournament in Tokyo on Sunday. It was his first title since November 2020. (NHK)

Undefeated Japanese boxer Naoya Inoue announced his decision Friday to relinquish all four bantamweight belts and move up to the super bantamweight division. (Kyodo)

Former world number one tennis player Osaka Naomi has announced she is expecting her first child, just days after she pulled out of this month's Australian Open. (NHK)

The New Year Grand Sumo tournament opened in Tokyo on Sunday. This tournament has only one yokozuna, the highest rank, and a single ozeki, the second highest, on the ranking list. (NHK)

The Takagawa Gakuen high school football team in Japan used a technique of their own invention to take a free-kick, as three players kneeled in front of the wall, while three attackers danced in a circle next to the ball. (theguardian.com)

Heading into the 2022 FIFA World Cup, no one really gave Japan much hope. The Bule Samurai have impressed in recent editions of the tournament. (newsonjapan.com)

The 55-year-old Japanese soccer star Miura Kazuyoshi, known as "Kazu," has expressed a New Year's resolution to play well in the coming season. (NHK)

With yokozuna Terunofuji's future in doubt, the door is wide open for others to move up the ranks, and other sumo New Year predictions for the year to come. (japan-forward.com)

The FIFA World Cup is one of the most, if not the most important sports events in the world. (newsonjapan.com)

The founder and former chairman of a business suit retailer has admitted that he paid bribes to win sponsorship rights for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. (NHK)

A 52-year-old woman and her one-year-old grandson died after the car she was driving plunged into the sea at a port in Kuji, Iwate Prefecture, on Monday. (Japan Today)

Japanese master Daiya Seto became the first swimmer ever to claim six straight world titles in the same event at a short-course championships Saturday as Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte smashed the women’s 50-meter breaststroke record. (Japan Times)

The 2022-2023 NBA title race is wide open, and while the Golden State Warriors are by far the team that has won 4 NBA wins over the past eight seasons, in pre-season polls, pundits favored another club, the Milwaukee Bucks. (newsonjapan.com)

The J-League first division will feature 20 teams from the 2024 season, an increase from the current 18, as part of a plan to enhance its level and competitiveness, a source familiar with the matter said Wednesday. (Kyodo)

Japanese boxer Inoue Naoya has made history, becoming the first undisputed bantamweight world champion to hold all four major titles. (NHK)

Amateur gymnasts in Japan have set a world record for the most people doing back handsprings simultaneously. (NHK)