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Baseball: Daisuke Matsuzaka

Seibu Lions pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka smiles at a hotel in Nango in Miyazaki Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Oct. 30, 1999, after being notified that he has received the Pacific League's rookie of the year award.

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Men's handball championship

TOKYO, Japan - Osaki Electric Co.'s Daisuke Miyazaki takes a shot during a game against Toyota Auto Body Co. in the final of the men's national handball championship on Dec. 26, 2010, in Tokyo.

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Miyazaki to return to Japanese league next season

TOKYO, Japan - Daisuke Miyazaki gestures at a press conference in Tokyo on June 3, 2010, during which he announced his return to Osaki Electric Co. of the Japan Handball League for the 2010-11 season after playing for Spanish first-division club Alcobendas.

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Miyazaki hopes to make impact with Spain's Alcobendas

TOKYO, Japan - Top Japanese handball player Daisuke Miyazaki shows his one-year contract with Spanish first-division club Alcobendas during a news conference in Tokyo on June 4. Miyazaki said, ''I'm glad my dream has come true. I'd like to become a player who will be remembered worldwide.''

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Japan finalizes WBC roster, wraps up camp

MIYAZAKI, Japan - Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki (2nd from L) and other members of the Japanese national team for the upcoming World Baseball Classic greet spectators in the rain after a practice match with Japanese club Yomiuri Giants at Sunmarine Stadium in the city of Miyazaki on Feb. 22. Suzuki and Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka are among five major leaguers named the same day to Japan's final 28-man roster for the WBC.

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Japan WBC team begins training

MIYAZAKI, Japan - Daisuke Matsuzaka (L) talks with Ichiro Suzuki (R) in Miyazaki, Kyushu, on Feb. 16 during a training session for the World Baseball Classic.

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Matsuzaka reunited with Lions in training camp

NANGO, Japan - Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka laughs while stretching at the spring training camp of Japan's Seibu Lions, to which he belonged until 2006, in Nango, Miyazaki Prefecture, on Feb 6. Matsuzaka ran and played catch with Lions players in the practice as his preparation for a special training camp of the Japanese team in the southwestern prefecture before the World Baseball Classic.

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S. Korea beats Japan in handball Olympic qualifying tournament

TOKYO, Japan - Japan's Daisuke Miyazaki (L) celebrates after scoring a goal during the first half of a replay of the men's handball Olympic qualifying tournament at Yoyogi national gymnasium in Tokyo on Jan. 30. South Korea won 28-25.

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Matsuzaka wins 2001 Sawamura Award with 15 wins

NICHINAN, Japan - Seibu Lions pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka smiles at a press conference in the town of Nango in Miyazaki Prefecture on Oct. 22 after being named winner of the Sawamura Award as best starting pitcher in 2001. Matsuzaka posted 15 wins and a personal-high 214 strikeouts this season.

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S. Korea beats Japan in handball Olympic qualifying tournament

TOKYO, Japan - Japan's Daisuke Miyazaki (L) celebrates after scoring a goal during the first half of a replay of the men's handball Olympic qualifying tournament at Yoyogi national gymnasium in Tokyo on Jan. 30. South Korea won 28-25. (Kyodo)

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Matsuzaka reunited with Lions in training camp

NANGO, Japan - Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka laughs while stretching at the spring training camp of Japan's Seibu Lions, to which he belonged until 2006, in Nango, Miyazaki Prefecture, on Feb 6. Matsuzaka ran and played catch with Lions players in the practice as his preparation for a special training camp of the Japanese team in the southwestern prefecture before the World Baseball Classic. (Kyodo)

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Japan WBC team begins training

MIYAZAKI, Japan - Daisuke Matsuzaka (L) talks with Ichiro Suzuki (R) in Miyazaki, Kyushu, on Feb. 16 during a training session for the World Baseball Classic. (Kyodo)

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Japan finalizes WBC roster, wraps up camp

MIYAZAKI, Japan - Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki (2nd from L) and other members of the Japanese national team for the upcoming World Baseball Classic greet spectators in the rain after a practice match with Japanese club Yomiuri Giants at Sunmarine Stadium in the city of Miyazaki on Feb. 22. Suzuki and Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka are among five major leaguers named the same day to Japan's final 28-man roster for the WBC. (Kyodo)

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Miyazaki hopes to make impact with Spain's Alcobendas

TOKYO, Japan - Top Japanese handball player Daisuke Miyazaki shows his one-year contract with Spanish first-division club Alcobendas during a news conference in Tokyo on June 4. Miyazaki said, ''I'm glad my dream has come true. I'd like to become a player who will be remembered worldwide.'' (Kyodo)

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Thai restaurant in ex-elementary school building in Nichinan

Daisuke Kusano (L), owner of a Thai cuisine restaurant built inside a former elementary school building in Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture, southwestern Japan, poses with Shoji Ogura (R), representative of community base "Ushionomori" which supports the launch of small enterprises and exchange among local people based in the former school, in June 2015. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Miyazaki to return to Japanese league next season

TOKYO, Japan - Daisuke Miyazaki gestures at a press conference in Tokyo on June 3, 2010, during which he announced his return to Osaki Electric Co. of the Japan Handball League for the 2010-11 season after playing for Spanish first-division club Alcobendas. (Kyodo)

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Men's handball championship

TOKYO, Japan - Osaki Electric Co.'s Daisuke Miyazaki takes a shot during a game against Toyota Auto Body Co. in the final of the men's national handball championship on Dec. 26, 2010, in Tokyo. (Kyodo)

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Matsuzaka wins 2001 Sawamura Award with 15 wins

NICHINAN, Japan - Seibu Lions pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka smiles at a press conference in the town of Nango in Miyazaki Prefecture on Oct. 22 after being named winner of the Sawamura Award as best starting pitcher in 2001. Matsuzaka posted 15 wins and a personal-high 214 strikeouts this season.

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Matsuzaka 1st high-school rookie on all-league team+

Nangou, Japan - Seibu Lions pitching sensation Daisuke Matsuzaka becomes the first rookie out of high school to be named to an all-league team in Japanese professional baseball, at a hotel in the town of Nangou, Miyazaki Prefecture, on Oct. 30. A grinning Matsuzaka is holding a square card on which he wrote ''shin-jin-oh'' (rookie).