The Japan Amateur Baseball Association plans to uphold the 20-second rule in 2012 in order to shorten games.

"Inter-City Tournament games last year averaged about 2 hours and 43 minutes.  In order to shorten that a bit more, we will have the second base ump carry a stop-watch," said Takashi Nakamoto, head of the Umpire's Regulations Committee.

The 20-second rule covers the time it takes the pitcher to pitch the ball after getting it back from the catcher when there are no runners on base.

The Japan Amateur Baseball Association (JABA) held a seminar for coaches in Atami, Shizuoka on Saturday.  JABA chairman Norio Ichino also made it known that the association was thinking about organizing the Industrial League schedule so that the tournament season ends in October (instead of in November), beginning in 2014.

As part of this move, the Inter-City Tournament was pushed up to July this year, a first since 2001.  The association also wanted to move the Industrial League Championships up a month as well, but decided it would not be possible until at least next year (the last time they took place in October was in 2002).

The goal of ending the tournament season in October is to increase the amount of time players put in with their respective companies.

The media learned on Monday that Saibu Gas will be naming Yasuhiko Sugimoto (52) the manager for their new baseball team.

Sugimoto managed the Nippon Tsuun (Nippon Express Co) Industrial League team for nine years beginning in 1992 and helped guide them to the Inter-city Tournament finals twice (1993, 1997).  He was also the manager for the national team in 2005 (Asia Baseball Championship) and 2009 (IBAF World Cup).

UPDATE @ 10:25pm - The Saibu Gas team will begin with a total 18 members.

See also:

Saibu Gas planning to establish a new baseball club in April 2012

The media learned on Thursday that Makoto Sasaki (46) will be promoted from batting coach to manager of NTT Nishi Nihon (Industrial League).  Current manager Tetsuya Hashimoto (47) will be retiring in order to focus his attention on his work at the parent company.

UPDATE 12/26 @ 11:44pm - NTT Nishi Nihon officially announced today that Sasaki will be taking over as their new manager, effective 1/1/2012.

The Japan Amateur Baseball Association (JABA) announced the dates for all their tournaments next year.  Below are three of their more important tournaments.  You can view the rest of the list (in Japanese) here.

2012 Inter-City Baseball Tournament - between 7/13 and 7/24 at Tokyo Dome

All Japan Club Team Tournament - between 9/7 and 9/10 at Seibu Dome

Industrial League Championships - between 11/3 and 11/13 at Kyocera Dome

The JABA also announced that of the 14 teams from the Tohoku region that took the year off because of the March 11 earthquake/tsunami, 11 plan to resume operations and three teams from Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima will likely be disbanded.

The media learned today that Saibu Gas, located in Fukuoka, is planning to establish a new baseball club in April 2012.  An unnamed source close to the discussions said that an official announcement will be made once additional details have been worked out.

The media learned on Monday that Industrial League Mitsubishi Juko Kobe coach/player Toshiro Kibayashi (39) will be retiring this year in order to focus on company affairs.  Kibayashi joined Mitsubishi in 1991 and pitched in 19 Inter-City Tournaments and 14 Industrial League Championships.  He also tossed a no-hitter against Saginomiya Seisakusho during the 2009 Industrial League Championships.

Mitsubishi's Okawa kantoku (大川広誉, 40) will also be stepping down and will be replaced by coach Ishii (石井浩司, 29).

The media learned today that the NOMO Baseball Club (Industrial league) is looking for a new home because their current home will become the site of a highway.

A team official is quoted as saying, "We currently have no plans.  We would like to begin discussions with anyone that is interested [in having us].  Our next location does not have to be in Kinki."

The team was involved in negotiations to move the club to Tosu, Saga, but talks broke down and NOMO BC ended up turning down the offer in November.

The Baseball Federation of Japan (BFJ) decided today that they will hold a charity exhibition game between a team of university players and a team of Industrial league players on 3/10/2012 at Tokyo Dome.  The game will take place before the NPB's charity game (NPB vs CPBL).

Ibaraki Golden Golds' manager Ayumi Kataoka (blog) told reporters on Wednesday that she was thinking about returning to international play with the national women's team because she was disappointed at how little interest their was in women's baseball.

"I felt a little disappointed / frustrated after watching Nadeshiko Japan (women's national soccer team) play," said Kataoka.  "If I can help bring more attention to the women's national baseball team by playin, then I want to help. ... I'm going to start by preparing for the March 2012 tryouts."

Kataoka was a member of the women's national baseball team in 2008.  Since then, she has focused her efforts on playing for the Ibaraki Golden Golds (Industrial league).