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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.
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 16, 2009
Frontale's Chong draws strength from pride in North Korean heritage
KURIHIRA, Kanagawa Pref. — Kawasaki Frontale's North Korean striker Chong Tese has a busy year ahead of him.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Aug 13, 2009
Youth movement not enough to satisfy Reds' ambitions
Urawa Reds manager Volker Finke could barely conceal his disbelief at reaching the season's halfway mark on 34 points. But with his team stuck on the same tally one month and three straight defeats later, the German's caution seems well founded.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 6, 2009
Sorimachi rebuilding reputation after Beijing bust
HIRATSUKA, Kanagawa Pref. — A year has passed since Japan's Beijing Olympic soccer debacle, but for manager Yasuharu Sorimachi, the wounds healed a long time ago.
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Aug 5, 2009
Jofuku's leadership has FC Tokyo poised to be contender soon
A last-minute loss to Kawasaki Frontale may have checked FC Tokyo's charge up the J. League table last weekend, but it will take more than one defeat to wipe out the steady progress the capital city club has made over the past six months.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 2, 2009
Late goal gives Frontale triumph over FC Tokyo
An injury-time piledriver from Hiroyuki Taniguchi moved Kawasaki Frontale into second place in the J. League with a last-gasp 2-1 win over FC Tokyo on Saturday night.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jul 30, 2009
Homegrown hit-men giving Okada plenty of ammunition
Japan's eternal weakness in producing strikers has long been reflected in the J. League top-scorer charts, but a strong homegrown challenge this season is proving to be a timely exception with the countdown to the World Cup under way.
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 26, 2009
Nagoya strikers provide much-needed boost
SAITAMA — Keiji Tamada ended his goal drought in emphatic fashion as Nagoya Grampus handed out a 3-0 drubbing to Urawa Reds on Saturday night.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jul 23, 2009
Forward thinking can ease Stojkovic's second-season blues
Dragan Stojkovic worked miracles leading Nagoya Grampus into the Asian Champions League in his first season as a manager, but he is now learning that achieving success and keeping hold of it are two very different things.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 19, 2009
Miyamoto's sensational goal rescues Vissel
KAWASAKI — Former national team captain Tsuneyasu Miyamoto struck with a spectacular overhead kick to rescue a point for Vissel Kobe in a 2-2 draw with Kawasaki Frontale on Saturday.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jul 16, 2009
Kashima leading by example at halfway point of season
...
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 13, 2009
Finke calls for change to J. League schedule
SAITAMA — Urawa Reds manager Volker Finke has urged the J. League to change the timing of its season to align with the European calendar.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 12, 2009
Second-half strikes lift Reds to victory
SAITAMA — A second-half double from Brazilian striker Edmilson rescued three points for Urawa Reds in a 2-1 win over Sanfrecce Hiroshima on Saturday.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jul 9, 2009
Indecision over Chamusca can only worsen Oita's plight
After winning the Nabisco Cup and guiding his club to a fourth-place league finish last season, few jobs in the J. League looked as secure as Oita Trinita manager Pericles Chamusca's.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jul 2, 2009
Enigma Takahara too talented to be written off for good
A striker finally scoring his first league goal 15 games into a season wouldn't normally be greeted with murmurs of excitement, but then Naohiro Takahara's track record has earned him the benefit of the doubt.
SOCCER / J. League
Jun 28, 2009
Takahara notches first goal of season
SAITAMA — Naohiro Takahara scored his first goal of the J. League season to help Urawa Reds get back to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Vissel Kobe on Saturday.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jun 25, 2009
Nakamura's European ambition puts Okubo in the shade
If Shunsuke Nakamura's decision to snub a return to the J. League to stay in Europe represents a triumph of ambition over comfort, it is a message sadly missed by international teammate Yoshito Okubo.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Jun 21, 2009
First-place Antlers top Jubilo, extend unbeaten streak to 11 matches
KASHIMA, Ibaraki Pref. — Kashima Antlers opened up a seven-point lead at the top of the J. League with a 1-0 win over Jubilo Iwata on Saturday.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jun 16, 2009
Endo's absence highlights value of Japan's passing game
National team manager Takeshi Okada was hoping to use Japan's final two World Cup qualifiers to learn more about the fringe members of his squad. But the first of those games, last Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Qatar, will have told him more about a player who will not take part in either.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 12, 2009
Metsu: Japan too weak to make it to semifinals
YOKOHAMA — Qatar manager Bruno Metsu has poured cold water over Japan's ambition of reaching the World Cup semifinals, saying Takeshi Okada's men "don't know what to do" when the heat is on.
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 11, 2009
Listless Japan settles for draw
Qatar rained on Japan's World Cup qualification parade with a second-half penalty to earn a 1-1 draw on Wednesday night.
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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