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September 28, 2024
 

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Andrew MCKIRDY

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Andrew MCKIRDY
Andrew McKirdy is a sports writer for The Japan Times. His main beat is soccer, but he has also covered rugby, tennis, volleyball, golf and even tug-of-war. A native of the Scottish Borders, he has written for The Scotsman newspaper and organized filming for a program on Japanese soccer for ITV television.
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Sep 3, 2015
Japan overcomes slow start to put away Cambodia
Japan got its 2018 World Cup qualification campaign up and running with a 3-0 win over Cambodia on Thursday night.
Japan Times
Rugby
Aug 30, 2015
Japan looking to draw strength from off-field rugby turmoil
Japan captain Michael Leitch fears that Japanese rugby is in danger of squandering the momentum it has built up in recent years following a harrowing week for the sport.
Japan Times
Rugby
Aug 29, 2015
Japan throttles Uruguay in final home match before Rugby World Cup
Japan wrapped up its home preparations for next month's Rugby World Cup with a morale-boosting 40-0 win over Uruguay on Saturday night.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 19, 2015
Microsoft says Line's popular Rinna character is new way to engage customers
Microsoft is hoping to revolutionize the way that companies use messaging service Line to promote their products, with the help of an artificial intelligence program last seen posing as a high school girl.
Japan Times
Rugby
Aug 16, 2015
Jones confident Japan can improve before Rugby World Cup
Japan coach Eddie Jones believes his side is capable of making the step from Rugby World Cup pretenders to genuine dark horses, but warns time is running out to improve before the tournament kicks off next month in England.
Japan Times
Rugby
Aug 15, 2015
World XV squad overpowers Japan in second half en route to convincing victory
Japan kept pace with a strong World XV side before succumbing in the second half to lose 45-20 in a warmup for the Rugby World Cup on Saturday.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Aug 12, 2015
Mood turns against Halilhodzic after East Asian Cup debacle
If a scoreless draw with Singapore in Japan's opening World Cup qualifier in May marked the end of manager Vahid Halilhodzic's honeymoon period, last week's East Asian Cup has had critics wishing for a divorce already.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 8, 2015
Okubo rips Halilhodzic on selections
World Cup striker Yoshito Okubo has branded Japan's East Asian Cup squad a bunch of nobodies and is not surprised by the team's dismal showing at the tournament in China.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 6, 2015
Line's AI program captures hearts with lifelike personality
An artificial intelligence program posing as a sweet and innocent schoolgirl has captured the hearts of young men nationwide, with some smitten users even declaring their love for their new "girlfriend."
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2015
Artist Aida defiant over latest work
Controversial artist Makoto Aida is refusing to bow to demands that he alter a politically sensitive submission to the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo after museum chiefs and Tokyo Metropolitan Government officials deemed it unsuitable for children.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 25, 2015
Okubo brace lifts Frontale past S-Pulse
Yoshito Okubo scored twice as Kawasaki Frontale came through a wild, swinging encounter with Shimizu S-Pulse with a 3-2 win on Saturday night.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jul 22, 2015
Sanfrecce lay down marker with second-stage surge
The J. League's return to a two-stage system gives teams who started slowly another bite at the championship cherry, but Sanfrecce Hiroshima have bigger ambitions than just the second-stage title.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2015
National Stadium architects return fire, say design not behind high costs
Zaha Hadid Architects hit back at the decision to scrap their plan for Tokyo's new National Stadium, insisting the ambitious design was not responsible for spiraling construction costs.
Japan Times
SOCCER / Women's World Cup
Jul 7, 2015
Nadeshiko reflect on World Cup journey after return to Japan
Nadeshiko Japan manager Norio Sasaki wasted no time in targeting the gold medal at next year's Rio Olympics as the beaten Women's World Cup finalists returned home from Canada on Tuesday.
Japan Times
SOCCER / Women's World Cup / SOCCER SCENE
Jul 1, 2015
Gritty Japan gathering steam ahead of semifinal against England
Japan is still waiting to ignite at the Women's World Cup, but the slow burn that has carried the team all the way to the semifinals may yet be enough to take it further.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Jun 27, 2015
Reds wrap up unbeaten first stage
J. League first-stage champions Urawa Reds beat Albirex Niigata 5-2 on Saturday night to complete the opening campaign with an unbeaten record.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2015
Zushi opens with eye on reviving summer buzz
Zushi Beach in Kanagawa Prefecture opened for the summer on Friday as it battles to attract visitors following a clampdown on rowdy partygoers that saw numbers drop by more than half last year.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jun 24, 2015
Urawa responds to 2014 heartbreak in rampant style
After throwing away the J. League championship last season, few could have expected Urawa Reds to respond so emphatically.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Jun 20, 2015
Antlers click on offense in rout of Marinos
Caio and Shoma Doi scored in the first half and Shuhei Akasaki added a late third as Kashima Antlers put Yokohama F. Marinos to the sword 3-0 in the J. League on Saturday.
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 17, 2015
Japan takes booing on chin after Singapore stalemate
Keisuke Honda believes fans were right to boo him and his Japan teammates after Tuesday's shock World Cup qualifying 0-0 draw with Singapore, and insists he would have had no complaints had they voiced their displeasure louder.
In rare retrial, Shizuoka court rules ex-boxer not guilty of 1966 murders
Hideko Hakamata (center) and lawyers representing her younger brother, Iwao Hakamata, pose with a banner that reads "Iwao Hakamata verdict not guilty" as they leave the Shizuoka District Court on Thursday after the ruling was delivered.
Giant African snails mark 90 years of history in Okinawa
Giant African snails are unpopular among local residents and are referred to as an alien species that shouldn’t be touched, as they damage crops and sometimes hosts rat lungworms.
Takaichi and Ishiba head to runoff in LDP leadership election
A poster showing portraits of candidates for the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election at the party headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday
Putin issues nuclear warning to the West over Ukraine striking Russia
Russia's President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting of the Security Council on the subject of nuclear deterrence in Moscow on Wednesday.
Tokyo Game Show 2024 stacked with big returns and hyped announcements
Tokyo Game Show opens to the public on Sept. 28 full of cosplayers promoting a full slate of new and upcoming titles.
Tokyo Game Show 2024 stacked with big returns and hyped announcements
Tokyo Game Show opens to the public on Sept. 28 full of cosplayers promoting a full slate of new and upcoming titles.
Deadline approaches for free HPV vaccine 'catch-up' campaign
A 13-year-old junior high school student receives a vaccine for the human papillomavirus at a hospital in Tokyo in 2022.
A first look inside the new Nintendo Museum
The Nintendo Museum opens to the public on Oct. 2, but unlike the company's all-ages games, the new attraction may be geared more toward older rather than younger gamers.
Japan MSDF warship sails through Taiwan Strait for first time
The Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Sazanami arrives in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean during a scheduled port visit in July. The Sazanami became the first Japanese warship to sail through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday.
People of all ages and sizes scale new heights amid climbing boom in Japan
A climbing wall at a kindergarten in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture. The sport has been on the rise in Japan, mainly due to the popularity it gained from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and new climbing walls are popping all over the place.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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A woman passes an "akichi" (vacant lot) in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo. The capital is littered with such small lots in part because of Japan's aging and shrinking population.
Dealing with rising land vacancies as Japan shrinks
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