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April 26, 2024
 

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Alastair Himmer
For Alastair Himmer's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Jun 25, 2002
Sour grapes do injustice to South Korea
Who on earth would have predicted a World Cup semifinal between South Korea and Germany this time last month?
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Jun 11, 2002
World Cup brings out worst in Dachshund Ron
So far so weird, then. France on the brink of elimination, England beating Argentina 1-0 and Rivaldo being fined for cheating were just some of the biggest headlines to come out of the first week and a bit of the World Cup.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
May 28, 2002
God and Japan try to copy Latvian recipe
What with France relying on a Japanese referee to beat South Korea 3-2 and plucky Latvia winning the Eurovision Song Contest, it was a truly controversial weekend.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
May 14, 2002
Let Alex run free up front
Japan strikers are a delicate bunch. Atsushi Yanagisawa went down with "Beirut Belly" during the Asian Cup in 2000 and has not touched a kebab since.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Apr 30, 2002
Sex, lies, videotape and something fishy
I hate April in Japan. Step outside and the air smells of sweaty underpants. My friend Percy tells me it has something to do with trees secreting spitballs. Which is nice.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Apr 16, 2002
Careful with that tree, Eugene!
After months of teetering on the brink of full-blown silliness, World Cup organizers finally appear to have plunged into a vortex occupied by Teletubbies, giant talking tadpoles and Benny Hill lookalikes.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Apr 2, 2002
Poland and reality are Poles apart
Is Jerzy Engel completely deranged? Who on earth is Jerzy Engel, you are probably wondering? (Sigh) I used to talk about muffins and naked grandparents in these columns.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Mar 19, 2002
Troussier leaves us scratching our heads
Question: When is an "open" training session not an "open" training session?
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Mar 5, 2002
2002 on hold as JAWOC ponders making a decision
My Korean girlfriend has come to the conclusion that the Japanese couldn't organize a bun fight in a bakery, let alone a World Cup.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Jan 22, 2002
Japan must watch sex and vampires at World Cup
So Premier League side Bolton Wanderers finally saw the light and decided to give back Japan striker Akinori Nishizawa after just six months on loan from Cerezo Osaka. Anyone surprised?
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Jan 8, 2002
Former Sanfrecce boss Thomson itching to get back into J. League
SYDNEY -- Former Sanfrecce Hiroshima manager Eddie Thomson is the sort of person who could sell Michael Schumacher a used Skoda.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Dec 25, 2001
And the winner is . . .
My grandmother used to tell us that Christmas is a time for forgiveness, not just binge drinking and belching your way through the Bond movie as the 6 pounds of turkey you scoffed at dinner threaten to reappear from the nearest available orifice.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Dec 14, 2001
Barbie dolls, Muppets battle to bore draw
We all wait with an impending sense of dread to see what South Korean soccer chief Chung Mong Joon and his cronies have got up their sleeves for the opening ceremony of the World Cup next year.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Nov 27, 2001
Only fools and Boca up for Toyota Cup
The circus is back in town for tonight's World Club Cup (otherwise known as the Intercontinental Cup, Toyota Cup or Mickey Mouse Windshield Trophy) between Germany's Bayern Munich and Boca Juniors of Argentina.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Nov 13, 2001
Kafka dreams end happily for Troussier's Japan
Japan goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi must have thought he was stuck in some weird Kafka dream when he let in a goal just 26 seconds into his Portsmouth debut on Nov. 3.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Oct 30, 2001
Nakata not doing the business for Parma
Hidetoshi Nakata is in serious danger of turning into the "Plonker of Parma." Or worse still, the Japanese Nigel Clough.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Oct 18, 2001
No-fry zones a must during World Cup
It used to be good being Swiss, apparently. Now the country that gave us the cuckoo clock and Toblerone finds itself without an airline and, worse still, without World Cup soccer on the telly next year.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Oct 2, 2001
Troussier calls out all Japan's stars for 'friendlies'
Like the Radiohead song, there were "no alarms and no surprises" when Philippe Troussier named his 25-man Japan squad for this week's friendly matches against Senegal and Nigeria, two teams the cohosts could meet at next year's World Cup.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Sep 18, 2001
Japan's taxi drivers will nip hooligans in the bud
If a bunch of terrorists can reduce the World Trade Center towers to rubble, imagine what they could do at next year's World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea. Unfortunately, this is not mere scare mongering.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Sep 4, 2001
Far and away: The story of Japan's World Cup venues
Last weekend, I was on tour in China with British Football Club Tokyo. We played so badly in the annual Shanghai Sevens tournament that I decided to give poor Shunsuke Nakamura a break in this week's column (something about the pot calling the kettle black).
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Over 40% of Japan's municipalities at risk of vanishing, study finds
Of 1,729 local municipalities nationwide, 744 have been identified as being at risk of disappearing.
Princess Aiko makes debut at imperial garden party
Princess Aiko attends an imperial garden party in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Yen inches closer to intervention point as BOJ meeting starts
The rate of the yen against the U.S. dollar is displayed in the trading room at foreign exchange brokerage Gaitame.com in Tokyo on Thursday.
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.
For amateur sumo, a fresh start offers hope against time-wasting and gamesmanship
Wrestlers prepare for the start of a bout at the 2023 Sumo World Championships in Tokyo. Starting this month, placing one hand on the clay first is no longer allowed.
LDP veteran Nikai's youngest son expected to succeed him in Wakayama
Toshihiro Nikai, former secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, announced in March that he would not run in the next Lower House election to take responsibility for the political funds scandal that rocked his party and his own faction.
New workers name Shohei Ohtani as 'dream boss' for two years running
Shohei Ohtani has been overwhelmingly voted as the “dream boss” for people who started working in April, according to a survey.
A craft beer crawl through Tokyo’s top bars, brewpubs and dives
If all you drink is Asahi, Sapporo and Kirin, you're depriving yourself of some of the best craft beer Tokyo has to offer — and there sure is a lot of it out there.
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability
Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability

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