Yuki Gassen is a sport that takes place in Japan. The game is like a combination of capture the flag and paintball. The goal is to either capture the other team’s flag, get the other team out by hitting them with snowballs, or by having more members than the other team when time expires.

The Phillie Phanatic is a green, lovable trickster who woos the crowd with his antics; whether it be having fake arguments with the umpires, warming up in the bullpen, trying to arrest a Mets player, or riding his ATV over a New York Yankees dummy in front of their dugout…

Takeru “The Tsunami” Kobayashi is a three-time Guinness World Record holder for competitive eating. He burst on the American scene in 2001 at Coney Island’s annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest by downing 50 dogs in 12 minutes, doubling the previous record. Kobayashi went on to win the contest six consecutive times while shattering other gastronomic records around the world.

I am by no means fluent in Japanese, but I’m pretty sure undoukai translates to “silly acrobatics at a serious event.” Well, it’s either that or “athletic meet” (according to jisho.org). I prefer my definition, though, because it embodies the ever-so-present dichotomy between humor and serious ritual in Japan.

It’s not hard to see why Thailand is a common vacation destination for many JETs. With friendly people, incredibly cheap travel costs, and deliciously spicy food, it’s a great place to spend an extended national holiday week. Phuket in particular provides an oasis from the heat and humidity in Thailand and is a welcome destination after exploring the steamy streets of Bangkok or Chiang Mai. My friends and I visited the island for five days over Golden Week this year and loved every minute of it. For those considering going, here are my Top Ten tips on traveling to Phuket.

The new football season in Japan is just around the corner, and Sanfrecce have already set their sights on the crown of Asian football. The Asian Champions League is the pinnacle of club football in this region, with 32 teams competing from 10 leagues, from Saudi Arabia to Australia. The winner will represent Asia at the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup, held in the United Arab Emirates in December.

Japan has a comparatively high level of participation in rugby: according to the International Rugby Board’s statistics, Japan is sixth in the world for registered players, with 122,598. Japan’s senior team has risen to the rank of 13th in the world, after beating Canada in two test matches recently. This combination of increased participation and international success has led some commentators to describe rugby’s future in Japan as “extremely promising”.

The Japanese football season finally concluded on New Year’s Day, and with it Sanfrecce Hiroshima were confirmed as Japan’s fourth entrant in the 2010 Asian Champions League. This season represents a remarkable turnaround for the Purple Archers, after they gained promotion to J1 by winning the J2 championship in 2008. Sanfrecce’s fourth-placed finish represents their best league performance for fifteen years, and comes after winning the 2008 Super Cup.

October was a very disappointing month for Sanfrecce, as fans’ hopes of both a surprise title and an Emperor’s Cup run were dashed within a week of each other. The team’s steady performance over the summer, where the team peaked in third place and looked set to make a serious bid for the Asian Champions League place that would bring, was wasted as autumn set in and circumstances conspired against them.

The past few months have literally been historic for Sanfrecce Hiroshima. They completed a nine-game unbeaten streak from July to September, their best ever run of form in J-League Division 1 (J1) since its first season in 1993. As a result, Sanfrecce find themselves in a heated race for the J1 title, in the same season they were promoted from J2. It was also announced yesterday that Hiroshima’s captain and striker, SATO Hisato, has been included in the Japanese national team squad for three upcoming friendlies in October against Hong Kong, Scotland and Togo.