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April 04, 2025
 

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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
Mar 25, 2016
Halilhodzic pleased with results from new system
National team manager Vahid Halilhodzic has challenged Japan to make it through the second round of 2018 World Cup qualifiers without conceding a goal after claiming a seventh clean sheet in seven games in Thursday's 5-0 win over Afghanistan.
SOCCER
Mar 24, 2016
Japan thrashes Afghanistan in World Cup qualifier
Japan virtually guaranteed its place in the final round of 2018 World Cup qualifiers with a 5-0 win over Afghanistan on Thursday.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Mar 23, 2016
Halilhodzic looking to stoke competition in World Cup qualifiers
Japan should have little trouble clinching its place in the final round of 2018 World Cup qualifiers when it faces Afghanistan and Syria over the coming week, but manager Vahid Halilhodzic will nonetheless be looking to lay down a marker for the year ahead.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 12, 2016
Koroki leads Reds past Avispa
Shinzo Koroki scored a goal in each half to help Urawa Reds get back to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over promoted Avispa Fukuoka on Saturday.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 5, 2016
Mrdja double carries Ardija past Reysol
J. League second-division champions Omiya Ardija made it two wins out of two in their return to the top flight with a 2-0 victory over Kashiwa Reysol on Saturday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 1, 2016
Company aiming to clear space junk wins funding
A company that aims to clean junk from space has secured up to $30 million (¥3.39 billion) in public-private funding and plans to launch the world's first debris-mapping satellite later this year.
Rugby
Feb 27, 2016
Sunwolves fall short in opener
The Sunwolves proved they can hold their own in Super Rugby but failed to win their competition debut in a 26-13 defeat to South Africa's Lions on Saturday.
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 26, 2016
Gamba, Reds seeking revenge on Sanfrecce
The following is the second of a two-part preview for the upcoming J. League season. Team-by-team previews of the nine highest-ranking teams competing in the first division are listed.
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 25, 2016
Ardija looking to keep rising
The following is the first of a two-part preview for the upcoming J. League season. Team-by-team previews of the nine lowest-ranking teams competing in the first division are listed.
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 24, 2016
J. League champions Sanfrecce looking to defy odds again
Sanfrecce Hiroshima manager Hajime Moriyasu admits that even he wasn't convinced his team would win the J. League title last season, but that doesn't mean he is ruling out further success in 2016.
Rugby
Feb 23, 2016
Rugby World Cup chief pledges faith in Japan 2019 organizers
The head of the Rugby World Cup is confident that Japan can transform itself into a rugby-mad nation by 2019 and make the first tournament to be held in Asia a success.
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 23, 2016
Olympic hopefuls aim to shine in J. League
The Rio Olympics are just over five months away, but with the new J. League season about to begin, Japan's soccer medal hopefuls have no time to sit back and dream of glory in Brazil.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 22, 2016
Nanami preaches caution in Jubilo's return to top flight
Jubilo Iwata might be back among the J. League elite, but manager Hiroshi Nanami is not expecting instant miracles.
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 20, 2016
Sanfrecce keep hold on Gamba
J. League champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima picked up from where they left off last year with a 3-1 win over Gamba Osaka in the season curtain-raising Fuji Xerox Super Cup on Saturday.
SOCCER
Feb 9, 2016
FC Tokyo crushes Chonburi FC, advances to ACL group stage
FC Tokyo cruised into the group stage of this season's Asian Champions League with a 9-0 playoff thrashing of Thailand's Chonburi FC on Tuesday night.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2016
Despite new design, controversy may dog Tokyo's Olympic stadium long after last lap is run
When a fresh design for the new National Stadium was chosen last month, many believed it would finally put an end to months of chaos over its construction. They were wrong.
Rugby
Jan 24, 2016
Panasonic captures Top League title
Panasonic Wild Knights survived an almighty late scare to become Top League champions for the third straight season after beating Toshiba Brave Lupus 27-26 in Sunday's LIXIL Cup final.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2016
IOC praises Tokyo as 'most prepared city' during latest visit
International Olympic Committee Vice President John Coates on Friday praised Tokyo as "the most prepared city we've ever seen," more than four years ahead of the 2020 Games. But Coates also scotched suggestions that the new National Stadium could be completed in time to host games at the 2019 Rugby World...
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jan 15, 2016
J. League teams gearing back up after short time off
The Jan. 1 Emperor's Cup final brought the curtain down on the 2015 Japanese soccer season, but already J. League clubs are gearing up for the new campaign ahead.
SOCCER / CLUB WORLD CUP
Dec 21, 2015
Barcelona as good as advertised in Club World Cup final
Argentine superstar Lionel Messi paid tribute to strike partners Luis Suarez and Neymar after the trio combined to deliver Barcelona a record third Club World Cup title on Sunday — and warned the rest of the world they are not finished yet.
As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more U.S. firms say retailers turning away products
Empty shelves with "Buy Canadian Instead" signs are seen in the American Whiskey section of the BC Liquor in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 10.
U.S. tourist arrested after bringing a handgun into Japan
Hyogo police believe the handgun a U.S. tourist inadvertently brought into Japan slipped through security procedures at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture.
Trump unveils 10% global tariff, with Japan levy set at 24%
Trump tosses a MAGA hat to the crowd during an event in which he unveiled new tariffs in the White House on Wednesday.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
Japan promises 'bold and speedy' response to Trump’s surprise 24% tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump unveils new U.S. tariffs at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
On defense, Japan may avoid Trump's worst impulses — for now
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth chat after reviewing an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.

Podcast

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

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
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