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Philip Patrick

Philip Patrick

The Spectator

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Will this stop players mobbing the referee?

The European football governing body Uefa has informed competing nations at this summer’s Euros that only team captains will be allowed to...

16.05.2024 30

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Why are the yakuza stealing Pokemon cards?

A high-ranking member of the yakuza (Japanese mafia) has been arrested in Tokyo for selling stolen Pokemon cards. Keita Saito was taken into...

12.05.2024 50

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Why are the Japanese so bad at English?

Tokyo, Japan ‘Shhh! Now on face to respectable great eels life’. How’s that for the first line of an article? I spotted this gem written on a...

06.05.2024 20

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Japan won’t forgive Joe Biden for his xenophobia gaffe

Joe Biden just threw a particularly nasty insult the way of Japan, a close ally of the United States, at a campaign event. The president accused the...

02.05.2024 30

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Scrapping replays could be the beginning of the end for the FA Cup

Is time running out for the oldest knock-out tournament of them all? The FA cup‘s obituary has been written a few times in recent years but the...

20.04.2024 7

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

It’s time for Ronaldo to retire

All good things must come to an end, and that surely now ought to include the footballing career of Cristiano Ronaldo, who disgraced himself again on...

10.04.2024 10

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

The curiously quiet reaction to Oppenheimer in Japan

Finally, eight months after its US premiere and a month after it triumphed at the Oscars, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer has opened here in Japan....

06.04.2024 20

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Japan is no country for young men

Another week, another fun fact about Japan’s declining birthrate and ageing population to startle and amuse us. Japan has now recorded a full decade...

30.03.2024 20

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Football is in enough trouble without a ‘regulator’

Unlike David Cameron – who famously got in a muddle about which team he supported – Rishi Sunak is a genuine football fan. But this makes the...

20.03.2024 9

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Flushed out / Japanese toilets aren’t all they’re cracked up to be

What is the world’s best city in which to be caught short? You can imagine a lively discussion on this question on a TripAdvisor forum. A strong...

13.03.2024 10

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Liverpool fans should stop booing the national anthem

Liverpool fans, a significant number at least, booed the national anthem at the Carabao Cup final at Wembley yesterday. It wasn’t the first time...

26.02.2024 6

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Why are Japan’s trains so much better than ours?

With six more months of train strikes recently announced it is getting hard to imagine a punctual, anxiety-free railway journey in the UK. Over in...

25.02.2024 10

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Who cancelled Miss Japan?

Karolina Shiino, a 26-year-old naturalised Japanese woman originally from Ukraine, has been obliged to give up her Miss Japan title after confessing...

07.02.2024 50

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Dying traditions / Japan’s naked men are no longer sacred

For the first time in its 1,250 year history, Japan’s Naked Man Festival is to admit women to its sacred rites and rituals – well, one sacred...

07.02.2024 10

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Not everyone will miss Jurgen Klopp

So, farewell then Jurgen Klopp. What memories you will leave us. You were exuberant, passionate and unorthodox. You ran up and down the touchline,...

28.01.2024 7

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

No one is talking about Fujitsu in Japan

‘They are a national disgrace.’ That was the response of a Japanese friend when I asked for her opinion on Fujitsu, the Japanese company at the...

09.01.2024 20

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Is Japan finally embracing immigration?

Japan has long been known for its steadfast refusal to submit to the allure of large-scale immigration, as a country that puts social cohesion and...

07.01.2024 5

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Japan’s earthquake has brought back memories of 2011’s disaster

The year 2024 began in the worst possible way for Japan. At least 30 people were killed by a powerful earthquake which struck the Ishikawa prefecture...

02.01.2024 10

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Why can’t the BBC leave Agatha Christie alone?

I would like to report a murder. It took place in the evening of 27 December in millions of homes around the UK simultaneously. The victim was Dame...

29.12.2023 20

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

The admirable humility of Japanese sports stars

Who is the best paid sportsperson in the world? Cristiano Ronaldo perhaps? Or Kylian Mbappé? Lionel Messi? Novak Djokovic? LeBron James? Well, no. As...

17.12.2023 6

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

The deep affinity between Japan and Israel

Tokyo Japan and Israel have a curious bond, which recent events have highlighted. A video showing a group of Japanese senior citizens singing...

30.11.2023 10

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Does football really need sin bins to tackle bad behaviour?

Here we go again. Just when you thought a period of welcome stasis might have descended on the world of football rules and regulations, we look set...

29.11.2023 3

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Everton’s problems are only just beginning

Pity the poor Everton fans. Just as their once mighty club, now a perennial relegation battler, seemed to have a climbed a few ladders in recent weeks...

18.11.2023 7

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Retail ritual / Japanese service is stiflingly polite

One thing you can be sure of on a visit to Japan is that the service will be at the very least good, and quite often superb. The chances of being...

15.11.2023 10

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Celtic’s Remembrance Day shame is the final straw

A portion of the crowd at Celtic’s Parkhead stadium booed the minute’s silence for Remembrance Sunday. It was abandoned after 30 seconds. This...

13.11.2023 20

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Lost in Translation was Tokyo at its bizarre, dislocating best

You can wait ages for a Japan themed Hollywood film and then three come at once. In an odd spasm of Japanophilia in 2003, Sophia Coppola’s sophomore...

22.10.2023 6

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Is sumo wrestling dying out?

For any young athletes harbouring ambitions of being a sumo wrestler, there was some good news this week. The Japanese Sumo Association (JSA) has...

14.10.2023 5

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Football’s shameful silence on Israel’s tragedy

Few top-flight football matches these days kick off without an expression of solidarity with a cause or condolence. Along with the customary tributes...

11.10.2023 6

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Is Fifa trying to destroy the World Cup?

It’s official, well almost. Fifa has announced the location for the 2030 (centenary) World Cup. And the winner is… all over the place. In an...

05.10.2023 3

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

The excruciating pain of being a Manchester United fan

Can there be a more wretched existence in football than being a Manchester United fan? Well, yes, would be the instant retort from legions of...

24.09.2023 7

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

The upside of living in Japan’s ageing society

For the first time more than 10 per cent of the Japanese population are aged 80 or older, according to new official data. This reinforces Japan’s...

18.09.2023 6

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Spanish football / Was Luis Rubiales’ resignation really necessary?

Luis Rubiales, the embattled Spanish football chief, has bowed to the seemingly inevitable and resigned from both his positions as president of the...

11.09.2023 5

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Does Japan not care about Kitagawa’s abuse?

The niece of Jonny Kitagawa, founder of the Japanese talent agency Jonny & Associates, stepped down this week from her role as...

10.09.2023 6

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

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