Jim Allen
@tokyojimallen.bsky.social
Writing about Japanese baseball since 1993, lover of history and language. Kindness and forgiveness are super powers available to all of us.
Teruyo and I stanning at the stage door with Amanda Reid, who is making her broadway debut starring in the musical “Hell’s Kitchen.”
October 26, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Teruyo and I stanning at the stage door with Amanda Reid, who is making her broadway debut starring in the musical “Hell’s Kitchen.”
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.
jballallen.com/japans-white...
jballallen.com/japans-white...
July 16, 2025 at 12:12 AM
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.
jballallen.com/japans-white...
jballallen.com/japans-white...
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...
jballallen.com/takahashi-op...
May 1, 2025 at 2:56 PM
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...
jballallen.com/takahashi-op...
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-...
jballallen.com/jay-jackson-...
April 1, 2025 at 12:10 PM
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-...
jballallen.com/jay-jackson-...
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。」
t.co/tiSdsr859f
t.co/tiSdsr859f
April 1, 2025 at 6:16 AM
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。」
t.co/tiSdsr859f
t.co/tiSdsr859f
Takuya Kai and Trey Cabbage continued to make coleslaw out of Yakult pitching as Yomiuri remained one of four unbeaten teams after two days of Japan's young season.
jballallen.com/npb-news-mar...
jballallen.com/npb-news-mar...
March 29, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Takuya Kai and Trey Cabbage continued to make coleslaw out of Yakult pitching as Yomiuri remained one of four unbeaten teams after two days of Japan's young season.
jballallen.com/npb-news-mar...
jballallen.com/npb-news-mar...
Jason Kendall talks about the quality of Japanese catching, as he and Akinori Iwamura suggest how both Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball both could be better if they paid more attention to what the other is doing.
jballallen.com/fundamentall...
jballallen.com/fundamentall...
March 23, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Jason Kendall talks about the quality of Japanese catching, as he and Akinori Iwamura suggest how both Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball both could be better if they paid more attention to what the other is doing.
jballallen.com/fundamentall...
jballallen.com/fundamentall...
For a change, I'm not ragging (much) on either Major League Baseball or Nippon Professional Baseball but reflecting on what former players said last week about ways both could be better.
jballallen.com/fundamentall...
jballallen.com/fundamentall...
March 23, 2025 at 9:53 AM
For a change, I'm not ragging (much) on either Major League Baseball or Nippon Professional Baseball but reflecting on what former players said last week about ways both could be better.
jballallen.com/fundamentall...
jballallen.com/fundamentall...
The director of a crew that’s been filming me this week goaded me into talking with Mr. Baseball star Ken Watanabe.
March 18, 2025 at 10:41 AM
The director of a crew that’s been filming me this week goaded me into talking with Mr. Baseball star Ken Watanabe.
My scoresheet from when Shohei Ohtani hit a pinch-hit double against the Netherlands in Nov. 2016 that never came down—until workers extracted it from Tokyo Dome’s ceiling.
February 5, 2025 at 9:54 AM
My scoresheet from when Shohei Ohtani hit a pinch-hit double against the Netherlands in Nov. 2016 that never came down—until workers extracted it from Tokyo Dome’s ceiling.
Perhaps i did inherit a tiny bit of my otherwise useless father’s mechanical genius as I was able to replace my half-functional usb-c ports on my mac that had prevented me from charging and backing up at the same time.
February 1, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Perhaps i did inherit a tiny bit of my otherwise useless father’s mechanical genius as I was able to replace my half-functional usb-c ports on my mac that had prevented me from charging and backing up at the same time.
NPB has a problem now that Roki Sasaki has shown how a top amateur star can configure his move to MLB so that it does not have any merit for his Japanese club. But fixing the problem will require NPB to grow a pair.
jballallen.com/time-for-npb...
jballallen.com/time-for-npb...
January 18, 2025 at 5:19 PM
NPB has a problem now that Roki Sasaki has shown how a top amateur star can configure his move to MLB so that it does not have any merit for his Japanese club. But fixing the problem will require NPB to grow a pair.
jballallen.com/time-for-npb...
jballallen.com/time-for-npb...
Ichiro Suzuki's opinions about conventional wisdom on one hand, and the influence of analytics tell us a lot about his appeal.
jballallen.com/ichiro-suzuk...
jballallen.com/ichiro-suzuk...
January 18, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Ichiro Suzuki's opinions about conventional wisdom on one hand, and the influence of analytics tell us a lot about his appeal.
jballallen.com/ichiro-suzuk...
jballallen.com/ichiro-suzuk...
On the way back from our daily walk to Queen’s Beach for the sunset, we were treated to a beautiful crescent moon near Venus.
January 12, 2025 at 1:14 PM
On the way back from our daily walk to Queen’s Beach for the sunset, we were treated to a beautiful crescent moon near Venus.
An unexpected Jan. 2 highlight was a hike to Diamond Head and up to the top.
January 12, 2025 at 1:09 PM
An unexpected Jan. 2 highlight was a hike to Diamond Head and up to the top.
My 2025 ballot for the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame Players Division:
Ichiro Suzuki, Kazuo Matsui, Shinnosuke Abe, Tadahito Iguchi, Michihiro Ogasawara, Tuffy Rhodes, Hitoki Iwase.
Ichiro Suzuki, Kazuo Matsui, Shinnosuke Abe, Tadahito Iguchi, Michihiro Ogasawara, Tuffy Rhodes, Hitoki Iwase.
December 13, 2024 at 6:56 AM
My 2025 ballot for the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame Players Division:
Ichiro Suzuki, Kazuo Matsui, Shinnosuke Abe, Tadahito Iguchi, Michihiro Ogasawara, Tuffy Rhodes, Hitoki Iwase.
Ichiro Suzuki, Kazuo Matsui, Shinnosuke Abe, Tadahito Iguchi, Michihiro Ogasawara, Tuffy Rhodes, Hitoki Iwase.
Coming home from winter meetings indulgence👌👌👌
December 11, 2024 at 11:17 AM
Coming home from winter meetings indulgence👌👌👌
It’s 2025 ballot day for the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
December 5, 2024 at 5:33 AM
It’s 2025 ballot day for the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
Tomoyuki Sugano is looking for an MLB job now for the 2nd time as a CL MVP, Kensuke Kondo gets an overdue honor, my votes and rankings, the oddities of Japan's ballot, and I'll gladly be nice if it avoids my getting decapitated.
jballallen.com/sugano-kondo...
jballallen.com/sugano-kondo...
November 26, 2024 at 5:33 PM
Tomoyuki Sugano is looking for an MLB job now for the 2nd time as a CL MVP, Kensuke Kondo gets an overdue honor, my votes and rankings, the oddities of Japan's ballot, and I'll gladly be nice if it avoids my getting decapitated.
jballallen.com/sugano-kondo...
jballallen.com/sugano-kondo...