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September 27, 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 / SOCCER SCENE
Aug 27, 2009
Double Dutch challenge too good an opportunity to waste
Catania striker Takayuki Morimoto looks set for his first national team callup when Takeshi Okada names his squad for next week's tour of the Netherlands on Friday, but don't expect many more new faces.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 23, 2009
Rafael's equalizer spoils chance of JEF victory
JEF United Chiba missed a chance to bolster their bid for first-division survival by conceding a second-half equalizer to fellow strugglers Omiya Ardija in a 1-1 draw on Saturday night.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Aug 22, 2009
Nakamura in running for ACL's top player honor
For all his 37 international appearances and iconic status as Kawasaki Frontale's poster boy, Kengo Nakamura's career has never quite escaped the shadow of his more illustrious contemporaries.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 20, 2009
Kennedy, Tamada score as Nagoya ends two-game skid
CHIBA — Josh Kennedy and Keiji Tamada combined to halt Nagoya Grampus' slide with a 2-0 win over JEF United Chiba, but there was no such joy at the top of the J. League table as all four leading teams lost on Wednesday night.
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 16, 2009
Frontale's Chong draws strength from pride in North Korean heritage
KURIHIRA, Kanagawa Pref. — Kawasaki Frontale's North Korean striker Chong Tese has a busy year ahead of him.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Aug 13, 2009
Youth movement not enough to satisfy Reds' ambitions
Urawa Reds manager Volker Finke could barely conceal his disbelief at reaching the season's halfway mark on 34 points. But with his team stuck on the same tally one month and three straight defeats later, the German's caution seems well founded.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 6, 2009
Sorimachi rebuilding reputation after Beijing bust
HIRATSUKA, Kanagawa Pref. — A year has passed since Japan's Beijing Olympic soccer debacle, but for manager Yasuharu Sorimachi, the wounds healed a long time ago.
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Aug 5, 2009
Jofuku's leadership has FC Tokyo poised to be contender soon
A last-minute loss to Kawasaki Frontale may have checked FC Tokyo's charge up the J. League table last weekend, but it will take more than one defeat to wipe out the steady progress the capital city club has made over the past six months.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 2, 2009
Late goal gives Frontale triumph over FC Tokyo
An injury-time piledriver from Hiroyuki Taniguchi moved Kawasaki Frontale into second place in the J. League with a last-gasp 2-1 win over FC Tokyo on Saturday night.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jul 30, 2009
Homegrown hit-men giving Okada plenty of ammunition
Japan's eternal weakness in producing strikers has long been reflected in the J. League top-scorer charts, but a strong homegrown challenge this season is proving to be a timely exception with the countdown to the World Cup under way.
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 26, 2009
Nagoya strikers provide much-needed boost
SAITAMA — Keiji Tamada ended his goal drought in emphatic fashion as Nagoya Grampus handed out a 3-0 drubbing to Urawa Reds on Saturday night.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jul 23, 2009
Forward thinking can ease Stojkovic's second-season blues
Dragan Stojkovic worked miracles leading Nagoya Grampus into the Asian Champions League in his first season as a manager, but he is now learning that achieving success and keeping hold of it are two very different things.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 19, 2009
Miyamoto's sensational goal rescues Vissel
KAWASAKI — Former national team captain Tsuneyasu Miyamoto struck with a spectacular overhead kick to rescue a point for Vissel Kobe in a 2-2 draw with Kawasaki Frontale on Saturday.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jul 16, 2009
Kashima leading by example at halfway point of season
...
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 13, 2009
Finke calls for change to J. League schedule
SAITAMA — Urawa Reds manager Volker Finke has urged the J. League to change the timing of its season to align with the European calendar.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 12, 2009
Second-half strikes lift Reds to victory
SAITAMA — A second-half double from Brazilian striker Edmilson rescued three points for Urawa Reds in a 2-1 win over Sanfrecce Hiroshima on Saturday.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jul 9, 2009
Indecision over Chamusca can only worsen Oita's plight
After winning the Nabisco Cup and guiding his club to a fourth-place league finish last season, few jobs in the J. League looked as secure as Oita Trinita manager Pericles Chamusca's.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jul 2, 2009
Enigma Takahara too talented to be written off for good
A striker finally scoring his first league goal 15 games into a season wouldn't normally be greeted with murmurs of excitement, but then Naohiro Takahara's track record has earned him the benefit of the doubt.
SOCCER / J. League
Jun 28, 2009
Takahara notches first goal of season
SAITAMA — Naohiro Takahara scored his first goal of the J. League season to help Urawa Reds get back to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Vissel Kobe on Saturday.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jun 25, 2009
Nakamura's European ambition puts Okubo in the shade
If Shunsuke Nakamura's decision to snub a return to the J. League to stay in Europe represents a triumph of ambition over comfort, it is a message sadly missed by international teammate Yoshito Okubo.
China fires long-range missile into Pacific Ocean in rare test
Chinese military vehicles carrying DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles travel past Beijing's Tiananmen Square during a military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, on Oct. 1, 2019.
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
Hyogo governor to seek reelection after automatically losing his seat next week
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito after the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly passed a no-confidence motion against him on Sept. 19　
Russia has a secret war drones project in China, intel sources say
Russian President Vladimir Putin visits a drone production facility of the the Special Technology Center in St. Petersburg on Sept. 19.
As Onosato dominates the spotlight, former sumo stars exit the stage
Takakeisho during a one-day tournament at Kokugikan in Tokyo in February 2020
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.
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.
China fires long-range missile into Pacific Ocean in rare test
Chinese military vehicles carrying DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles travel past Beijing's Tiananmen Square during a military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, on Oct. 1, 2019.

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