Boston.com partners with Japanese Sox blog

BOSTON, Dec. 28, 2006 -- Boston.com today announced that it has entered into a content-sharing agreement with Go-RedSox.com, an established Japanese-language baseball site. Under the agreement, excerpts of Major League Baseball coverage from The Boston Globe, Boston.com and the Boston Dirt Dogs fan site will be translated and posted on Go-RedSox.com for Japanese-language readers worldwide. The new relationship begins immediately, with links between both sites.

This arrangement follows the dramatic upsurge in interest in the Boston Red Sox within Japan following the signing earlier this month of Japanese pitching star Daisuke Matsuzaka. Reliever Hideki Okajima also joined the Red Sox roster this offseason. In another sign of interest in Red Sox coverage among Japanese sports fans, the Globe's Gordon Edes has committed to a twice-monthly column for Sankei Daily Sports, Japan's leading sports publication.

Go-RedSox.com, operated by Japanese journalist Daigo Fujiwara, has been operating since 2003 and is an offshoot of his authoritative site on Japanese ballplayers in Major League Baseball, japaneseballplayers.com. Fujiwara also works at the Globe as a graphics designer.

"This agreement is a creative way to bring our brand of quality coverage to a new audience who cares about Boston-area sports" said David Beard, editor of Boston.com. "This is no mere translation service. Daigo Fujiwara brings the same passion to the game as Boston.com."

Fujiwara, who has blogged about the Red Sox for years, said he respects the breadth of sports coverage by Globe writers such as Gordon Edes, which has helped the paper gain recognition as one of the best sports sections in the country. E-mail to a friend