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September 07, 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.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 4, 2011
Survival on top of agenda for J. League's lower half
The following is the first of a two-part J. League preview for the upcoming season. Team-by-team previews of the nine lowest-ranked teams competing in the first division are listed.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 3, 2011
Antlers target swift return to J. League supremacy
It has been four years since Kashima Antlers last headed into a new J. League campaign as contenders rather than champions, but for manager Oswaldo Oliveira the hunger remains the same.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 2, 2011
Ono, Ghotbi confident S-Pulse will be contenders
Given the changes that have taken place at Shimizu S-Pulse over the winter, new manager Afshin Ghotbi could be forgiven for playing down expectations in Shizuoka ahead of the new season.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 1, 2011
Urawa's Petrovic draws inspiration from old friend
New Urawa Reds manager Zeljko Petrovic aims to emulate his friend and former international teammate Dragan Stojkovic by winning the J. League with the team he once played for — as long as the trigger-happy Saitama club has the patience to back him every step of the way.
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 27, 2011
Narazaki saves day for Grampus in Xerox Super Cup
YOKOHAMA — Goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki lived up to his billing as reigning J. League player of the year with three shootout saves to lead Nagoya Grampus past Kashima Antlers 3-1 on penalties to win the Xerox Super Cup after a 1-1 draw on Saturday.
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 19, 2011
Healthy Mizuno strives to contribute for Kashiwa
KASHIWA, Chiba Pref. — As a fresh wave of Japanese players try to make their mark in Europe this spring, Kashiwa Reysol winger Koki Mizuno will settle for simply setting foot on a pitch again.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Feb 10, 2011
J. League exodus a double-edged sword for Japanese game
With yet another raft of Japanese players currently making their European club debuts, J. League fans could be forgiven for wondering what is left for them when the season starts next month.
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 7, 2011
Striker Juninho making lasting impression with Frontale
KAWASAKI — A lot of things have changed at Kawasaki Frontale over the past six months, but Brazilian striker Juninho's desire to help the club win its first J. League title is not one of them.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Feb 3, 2011
Zaccheroni demonstrates worth with Asian Cup triumph
If the JFA was stung by criticism over its appointment of national team manager Alberto Zaccheroni in August, vindication was not long in coming.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jan 29, 2011
Japan's perseverance resonates throughout Asian Cup campaign
Australia will be a formidable opponent in Saturday's Asian Cup final, but fatigue could be just as big an obstacle to Japan's chances of winning the trophy for a record fourth time.
SOCCER / J. League
Jan 24, 2011
Nelsinho vows to take resurgent Reysol to next level
KASHIWA, Chiba Pref. — Kashiwa Reysol manager Nelsinho is eager to see how far his team's momentum can take it on returning to the J. League first division after only one season in the second tier.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jan 20, 2011
Asian Cup campaign gathering steam after five-goal salvo
Slowly but surely, Japan's Asian Cup challenge is taking shape.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jan 13, 2011
Toothless performance shows Zaccheroni flip side of coin
After the euphoria of beating Argentina in his first match as national team manager, Alberto Zaccheroni got a good look at the other face of Japanese soccer on Sunday.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jan 6, 2011
Zaccheroni equipped to make winning start to new era
No sooner than one soccer year ends, another one begins.
SOCCER
Jan 3, 2011
Antlers earn Emperor's Cup, lock up ACL berth
Kashima Antlers manager Oswaldo Oliveira believes the frustration of missing out on a fourth straight J. League title was the driving force behind his team's 2-1 win over Shimizu S-Pulse in the Emperor's Cup final on Saturday.
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Dec 9, 2010
Tokyo left to pick up pieces after nightmare year
What began as a year of optimism and promise could not have turned out any worse for FC Tokyo.
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 5, 2010
Vissel avoids relegation by winning season finale
SAITAMA — Vissel Kobe secured their first-division survival and condemned FC Tokyo to an astonishing relegation with a 4-0 demolition of Urawa Reds on the final day of the J. League season on Saturday.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Dec 2, 2010
Japan facing uphill struggle as World Cup decision looms
Thursday marks the end of a long and vicious battle for hosting rights to the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, but Japan will look to Zurich more in hope than expectation of winning the latter.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Nov 25, 2010
No time for drama as coldblooded Grampus get job done
While Nagoya Grampus' unblinking march toward the title has deprived the J. League of late drama, it has provided a testament to the quality and efficiency of the newly crowned champions.
SOCCER / J. League
Nov 24, 2010
Ishihara's late strike gives Omiya Ardija draw against Vissel Kobe
SAITAMA — Naoki Ishihara salvaged an 85th-minute equalizer to all-but secure Omiya Ardija's first-division survival and edge Vissel Kobe closer to the relegation trapdoor with a 2-2 draw on Tuesday.
‘Confugenics’ and East Asia's demographic crisis
East Asia’s fertility plunge is driven not just by financial costs but by perfectionist cultural expectations that burden parents with intense educational and social demands.
Japan prince comes of age as succession crisis looms
Prince Hisahito concludes his his elaborate "kakan no gi" coming-of-age ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Saturday.
Bangladesh is a South Asian time bomb
Many Bangladeshis hoped that the overthrow of long-time leader Sheikh Hasina last year would revitalize the country’s democracy after an authoritarian lurch under the “iron lady.” Instead it has led to proliferating human-rights abuses, intensifying repression and widespread Islamist violence.
Japan to experience blood moon lunar eclipse on Monday
A blood moon is seen during a partial eclipse in the sky over Lake George near Canberra on March 14.
Japan's $550 billion investment pledge outlined in MOU
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, sign trade agreements on Thursday in Washington.
In rural Hokkaido, the stops and starts of tourism revival on full display
Redevelopment plans for Kawayu Onsen have hit some snags — an example of how bringing tourists back to declining rural communities is far from easy work.
London’s calling and sumo’s top division — along with Hello Kitty — are ready to answer
Yokozuna Hoshoryu and Hello Kitty, an ambassador for sumo's upcoming tour to London, at Tokyo's Kokugikan on Tuesday
Resonac creates 27-member consortium to pursue advanced chip developments
Representatives from member companies of JOINT3, a consortium working together on semiconductor-related developments announced by Resonac, pose for a photo in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Haru Nemuri’s radical new album refuses easy listening
Musician Haruna Kimishima, better known as Haru Nemuri, confronts Japan’s politics, nationalism and censorship on her recent output.
Overseas sluggers step up to bat in small-town Hokkaido
The Betsukai Pilot Spirits welcomed new players (left to right) Yuta Yamanaka, Roman Guthrie, Scott Bellina and Leo Jiminian this year, pictured here with Yassir Lachkar of the Ishikari Red Phoenix.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo
Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo

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