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April 05, 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 / SOCCER SCENE
Jan 31, 2013
Japan looking to lay down marker for 2013 in Latvia friendly
Japan will face tougher tests over the year ahead than next Wednesday's season-opening friendly against Latvia, but with World Cup qualification virtually secured more than 16 months before the tournament begins, manager Alberto Zaccheroni will be keen to start building momentum on the road to Brazil....
SOCCER / J. League
Jan 24, 2013
Tokyo goalkeeper Gonda sets bar high for coming season
FC Tokyo goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda is far too modest to accept the plaudits that have come his way after a string of fine performances for club and country last season, but there is certainly nothing humble about his ambitions for the year ahead.
SOCCER / J. League
Jan 20, 2013
Hosho captures high school soccer title in shootout win over Tachibana
Hosho of Miyazaki came through a penalty shootout to win the National High School Soccer Championship for the first time with a 5-3 victory over Kyoto Tachibana after a 2-2 draw in Saturday's final.
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jan 17, 2013
Promoted teams hoping to buck trend with J1 survival
Teams around the J. League have been busy parading their winter recruits this week, but if the recent travails of several promoted sides are anything to go by, this year's J1 new boys will need all the reinforcements they can get.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jan 10, 2013
Kagawa returns to changed landscape at high-flying United
Shinji Kagawa will not have expected anything to come easy when he joined Manchester United last summer, but having returned from injury over the holiday period to a team that has been winning in his absence, the forward will have to work overtime to establish himself at Old Trafford.
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 30, 2012
Reysol, Gamba advance to Emperor's Cup final
Kashiwa Reysol set up a New Year's Day Emperor's Cup final showdown with Gamba Osaka after beating Yokohama F. Marinos 1-0 on Saturday.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Dec 20, 2012
Departure of Club World Cup strips Japan of valuable asset
The Club World Cup undoubtedly has its flaws, but as the competition ends its long association with Japan to set up home in Morocco for the next two years, the Japanese game would do well to consider what it is losing.
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 18, 2012
Jubilant Corinthians on cloud nine after CWC victory
Corinthians defender Paulo Andre paid tribute to his team's formidable supporters after beating Chelsea to win the Club World Cup on Sunday night, framing it as a victory for the Brazilian people over the aristocrats of European soccer.
SOCCER
Dec 17, 2012
Guerrero carries Corinthians to CWC title against Chelsea
Paolo Guerrero headed home a 69th-minute winner to crown Corinthians world champions for the second time with a 1-0 victory over Chelsea in the Club World Cup final on Sunday.
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 16, 2012
Corinthians face major challenge against Chelsea
Corinthians manager Tite is aiming to channel the passion of his club's fanatical supporters in Sunday's Club World Cup final, but warns that Chelsea will need no second invitation to exploit any lapse in his players' resolve.
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 15, 2012
Chelsea takes aim at Corinthians after reaching CWC final
Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard is determined to prove the superiority of European soccer in Sunday's Club World Cup final, but warns that Brazilian opponents Corinthians have the samba magic to jeopardize his side's plans for global domination.
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 14, 2012
Chelsea punches ticket to Club World Cup final
European champions Chelsea cruised into a Club World Cup final showdown against Corinthians after beating Mexico's Monterrey 3-1 in their semifinal on Thursday night.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Dec 13, 2012
Chelsea ready to rise to challenge at Club World Cup
Chelsea defender Gary Cahill admits he is only now beginning to realize how badly rival teams want to win the Club World Cup this week, and is taking nothing for granted in Thursday's semifinal against Monterrey.
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 11, 2012
Benitez plays down pressure as Chelsea arrives for Club World Cup
Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez insists his side is under no extra pressure to win the Club World Cup this week after making an early exit from the Champions League, shrugging off speculation he may lose his job less than three weeks after taking over on an interim basis.
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 7, 2012
Aoyama strike carries Sanfrecce into Club World Cup quarterfinals
J.League champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima secured safe passage into the Club World Cup quarterfinals with a 1-0 win over New Zealand's Auckland City in the tournament opener on Thursday.
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Dec 6, 2012
Rudderless Gamba pay heavy toll for strategic mistakes
Gamba Osaka's relegation to the second division feels no less shocking now that the dust has settled, but after spending only five weeks of the season outside the bottom three, perhaps the writing was on the wall all along.
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 2, 2012
Yokohama slips past Sagan in finale
Yokohama F. Marinos missed out on a place in next season's Asian Champions League despite beating Sagan Tosu 1-0 on Saturday, as Urawa Reds claimed the qualification spot by finishing third on the final day of the J. League season.
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 1, 2012
Leandro hopes Reysol can still claim Asian Champions League berth
Outgoing J. League title-holders Kashiwa Reysol may have seen their crown handed to a new champion last weekend, but midfielder Leandro Domingues is determined to salvage something from the season as it reaches its conclusion on Saturday.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Nov 29, 2012
Debut title fitting reward for Sanfrecce's consistent campaign
Sanfrecce Hiroshima may have had to wait until the J. League's 20th season before winning their first piece of silverware, but after clinching the championship with a resounding win in front of a home crowd on Saturday, the achievement will taste all the sweeter.
SOCCER / J. League
Nov 24, 2012
Trinita slip past JEF United to earn promotion to first division
Substitute Takenori Hayashi struck with four minutes left on the clock to send Oita Trinita back to the J. League first division with a 1-0 win over JEF United Chiba in the promotion playoffs final on Friday.
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.
3D printer used to construct train station building in Japan
A train station building (front) is assembled from parts printed using 3D printer technology, in Arida, Wakayama Prefecture, on Wednesday.
Japan’s leader didn’t read the job description
Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Shigeru Ishiba is facing a political funding scandal that has damaged his reputation and sparked speculation that internal efforts to remove him are underway.
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.
Tokyo’s KK Line to close for decadelong overhaul as public greenway
People enjoy running and yoga on Tokyo Expressway’s KK Line, a 2-kilometer elevated expressway cutting through the capital’s commercial Ginza district, when it was opened as a pedestrian space in May last year.
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).
Nintendo to launch the Switch 2 on June 5
The controllers for the Switch 2 will attach to the console magnetically rather than sliding on rails as with the original device.
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.

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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