For Aries, the first half of 2024 was a time when things seemed to be moving at a slow pace in a fast-paced environment, and you needed to be a little patient. However, in the second half of the year, you'll need to change course and act with a clear sense of purpose. Reset your negative emotions and seize opportunities with a positive attitude that's true to yourself.

The retirement game for Nick Fazekas, who played for the Kawasaki Brave Thunders of the men's professional basketball B1 League for 12 seasons, was held on May 30th at their home stadium, Todoroki Arena. Hasegawa Gi, who joined the then Toshiba Brave Thunders in 2012, the same year as Fazekas, and has played for the team ever since, shared his thoughts on the retirement game and his memories with Fazekas. Photo provided by Kawasaki Brave Thunders

The retirement game for Nick Fazekas, who played for the Kawasaki Brave Thunders and the Japanese national team, was held at Todoroki Arena on May 30th. Ryusei Shinoyama, who played for Kawasaki for 12 years and served as captain for the 2023-24 season, spoke in an interview after the game about his thoughts on the retirement of Fazekas, who he fought alongside. Photo courtesy of Kawasaki Brave Thunders

Japan national team midfielder Takefusa Kubo (Sociedad) attended the "Adidas Football Presents Take Talk! F50 Edition" held at the Takamadonomiya Memorial JFA Dream Field in Chiba City on June 12, the day after the match against Syria in the second round of Asian qualifiers for the North and Central American World Cup. The event was held to commemorate the release of Adidas' new "F50" cleats.

The Real Sociedad Japan Tour 2024 took place at the National Stadium on the 29th, with Real Sociedad defeating Tokyo Verdy 2-0. Tokyo Verdy manager Hiroshi Jofuku, who lost the match, held a press conference, and Kumatoriya Issei, who made his debut for Tokyo Verdy in the match, responded to a press conference and looked back on the match. *Top: Image provided by Tokyo Verdy

Sano Akimasa, producer of BEAMS CREATIVE, is originally from Nagoya and joined BEAMS after graduating from university. In 2014, he was appointed project leader for BEAMS JAPAN. In 2018, he launched the "Grand Nagoya Exhibition" project in collaboration with Grampus. He talks about the results and challenges of this project, which has been going on for about five years, as well as his future aspirations. We introduce Sano's thoughts and efforts as he continues to spread the appeal of Nagoya and Aichi. *Top image: Photo by Nagata Kei

This will be a week filled with a sense of abundance through pleasant communication. By starting your plans for the approaching summer this week, you can enjoy a smooth transition between seasons. Try to avoid accumulating stress and increase your opportunities to move your body.

Continuing to pursue the dreams you believe in. No matter how old you are or what adversity awaits, taking on challenges may be the true joy of life. This time, we're featuring a dreamer named Ayaka Ueda, who is giving her all to skimo, a new sport scheduled to be introduced at the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics. Fascinated by the grueling sport of skiing—walking on skis, carrying them, running, and then skiing downhill—she discovered skimo at the age of 25 while working for a major corporation. Drawing on her track and field experience through high school, she quickly rose to prominence, and two years later, she achieved second place at the Japan Championships. Last year, Ueda made the bold decision to quit her job and move to Gunma to devote herself to skimo. We spoke to her about her passion and challenges, spanning the past, present, and future.

Now in my 30s, I, Editor R, have once again become captivated by the excellent stitching and tailoring of Uniqlo, and above all, the comfort of their clothes. Lately, I've been wearing everything from work clothes to loungewear exclusively from Uniqlo. I started Pilates last winter, so around May, as the seasons changed and the heat really started to pick up, I started running into the problem of switching clothes. Of course, I've bought and tried out clothes from popular Pilates brands, but because they're consumable items, I wanted to prioritize the balance between price and performance, and then I finally found the leggings that were my destiny. These are Uniqlo's Ultra Stretch Airism UV Cut Leggings, which I'll introduce to you today. *Main image: Photographed by the author

A joint press conference was held at Atsuta Jingu Kaikan in Nagoya for the "Shachi no Daisaiten" and "Dai Nagoyaten 2024", events in collaboration with Nagoya Grampus and BEAMS JAPAN. At this special event, players Ryuji Izumi and Langerak appeared and unveiled the new commemorative uniforms for the first time. *Top image: Photo by Kei Nagata

Nick Fazekas, who played for the Kawasaki Brave Thunders of the men's professional basketball B1 League for 12 seasons, had his retirement game at their home stadium, Todoroki Arena, on May 30th. Fazekas held a press conference after the game and spoke about his 12 years with Kawasaki and his life after retirement.

Takefusa Kubo's La Liga club, Real Sociedad, came to Japan to play a friendly match against Tokyo Verdy (J.League/Japan) on Wednesday, May 29th. Kubo was named in the starting lineup and played until the third minute of the second half. Real Sociedad won the match 2-0, with goals from Urko Gonzalez (45th minute) and Arsene Zaharyan (46th minute).

I have a weakness for fashion items, from clothes to shoes, accessories, and small items. Styling and shopping are no longer just hobbies, but a life's work. I have a particular weakness for black items, and I live surrounded by black items, not only in fashion but also in accessories, home decor, and even home appliances. As a lover of black, there's a brand that has recently caught my eye: Macqlo, which launched in March 2024.

Continuing to pursue the dreams you believe in. No matter how old you are or what adversity awaits, taking on the challenge may be the true joy of life. One such dreamer is Ayaka Ueda, who is giving her all to skimo, a new sport that will be featured at the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics. Fascinated by the grueling sport of walking on skis, carrying them on her back, and then skiing downhill, she discovered skimo at the age of 25 while working for a large company. Drawing on her track and field experience up until high school, she quickly rose to prominence, and two years later, she came second at the Japan Championships. Last year, Ueda made the bold decision to quit her job and move to Gunma to devote herself to skimo. We spoke to her about her passion and challenges, spanning the past, present, and future.

Nick Fazekas' retirement game, which he played for 12 seasons with the Kawasaki Brave Thunders of the men's professional basketball B1 League, was held at their home stadium, Todoroki Arena, on May 30th. Fazekas held a press conference after the game, where he talked about his debut game for the national team, which saved the Japanese basketball world, and his memories of the Japanese national team. [Photo provided by Kawasaki Brave Thunders]

Yuzo Sekiya, CEO of the Oasis Lifestyle Group, has opened the first permanent store of his "black x high-performance" apparel brand "Macqlo" at Shibuya MIYASHITA PARK. Sekiya spoke about the background to this challenge and the brand's future prospects. *Top image: Provided by Macqlo

The retirement game for Nick Fazekas, who played for the Kawasaki Brave Thunders of the men's professional basketball B1 League for 12 seasons, was held on May 30th at their home stadium, Todoroki Arena. The retirement game, titled "NICK THE LAST GAME" for the Japanese national team, featured a surprise appearance by Watanabe Yuta, who played alongside Fazekas on the Japanese national team (at the 2019 World Cup), and the venue was filled with cheers. *Top image provided by Kawasaki Brave Thunders

League One's annual awards ceremony, the Japan Rugby League One 2023-24 Awards, was held at a hotel in Tokyo on the 27th. This season's MVP was awarded to New Zealand national team fly-half Richie Mo'unga, who joined Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo and contributed to the team's first championship in 14 seasons. After the ceremony, Mo'unga gave a roundtable interview, where he spoke about this season's battles and the challenges facing Japanese rugby. *Main image: Photographed by the author

Continuing to pursue the dreams you believe in. No matter how old you are or what adversity awaits, taking on the challenge may be the true joy of life. One such dreamer is Ayaka Ueda, who is giving her all to skimo, a new sport that will be featured at the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics. Fascinated by the grueling sport of walking on skis, carrying them on her back, and then skiing downhill, she discovered skimo at the age of 25 while working for a large company. Drawing on her track and field experience up until high school, she quickly rose to prominence, and two years later, she came second at the Japan Championships. Last year, Ueda made the bold decision to quit her job and move to Gunma to devote herself to skimo. We spoke to her about her passion and challenges, spanning the past, present, and future.

Minamide Taishin, a member of the Japanese men's open water swimming (OWS) team, has qualified for his second consecutive Olympic Games following the Tokyo Olympics. Building on the great experience of the Olympics, what kind of three years has he spent preparing for the Paris Games? With just one month left until the main event, we asked him about his current thoughts as he looks towards the stage of revenge that is fast approaching. (Top image: provided by Kinoshita Group)

The Tohto University Baseball Division 1 Spring League saw a championship match between the top-ranked Chuo University and the second-ranked Aoyama Gakuin University on May 29th, with Aoyama Gakuin University coming from behind to defeat Chuo University 3-1 and secure their third consecutive victory. Having won the Tohto division, Aoyama Gakuin University will compete in the 73rd Japan University Championship, which kicks off on June 10th, with the tournament's title in the books.

The League One awards ceremony, which concluded with Toshiba Brave Lupus' dramatic victory, was held in Tokyo, and Warner Deans, who contributed to Toshiba BL's victory and was selected to the Best 15 for the second consecutive season, spoke of his joy at receiving the award in an interview.

On June 2nd, "SILK THE RICH presents BreakingDown12" was held at Tachikawa Tachihi Arena. After the tournament, CEO Mikuru Asakura and Ambo Rukiya, who defeated Sudario Tsuyoshi in the main event, gave a roundtable interview and looked back on the tournament.

League One's annual awards ceremony, the Japan Rugby League One 2023-24 Awards, was held at a hotel in Tokyo on the 27th. After the ceremony, Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo captain Michael Leitch, who won the championship for the first time in 14 seasons, gave a press conference to talk about how he has performed this season and his thoughts on the Japan national team.

Minamide Daishin, a member of the Japanese men's national team, has shifted his main field of competition from competitive swimming to open water swimming (OWS). He has been selected to represent Japan at the Paris Olympics, which are just about a month away, and will be stepping onto the big summer stage for the second time in his life, starting with the Tokyo Games. In this article, he talks about the "heart" of the race, positioning, battling around the buoys, and the struggles of competing at the Olympics as a member of the Japanese national team. (Top image: provided by Kinoshita Group)