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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
Rugby
Sep 19, 2019
Retooled Brave Blossoms look to take world by storm
Japan head coach Jamie Joseph has a clear goal for the 2019 Rugby World Cup — lead his team to the quarterfinals for the first time in history.
Japan Times
Rugby
Sep 19, 2019
Japan hosts groundbreaking Rugby World Cup
The eyes of the world will be on Tokyo on Friday when Japan kicks off the 2019 Rugby World Cup in the opening game against Russia, taking the tournament outside its traditional heartlands for the first time.
Japan Times
Rugby
Sep 19, 2019
Brave Blossoms admit nervousness and excitement before RWC opener against Russia
Japan national team players on Thursday confessed to feeling nervous ahead of Friday's opening game of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, but are confident the excitement of the occasion will sweep away the butterflies when the host nation faces Russia at Tokyo Stadium.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 18, 2019
Episode 23: Welcome to the land of the rising scrum — Rugby World Cup 2019 special
This week, we talk to the Rugby World Cup chief, Japan Times rugby experts and a triple-cancer survivor who has cycled from the U.K. to Japan for the games.
Japan Times
Rugby
Sep 18, 2019
Brave Blossoms name team for Russia clash
Japan head coach Jamie Joseph on Wednesday urged his entire squad to be ready to play their part at the Rugby World Cup after naming his team to face Russia in Friday's tournament opener.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 18, 2019
Friends in high places: Tokyo Skytree's window washers
How would you like to spend an afternoon dangling 450 meters above the ground in a metal basket with room for only two people?
Japan Times
Rugby
Sep 17, 2019
Organizers say stage set for 'transformational' Rugby World Cup
Rugby World Cup 2019 organizers on Tuesday said the stage is set for a "transformational" tournament as host nation Japan prepares to raise the curtain on the event this weekend.
Japan Times
Rugby
Sep 7, 2019
Japan fails aerial test against Springboks in Rugby World Cup warmup
Japan head coach Jamie Joseph has warned his players they must stand tall if they want to survive at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, after wilting under South Africa's aerial bombardment in a defeat on Friday.
Japan Times
Rugby
Sep 6, 2019
South Africa jumps out to early lead, manhandling Japan in pre-Rugby World Cup match
Japan failed to claim another famous win over South Africa on Friday as the 2019 Rugby World Cup host lost 41-7 to the Springboks in its final warmup match before the tournament begins later this month.
Japan Times
Rugby
Aug 31, 2019
Home advantage: World Cup puts Japanese rugby back in the spotlight
The date is June 4, 1995, and the Japan national rugby team is facing New Zealand's mighty All Blacks in its final pool game at the Rugby World Cup in South Africa. Japan, which has already been eliminated from the tournament going into the match at Bloemfontein's Free State Stadium, has conceded an...
Japan Times
Rugby
Aug 30, 2019
Former captain Brian O'Driscoll backs Irish to end slump before Rugby World Cup
Irish rugby legend Brian O'Driscoll believes Japan's players "will be licking their lips" at the prospect of facing an out-of-sorts Ireland at next month's Rugby World Cup, with a first-ever quarterfinal place for the Brave Blossoms the potential reward.
Japan Times
Rugby
Aug 29, 2019
Brave Blossoms coach Jamie Joseph hails contributions of team's foreign-born players
Japan national rugby team head coach Jamie Joseph countered observations Thursday that his squad for the upcoming Rugby World Cup contains several players born overseas by asking the question "what is a foreign player?"
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2019
Under the big top of Japan’s Kinoshita Circus
Michael Howes claims his job is "no more dangerous than driving a car."
Japan Times
CULTURE
Aug 17, 2019
Game not over: Japan's amusement arcades tap community spirit to stay relevant
"Kana," to call him by the nom de guerre he uses when he is competing in arcade game tournaments, is so good at The King of Fighters '97 that he can beat most other players one-handed.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 25, 2019
The sound of summer: Love them or hate them, cicadas have a special place in Japanese culture
Cicadas — known as semi in Japanese — are a superfamily of insects with around 2,000 known species worldwide, around 35 of which live in Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jul 21, 2019
Eating king Kobayashi bites back in new documentary
Takeru Kobayashi, the 'godfather of competitive eating' recounts how he devoured the American dream, until it chewed him up and spat him out again.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 6, 2019
Cosplay conquers the world
The art of dressing up as characters from anime, manga, video games or TV shows has evolved into a global phenomenon.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 4, 2019
The life of a professional Japanese doppelganger
With his single sequined glove, sparkly jacket and sharp moonwalk dance moves, the man on stage could be no one else. Or could he?
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Jun 19, 2019
Episode 17: Hikikomori — Japan's missing million
Over 1 million people are thought to be hikikomori in Japan. Andrew McKirdy, who interviewed several recovering hikikomori, joins Oscar Boyd to discuss the issue.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2019
Rugby World Cup organizers tap traditional Japanese art for ticket designs
Rugby World Cup 2019 organizers on Monday unveiled their ticket designs for matches for the tournament, bringing a traditional Japanese flavor to what will be Asia's first-ever hosting of the event.
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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