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July 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 / SOCCER SCENE
Nov 8, 2017
Competition heats up as Japan prepares for top-class tests
National team manager Vahid Halilhodzic demanded strong friendly opposition to help prepare Japan for next summer's World Cup, and this coming week's two fixtures certainly fit the bill.
Japan Times
Rugby
Nov 4, 2017
Wallabies crush Brave Blossoms
Two-time Rugby World Cup winner Australia handed 2019 host Japan a harsh lesson two years ahead of the tournament with a 63-30 win in Yokohama on Saturday.
Japan Times
Rugby
Nov 2, 2017
Rugby World Cup schedule unveiled in Tokyo
Japan will play the winner of the European qualifying competition in the opening game of the 2019 Rugby World Cup at Tokyo's Ajinomoto Stadium on Sept. 20, as organizers announced the full tournament schedule on Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2017
Tokyo 2020 organizers mark 1,000 days until Olympic Games begin
Tokyo 2020 Olympic organizers on Saturday marked 1,000 days to go before the games begin with a parade and demonstrations of new Olympic sports in the city's Nihonbashi district.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Oct 25, 2017
Fight for J1 survival taking toll on strugglers
This year's J. League title race has become a two-team duel between Kashima Antlers and Kawasaki Frontale, but the picture at the other end of the table is not quite so clear.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Oct 21, 2017
Antlers stumble against Marinos, lose grip on title race
Kashima Antlers saw their stranglehold on the J. League title race loosen after a 3-2 defeat to Yokohama F. Marinos on Saturday night.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Oct 19, 2017
Reds look to change image in ACL final
Urawa Reds defender Tomoaki Makino hailed his team's composure and resilience after holding off star-studded Shanghai SIPG to book its place in the Asian Champions League final on Wednesday night.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 19, 2017
New IPC head 'very happy' about progress made to date for 2020 Tokyo Paralympics
During a two-day review of progress for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, IPC President Andrew Parsons sees preparations coming together successfully.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Oct 18, 2017
Urawa beats Shanghai to reach Asian Champions League final
Urawa Reds advanced to the final of the Asian Champions League for the first time since 2007 with a 2-1 aggregate win over China's Shanghai SIPG after winning Wednesday's semifinal second leg 1-0.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Oct 14, 2017
Yu Kobayashi delivers late brace as Frontale shock Vegalta
Yu Kobayashi scored a late double as 10-man Kawasaki Frontale kept their J. League title hopes alive with a stunning 3-2 win over Vegalta Sendai on Saturday.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Oct 11, 2017
Halilhodzic warns Japan to shape up before Brazil, Belgium tests
National team manager Vahid Halilhodzic branded Japan's 3-3 draw with Haiti on Tuesday "the worst match I have seen" and warned his players to shape up or be humiliated in next month's friendlies against Brazil and Belgium.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Oct 10, 2017
Shinji Kagawa's injury-time goal gives Japan draw with Haiti
Shinji Kagawa scored deep into injury time to save Japan from an embarrassing defeat in a 3-3 friendly draw with minnow Haiti on Tuesday night.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Oct 8, 2017
'King Kazu' wants to continue reign
Fifty-year-old soccer legend Kazuyoshi Miura insists he has no plans to retire any time soon, even joking that the day he stops will be "the day I die."
Japan Times
TENNIS
Oct 7, 2017
Mannarino, Goffin advance to Japan Open men's final
Unseeded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino stunned top seed Marin Cilic 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-0 on Saturday to book his place in the Japan Open final against Belgium's David Goffin.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Oct 4, 2017
Drifting: Japan-born street sport roars onto global stage
The first thing you notice at a drifting competition is the noise — a crazed shriek of engines punctuated by the sudden firecracker pop of an exhaust pipe under extreme duress.
Japan Times
TENNIS
Sep 24, 2017
Wozniacki captures third Pan Pacific crown
Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki captured the Toray Pan Pacific Open title for the third time after beating unseeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-0, 7-5 in Sunday's final.
Japan Times
TENNIS
Sep 23, 2017
Wozniacki storms into final
Caroline Wozniacki ended Garbine Muguruza's honeymoon as world No. 1 in clinical fashion with a 6-2, 6-0 win on Saturday to book her place in the Toray Pan Pacific Open final against unseeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Sep 16, 2017
Cristiano's late strike gives Reysol draw against Marinos
Kashiwa Reysol striker Cristiano scored an 88th-minute equalizer to salvage a 1-1 draw against Yokohama F. Marinos on Saturday in a result that did little for either side's J. League title ambitions.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Sep 13, 2017
J. League title race heating up as top five break away
The 2017 title race has been wide open even by J. League standards, but with nine games remaining a definite top five is beginning to emerge.
Japan Times
TENNIS
Sep 12, 2017
Date routed 6-0, 6-0 in final match of career
Kimiko Date brought the curtain down on her storied tennis career after a first-round 6-0, 6-0 loss to Serbia's Aleksandra Krunic at the Japan Women's Open on Tuesday.
Japan's population continues to fall even as foreign resident count rises
The number of residents in Tokyo as of Jan. 1 rose by 0.03% from a year before, data shows, marking a year-on-year increase for the first time in three years, while the country's other 46 prefectures saw their populations continue to decline.
Ahead of the Olympics, Japan is still talking about the gymnast who won't be there
Japan's Shoko Miyata withdrew from the gymnastics team herself over her drinking and smoking, although it had already appeared as though the association was prepared to send her home from the team’s training camp in Monaco.
Yen melt-up nudges Japanese stocks into correction territory
Japanese stocks are down 10% from their July peak as the yen strengthens.
‘Crazy’ yen rally is at risk of shattering as soon as Wednesday
Some investors are warning that a yen rally is fragile, as was on show this week when the yen rapidly retraced an advance after Thursday’s stronger-than-expected U.S. economic growth figures.
Japan's average life expectancy rises for first time in three years
A decline in COVID-19-caused deaths likely helped boost the average life expectancy for Japanese men and women to rise for the first time in three years in 2023.
The Japanese Olympians looking to shine in Paris
Rim Nakamura, who is attempting to win Japan's first Olympic gold medal in cycling, will be one of the top Japanese athletes to watch at the Paris Games.
Japan’s minimum wage set for record ¥50 hike in major boost
Demonstrators rally to demand a big hike in minimum wages in Tokyo last week.
Japan loses top spot on strongest passport list to Singapore
Japan had the strongest passport for six years running from 2018, before being dethroned by Singapore on the 2024 list.
Why Japan's mysterious stash of classified funds escapes scrutiny
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (right) during a meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan eyes gold — and the future — as Olympic men's soccer campaign begins
Japan midfielder Yu Hirakawa controls the ball during a match against the United States in Kansas City, Kansas, on June 11.

Podcast

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

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals
By Alex K.T. Martin

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JNTO promotes sustainable tourism initiatives

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