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April 01, 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
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.
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.
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.
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
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 Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 6, 2019
Chiba loquat grower loves his work, but frets over the future of the biwa business
Kenzo Takeba picks a loquat out of his basket, unwraps it from its paper cover and expertly begins to peel off the delicate orange skin with his fingers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 1, 2019
The prison inside: Japan's hikikomori lack relationships, not physical spaces
Fifty-three-year-old Kenji Yamase doesn't fit the traditional image of a hikikomori, but then perceptions of Japan's social recluses are changing.
Japan Times
Rugby
May 16, 2019
Scotland's Stuart Hogg looks ahead to rematch with Brave Blossoms
Scotland fullback Stuart Hogg admits the autumn heat in Japan could hamper his team's chances of claiming a Rugby World Cup quarterfinal spot at the host nation's expense later this year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 13, 2019
Taking the fall: The hard-knock life of a stunt performer in Japan
Trainer Chuck Johnson explains what it takes to get a piece of the action in this rough-and-tumble world of stunt performers.
Japan's biggest beef bowl chain Sukiya to shut nearly 2,000 stores after rat and bug contamination
Zensho Holdings, operator of fast-food chain Sukiya, said it will close all of its stores in Japan, except for a small number in shopping centers, between Monday and Friday following recent contamination incidents.
Alert raised for volcano in southwestern Japan
Shinmoedake, a volcano located between Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures, in November 2019
Japan considers all possible options as Trump threatens new auto tariffs
Subaru cars awaiting export at a port in Yokohama on Thursday.
Nankai Trough earthquake could kill 298,000 people, government says
Residents participate in an evacuation drill held with West Japan Railway in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, in January 2024 to prepare for a Nankai Trough earthquake and a possible tsunami following the quake.
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.
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.
Tokyo tech failures lean into misfortune, mistakes and missteps
Tsuyoshi Domoto in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on March 28. As an entrepreneur, Domoto experienced plenty of setbacks but maintains a positive attitude and continues to pursue his dreams.
Who among the opposition would join the ruling coalition?
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Friday.
Traveling the Three-Star Road, the tourist route made from thin air
Scenes like this snow-covered bridge leading to the village of Shirakawa-go are what make the Three-Star Road worth traveling — its name notwithstanding.
Recent spate of wildfires in Japan and South Korea linked to climate change
Smoke and flames rise from a wildfire in Andong, South Korea, on Tuesday.

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
By Johan Brooks

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