Overview

• Amagasaki City limited hours at its riverside fish park to noon on July 12–13 to prevent dangerous overcrowding during the Japan Air Self-Defense Force Blue Impulse displays.
• Shohei Ohtani launched his 32nd home run on July 11, becoming the first Japanese player to achieve a “splash hit” into Oracle Park’s right-field water.
• The Yomiuri Giants signed outfielder Tomo Otosaka to a one-year, ¥4.2 million deal with jersey number 54 after his June release from the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate.
• Summer high school baseball qualifiers saw dominant victories such as Osaka Toin’s 26-0 mercy win and Subarugakuen’s 2-0 upset of Mie, while Ofunato resumed play following a winter forest-fire evacuation.
• Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito formally urged Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to meet President Trump immediately after the July 20 Upper House election to break the stalled trade negotiations.