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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 / J. League
May 4, 2011
Defense sets tone for Marinos in shutout over rival Reds
Yokohama F. Marinos kept up their impressive start to the J. League season with a well-deserved 2-0 away win over Urawa Reds on Tuesday.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Apr 28, 2011
Vegalta, HollyHock please fans with successful returns
Vegalta Sendai's late win over Kawasaki Frontale gave the J. League a memorable story line on its return to action on Saturday, but the mere fact that soccer was back on the menu was the real victory.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 24, 2011
Vegalta Sendai victorious in return
Vegalta Sendai enjoyed a fairy tale return to J. League action as Jiro Kamata scored an 87th-minute winner to give the stricken Miyagi Prefecture side a 2-1 victory over Kawasaki Frontale on Saturday.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 23, 2011
Experience has taught Nakamura how to persevere
If the J. League is looking for inspiration as it prepares to restart the season on Saturday, Shunsuke Nakamura knows more than a thing or two about triumph over adversity.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Apr 21, 2011
Japan has much to lose as well as gain from trip to Copa
There is much to be gained by Japan participating at this summer's Copa America, but given the concessions required to send a team to Argentina there could be even more to lose.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 16, 2011
Stojkovic admits he has room to grow as manager
The European media may be keen to anoint Dragan Stojkovic as Arsene Wenger's successor at Arsenal, but the Nagoya Grampus manager's thoughts currently extend no further than the April 23 return of the J. League.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 2, 2011
Frontale's Soma says being manager no easy task
KAWASAKI — Forty-four-year-old Kazuyoshi Miura may have rolled back the years to score in Tuesday's disaster relief charity match, but for former international teammate Naoki Soma those days are long gone.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Mar 28, 2011
Saitama J. League clubs put skills to good use to lift evacuees' spirits
SAITAMA — Tuesday's charity match between the national team and a J. League select XI gives soccer a high-profile platform to contribute to disaster relief efforts, but beneath the radar the desire to make a difference is just as strong.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Mar 24, 2011
Soccer world stands together in Japan's hour of need
Empty platitudes are common in soccer, but there has been nothing false about the messages of support coming from all over Japan and around the world these past two weeks.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 23, 2011
J. League to resume season on April 23
The J. League will resume action on April 23 with as many afternoon kickoffs as possible for the rest of the season, the league announced Tuesday.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 18, 2011
Charity match replaces New Zealand friendly
Japan will take on a J. League select XI in a March 29 charity match in Osaka after New Zealand pulled out of a friendly on the same date, the Japan Football Association announced Thursday.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Mar 10, 2011
Mental fortitude saves day for Grampus, Antlers
If Nagoya Grampus' and Kashima Antlers' failure to win their opening fixtures constituted good news for the rest of the J. League, the manner in which both teams eventually salvaged a point did not.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 5, 2011
Grampus favored to repeat as J. League champions
The following is the second of a two-part J. League preview for the upcoming season. Team-by-team previews of the nine top-ranked teams competing in the first division are listed.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 4, 2011
Survival on top of agenda for J. League's lower half
The following is the first of a two-part J. League preview for the upcoming season. Team-by-team previews of the nine lowest-ranked teams competing in the first division are listed.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 3, 2011
Antlers target swift return to J. League supremacy
It has been four years since Kashima Antlers last headed into a new J. League campaign as contenders rather than champions, but for manager Oswaldo Oliveira the hunger remains the same.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 2, 2011
Ono, Ghotbi confident S-Pulse will be contenders
Given the changes that have taken place at Shimizu S-Pulse over the winter, new manager Afshin Ghotbi could be forgiven for playing down expectations in Shizuoka ahead of the new season.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 1, 2011
Urawa's Petrovic draws inspiration from old friend
New Urawa Reds manager Zeljko Petrovic aims to emulate his friend and former international teammate Dragan Stojkovic by winning the J. League with the team he once played for — as long as the trigger-happy Saitama club has the patience to back him every step of the way.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 27, 2011
Narazaki saves day for Grampus in Xerox Super Cup
YOKOHAMA — Goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki lived up to his billing as reigning J. League player of the year with three shootout saves to lead Nagoya Grampus past Kashima Antlers 3-1 on penalties to win the Xerox Super Cup after a 1-1 draw on Saturday.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 19, 2011
Healthy Mizuno strives to contribute for Kashiwa
KASHIWA, Chiba Pref. — As a fresh wave of Japanese players try to make their mark in Europe this spring, Kashiwa Reysol winger Koki Mizuno will settle for simply setting foot on a pitch again.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Feb 10, 2011
J. League exodus a double-edged sword for Japanese game
With yet another raft of Japanese players currently making their European club debuts, J. League fans could be forgiven for wondering what is left for them when the season starts next month.
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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