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September 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 21, 2019
All Blacks deliver clear message with methodical victory over Springboks
Two-time defending Rugby World Cup champion New Zealand sent an ominous warning to its 2019 title rivals with a 23-13 win over much-fancied South Africa in its tournament opener on Saturday.
Japan Times
Rugby
Sep 21, 2019
All Blacks and Springboks get the party started in Yokohama
New Zealand and South Africa fans got the party started early outside International Stadium Yokohama on Saturday afternoon, as two of rugby's traditional heavyweights prepared to do battle at the Rugby World Cup.
Japan Times
Rugby
Sep 21, 2019
Japan's hat-trick hero Kotaro Matsushima says Brave Blossoms will be ready for Ireland match
Hat-trick hero Kotaro Matsushima is backing Japan to shake off its Rugby World Cup stage fright before it plays Ireland next weekend, after the host nation recovered from a nervy start to beat Russia in the tournament opener on Friday night.
Rugby
Sep 20, 2019
Japan overcomes slow start to triumph over Russia in Rugby World Cup opener
Host nation Japan recovered from an early scare to beat rank outsider Russia 30-10 in the opening game of the 2019 Rugby World Cup on Friday night, sending a raucous crowd at Tokyo Stadium home happy.
Japan Times
Rugby
Sep 20, 2019
Rugby World Cup kicks off in Tokyo
The 2019 Rugby World Cup kicked off in spectacular style on Friday night with an opening ceremony that paid homage to traditional Japanese culture and featured All Blacks legend Richie McCaw emerging from a giant model of Mount Fuji with the trophy.
Japan Times
Rugby
Sep 20, 2019
All Blacks and Springboks set for titanic clash at Rugby World Cup
New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen is confident his team has what it takes to win an unprecedented third straight Rugby World Cup title, but for the moment he is looking no further than Saturday's monumental opening clash against archrival South Africa.
Japan Times
Rugby
Sep 19, 2019
Mind your manners and don't embarrass yourself at the Rugby World Cup
First time in Japan? Here are a couple tips that will serve you well.
Rugby
Sep 19, 2019
Retooled Brave Blossoms look to take world by storm
Japan head coach Jamie Joseph has a clear goal for the 2019 Rugby World Cup — lead his team to the quarterfinals for the first time in history.
Rugby
Sep 19, 2019
Japan hosts groundbreaking Rugby World Cup
The eyes of the world will be on Tokyo on Friday when Japan kicks off the 2019 Rugby World Cup in the opening game against Russia, taking the tournament outside its traditional heartlands for the first time.
Rugby
Sep 19, 2019
Brave Blossoms admit nervousness and excitement before RWC opener against Russia
Japan national team players on Thursday confessed to feeling nervous ahead of Friday's opening game of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, but are confident the excitement of the occasion will sweep away the butterflies when the host nation faces Russia at Tokyo Stadium.
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 18, 2019
Episode 23: Welcome to the land of the rising scrum — Rugby World Cup 2019 special
This week, we talk to the Rugby World Cup chief, Japan Times rugby experts and a triple-cancer survivor who has cycled from the U.K. to Japan for the games.
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."
Top Japan trade negotiator canceled U.S. trip over rice, report says
Ryosei Akazawa
‘Mount Fuji Lawson’ becomes a symbol of Japan’s overtourism problem
A couple poses for a wedding photo in front of a Lawson in the town of Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Aug. 25.
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
The Nobel Prize and a testy phone call: How the Trump-Modi relationship unraveled
U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greet one another at the start of a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington in February.
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
Japan is warming up to tattoos — just not permanent ones
Tattoos have a complex history in Japan, but new types of temporary ink are letting locals curious about body art experiment without the commitment.
YouTube Music Weekend is where Japan’s internet-born performers go global
Headlining the second day of YouTube Music Weekend is Vocaloid artist Kikuo, who, with 1.46 million YouTube subscribers, is one of the most popular artists in the genre.
Japan looks to build drone ‘shield’ in record defense budget request
A group of Ground Self-Defense Force service members discuss drone operations and capabilities at a joint static display during the Orient Shield 24 opening ceremony at the Yausubetsu Training Area in Hokkaido in July last year.
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.

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

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