The Giants prayed for a successful season at a nearby shrine before practices this morning.

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Taishi Ota closed out his workouts with about 30 minutes of fielding practice in center.  Ota also hit one ball over the fence during BP.

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If there is time, Tatsunori Hara plans to put Shuichi Murata through one of his personal fielding drills during spring camp.

Murata spoke to reporters before practice today and said that he went to sleep at 11pm last night and got a night's sleep.

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Yoshinobu Takahashi told reporters on Tuesday that he was no longer sick.  Takashi missed two of the four days of early training camp due to a nose/throat cold.

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Takahiko Nomaguchi was named leader of the Ni-gun pitching staff during spring camp.

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Batting practice:

John Bowker hit two balls over the fence.

Bullpen sessions:

Wednesday

Tetsuya Utsumi threw 81 pitches.

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Toshiya Sugiuchi threw 70 pitches.

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1st round draft pick Ryuya Matsumoto threw 40 pitches to standing catcher.

The coaches and remaining players working out at Giants Stadium arrived at Miyazaki Airport today and attended a welcoming ceremony.  Players and staff later visited Miyazaki Jingu and prayed for a successful season.  At night, the entire team convened for a general meeting.

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D.J. Houlton gave himself a clean shave before heading to Miyazaki today.  The team also held a press conference for Houlton at the team hotel in Miyazaki.

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Shuichi Murata plans take BP without wearing batting gloves whenever he can, especially during soft-toss, so that he can get a better feel for hitting the ball.  Tatsunori Hara is also a strong proponent of taking BP without batting gloves.

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While Yoshinobu Takahashi did not visit Miyazaki Jingu with the rest of the team today because of his cold, he did attend the general meeting later in the day.  He should be ok for the start of spring camp tomorrow.

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In order to help break the ice, both Toshiya Sugiuchi and Murata suggested that teammates call them by his first names.  More specifically, by their "nicknames": Toshi-nee (literally, brother Toshi) and Shu-san (shortened version of Shuichi).

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The media learned that sumo wrestler Hakuho is planning to visit the team some time during spring camp in Miyazaki.

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Nippon TV announced their schedule for Yomiuri games today:

Terrestrial: twenty-two games (sixteen day games and six night games) down from twenty-three games (fifteen day games and eight night games) last year.

BS NTV: sixty-one games

CS NTV G+: seventy-two games

Giants Eye in Miyazaki: The Giants announced today that they will be setting up cameras in Sun Marine Stadium, Himuka Stadium, Konohana Dome, and in the bullpens at Miyazaki Sports Park during spring camp and will be feeding the footage to the big screens located in Ballpark G.

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The players closed out their early training camp in Miyazaki today.

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Team rep/GM Atsushi Harasawa observed players working out in Miyazaki today.

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Michihiro Ogasawara signed some autographs after staying back for extra batting practice today.

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Yoshinobu Takahashi was excused from practices today because he was still not feeling well.  Takahashi first missed practices on Saturday and managed to get through most of the workouts on Sunday.  Team officials are telling reporters it is not serious (no fever, but headaches and a sore throat).

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Levi Romero arrived in Japan on Sunday.

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When Shinnosuke Abe approached Shuichi Murata for advice on Taishi Ota's hitting mechanics on Sunday, Muarata replied, "[Ota] has a tendency to lunge forward so it might be better if he relaxes more when he starts his swing."

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Bullpen sessions:

Monday

Hirokazu Sawamura tossed 34 pitches, including his slider.  He later told reporters he was throwing at about 60-70%.

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Tetsuya Utsumi threw 49 pitches to a squatting catcher.

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Toshiya Suiguchi threw 28 pitches, including his slider, to a squatting catcher.  This was his third bullpen session in as many days (but the first time he threw to a squatting catcher).

D.J. Houlton arrived at Narita Airport today and told reporters that he already tossed two bullpen sessions before coming to Japan.

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Actress Masami Nagasawa participated in workouts (warm-ups, fielding practice) with the Giants at Miyazaki Sports Park today as part of a story for Kaze to Rock (free newspaper).

The Urawa Red Diamonds (soccer), also holding workouts in Miyazaki Sports Park, spent some time watching BP and bullpen sessions today.

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The Giants attending early training camp in Miyazaki worked out indoors on Saturday due to the rain.

Yoshinobu Takahashi was excused from practice because he was not feeling well, but he did suit up for photos in the afternoon.  Takahashi was back at practices today.

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Hisayoshi Chono spent time in the cages on Saturday working on bunts.

Chono's workouts today started at around 10am and lasted about three and a half hours.

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Hirokazu Sawamura signed an advisory contract with Under Armor.

Sawamura threw a cutter during his bullpen session on Saturday.  The pitch apparently is not for use during games, just during practice sessions.

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Ni-gun manager Masahiro Kawai does not want players to wear sunglasses during Ni-gun spring camp.

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Bullpen sessions:

Sunday

Toshiya Sugiuchi threw 26 pitches (standing catchers).  That is three more than he threw on Saturday.

Saturday

Tetsuya Utsumi threw 44 pitches.

Toshiya Sugiuchi and Tetsuya Utsumi tossed bullpen sessions side-by-side today.  Sugicuhi threw 25 pitches (standing catcher).

Hirokazu Sawamura also tossed a bullpen session -- 22 pitches with a standing catcher.

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Shuichi Murata worked out for about three hours on Friday.  He also narrowed down with bat he will be using this season -- he used two bats last year, one with a center of gravity closer to the bat head (good for power) and another with the center of gravity closer to the bat handle (good for line drives) and decided to go with the one that has the center of gravity closer to the bat handle.

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Position players were split into three groups for fielding practice before taking BP on Friday.  Hayato Sakamoto took an extra hour of fielding practice before working on his hitting.

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Tatsunori Hara would like to see John Bowker compete for the starting left field job and the clean-up spot in the line-up.  But he does have his work cut out for him since Hara has also said he was thinking about batting Hisayoshi Chono, Shinnosuke Abe, and Shuichi Murata three, four, and five in the order.

The Giants held a press conference at their team offices to introduce Scott Mathieson and John Bowker today.  Both players arrived in Japan earlier in the day.

Tatsunori Hara was also at the press conference -- the last time he attended a press conference for a foreign player: 2006 when Seug-Yeop Lee joined the team.

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Shun Tono tossed a bullpen session (standing catcher) today, the first day of early training camp in Miyazaki.

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Tetsuya Utsumi tossed 35 pitches in the bullpen (standing catcher) today.

Utsumi organized a meal-time gathering at a Yakiniku restaurant for pitchers attending early training camp in Miyazaki on Thursday.  The outing lasted about three and a half hours and allowed players Toshiya Sugiuchi the chance to get to know other pitchers on the staff.

Sugiuchi also had a chance to introduce himself during a team meeting at the player hotel on Thursday.

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The Giants may give Taishi Ota a look in center during spring camp (they want to take more advantage of his speed and arm).

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Shuichi Murata apparently wants to sign about 1,000 autographs during spring camp.

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Seems the Yomiuri Giants are not the only ones high on Ryosuke Miyaguni: Hanshin Tiger Yasutomo Kubo told reporters on Thursday that he was impressed with the 19-year-old prospect.

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A weight room was added to the facilities at Sun Marine Stadium -- a training room on first base side near the indoor bullpens was converted and equipped with weight training equipment.  The Giants "donated" the weight room to Miyazaki by footing the bill (about 14M yen).

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Sugiuchi worked out in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima between January 4 and January 23.  He returned to Fukuoka after that and traveled to Miyazaki on Thursday by himself.

Chunichi Dragons

Early training camp begins tomorrow.  Players attending camp left for Okinawa today out of Chubu International Airport.

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Kazuhiro Wada arrived at Nagoya stadium early this morning and spent about two hours doing various workouts (like running and BP).  Wada will head to Okinawa on January 29.

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Ryosuke Hirata told reporters that he ate some bad oysters last week and was stuck in the hospital for two days.  He also said he lost about five kilograms, which was good for him because he about ten kilograms over his ideal weight (90kg).

Yakult Swallows

Training camp for the 2011 draft class ended today.

1st round draft pick Ryuhei Kawakami is having left ankle problems and got the day off today -- he was out getting his ankle examined.

2nd round draft pick Ryohei Kiya threw 50 pitches (with off-speed pitches mixed in) in the bullpen (squatting catcher) today.

4th round draft pick Yuya Ota also tossed a bullpen session today.

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Hayato Sakamoto (YOM) apparently advised Tetsuto Yamada to practice his hitting without batting gloves.

Yomiuri Giants

Ichi-gun players headed to Miyazaki for early training camp today.  Camp begins on Friday.

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The Giants decided to play one of their games at 7pm this season (July 25, vs Yokohama) after they found out, via surveys they handed out last year with the help from Yomiuri Shimbun, that a fairly large number of fans were interested in going to games after work.  Depending on attendance and how well things work out, the Giants may consider more 7pm games next year.

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GM Atsushi Harasawa sat in on the media training course given to the 2011 draft class on Wednesday.

Hanshin Tigers

Players left for early training camp in Okinawa out of Kobe Airport today.  Training camp begins tomorrow.

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Takumi Akiyama and Fumihito Haraguchi were both given Coming of Age commemorative items by the team today.

Hiroshima Carp

1st round draft pick Yusuke Nomura worked out with Ikusei 4th round draft pick Kazuma Mike for about an hour on his day off at the Ono training facilities today.  Nomura threw the ball at about 50-60% during a game of catch.

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Kenta Kurihara spent about two hours working with Shota Dobayashi on his hitting today.

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The Carp usually break their Ichi-gun spring camps into two sessions: the first taking place in Okinawa and the second in Nichinan, Miyazaki.  However, the stadium they use in Okinawa will be closed next year because a new stadium is being built and will most likely not be ready in time for spring camp in 2013.  That means there is a good chance the Carp will spend both sessions in Nichinan.

Some info on the new stadium: 100 meters to right and left, 122 meters to center, brand new lighting system and covered training area for when it rains.

Today was the last day of training camp for the 2011 draft class.

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Takahiko Nomaguchi showed up for practice at Giants Stadium around 8am today.  His workouts included weights, running, and playing catch.

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Ryosuke Miyaguni threw 31 pitches (mostly fastballs) in the bullpen today.  This was his first bullpen session since he suffered a left ankle sprain earlier this month.

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Masako Ishikawa (Head of Nippon TV Gakuin) gave the 2011 draft class a lecture on how to handle the media (abdominal breathing instructions, interview tips).

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Yi-Hao Lin arrived in Japan today.  Lin returned to Taiwan in December last year and fulfilled his 12-day military requirement -- ordinarily, people are required to spend about a year and a half in the military but Lin received an exception after he made the national team.

The Giants are looking at Lin as one of their closer candidates.

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Shuichi Murata does not want to focus too much of his time on practicing because that could lead to injuries.  Instead, he plans to spending time communicating with other players.

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Shinnosuke Abe is thinking about holding mini-meetings where players can exchange ideas/suggestions/opinions during spring camp (especially with all the new faces joining the team).

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The Giants will be playing one night game, on July 25 vs Yokohama (at Tokyo Dome), that begins at 7pm this season.  With this one game, they plan to see how much interest people have in attending games after work.

Yakult Swallows

The Swallows held a staff meeting on Tuesday to discuss spring camp schedules, player assignments, and the upcoming season.

They also decided on their 2012 team slogan: POWER OF UNITY ～心をひとつに～ (Power of Unity - Together as One -)

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Hitoshi Yamamoto did two waterfall meditation sessions (four minutes each) on Monday.  The water was under six degrees Celsius.  He also shouted out that he planned to stay healthy enough to remain in the rotation for the entire season and to record double-digit victories.

Yomiuri Giants

General practices at Giants Stadium were canceled on Tuesday due to the snow -- players did workout on their own.

Equipment/luggage for spring camp was also shipped out on Tuesday.

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Shuichi Murata visited Giants Stadium on Tuesday for the first time since joining the team and spent some time working out indoors (there was snow on the field).

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Daisuke Ochi would like to toss around 2,000 pitches during spring camp (double the amount he usually averages), including two 100-pitch bullpen session during the first block.

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Tetsuya Matsumoto showed up at Giants Stadium on Monday and told reporters that his workouts in Gunma lasted five to six hours a day (no breaks for lunch).

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The Giants have high hopes for both Ryosuke Miyaguni (starter) and Yi-Hao Lin (closer).

Hanshin Tigers

Kohei Shibata started his rehab at Naruohama on Tuesday.  Workouts lasted about five hours and included running and fielding practice.

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4th round draft pick Kazuo Ito tossed 31 pitches in the bullpen on Tuesday.  Ito mixed in his curve and slider and also had the catcher squat for the first time.

Hiroshima Carp

Player training camp in Okinawa began today (January 24) and will run through to January 31.

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Shota Dobayashi plans to do what he can to make the active roster as a third baseman.  Dobayashi struggled with his hitting at Ni-gun in 2010 and 2011.  But he started showing signs of life after making adjustments to his mechanics during fall camp last year (like going back to a high leg kick).

And Tomonori Maeda told reporters he is interested in how Dobayashi and Hayato Shoji perform during spring camp.

The Giants posted their Ichi-gun spring camp player assignments today (the entire 2011 draft class will begin at Ni-gun).

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Hayato Sakamoto attended a fan meeting at a hotel in Tokyo today.  About 300 fans, mostly women, attended the event.

On Sunday, Sakamoto, Daisuke Fujimura, and Daisuke Nakai worked out together for about three hours.  Workouts included playing catch and catching/fielding practice.

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Daisuke Ochi returned from Hawaii on Sunday and was back at Giants Stadium working out today.

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Ryosuke Miyaguni worked out at Giants Stadium today and told reporters that his right ankle was now at about 70-80%.

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Shuichi Murata wants to be fully prepared to play whenever he is asked during spring camp.

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The media learned on Sunday that Shigeo Nagashima is planning to visit spring camp on February 17 and 18.  Nagashima push for a two day visit because he wants a chance to watch players at both Ichi-gun and Ni-gun camps.

Nagashima canceled his visit last year after catching a cold.

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The Giants will be selling special group ticket packages for 15 or more people.