Soccer is one of the most popular sports in Japan. I remember the dawn of professional football (soccer) in early 1990s Japan. The J.League was started in 1993 and it is currently comprised (構成する、成る) of three divisions – J. League Division 1 (J1), Division 2 (J2) and Division 3 (J3).
People of all ages and both genders watch soccer. The Japan national soccer team is currently among the highest ranked Asian teams in the world. The men’s national team is nicknamed the “Samurai Blue” after their jersey’s color, and the women’s national team is known as “Nadeshiko Japan” after a flower that is related to the image of the ideal Japanese woman (The women’s team won the 2011 World Cup).
Anyway, you should know some Japanese soccer players who contributed to boosting (高める) Japan’s presence (存在感).
★ Takashi Inui
He plays for Spanish club Deportivo Alavés on loan from Real Betis and the Japan national football team. In 2018, he scored 2 goals for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
◉ Date of birth : 2 June 1988
◉ Height : 168cm
◉ Playing position : Winger, Attacking midfielder
◉ Current team : Alavés (on loan from Betis)
◉ Yokohama F. Marinos (2007～2009)
◉ Cerezo Osaka (2008 : loan)
◉ Cerezo Osaka (2009～2011)
◉ VfL Bochum (Germany：2011～2012)
◉ Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany：2012-2015)
◉ Eibar (Spain：2015～2018)
◉ Betis (Spain：2018～)
◉ Alavés (Spain：2019～ : loan)
☆ Atsuto Uchida
In 2011, he became the first Japanese footballer to play for a team that reached the semi-finals of the Champion’s League (CL). And he went on to help the Japan national team win the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. He could have been successful more if he didn’t have some serious injuries.
◉ Date of birth : 27 March 1988
◉ Height : 176cm
◉ Playing position : Right Back
◉ Current team : Kashima Antlers
◉ Kashima Antlers (2006～2010)
◉ Schalke 04 (Germany : 2010〜2017)
◉ Union Berlin (Germany : 2017)
◉ Kashima Antlers (2018～)
★ Yoshito Okubo
He plays as a striker for Jubilo Iwata. From 2003 to 2014, he earned 60 caps for the Japan national team scoring 6 goals. He had the top scorer for three seasons in a row in J1 League 2013～2015). He is called the strongest striker in Japanese history.
◉ Date of birth : 9 June 1982
◉ Height : 170cm
◉ Playing position : FW, MF
◉ Current team : Jubilo Iwata
◉ Cerezo Osaka (2001～2006)
◉ Mallorca (Spain : 2005〜2006 : loan)
◉ Vissel Kobe (2007～2008)
◉ VfL Wolfsburg (Germany：2009)
◉ Vissel Kobe (2009〜2012)
◉ Kawasaki Frontale (2013～2016)
◉ FC Tokyo (2017)
◉ Kawasaki Frontale (2018)
◉ Jubilo Iwata (2018〜)
☆ Mitsuo Ogasawara
He is a Japanese football player, who plays for the J League team Kashima Antlers. He is a bloody (すごい) genius. He dominated (支配する) the game and called “Human being vacuum cleaner” (He steals the ball from a high position).
◉ Date of birth : 5 April 1979
◉ Height : 173cm
◉ Playing position : MF
◉ Current team : retired in 2018
◉ Kashima Antlers (1998～2018)
◉ Messina (Italy : 2006〜2007 : loan)
★ Yasuhiko Okudera
He is a former Japanese football player and manager. He is currently the president of J2 League club Yokohama FC and was formerly the president of English club Plymouth Argyle. He was the first Japanese footballer to play professionally in Europe, as well as being the first Asian football player to score in the European Cup, while playing for Köln in the 1979 semi-final match and made 32 appearances – scoring nine goals – with the Japanese national team.
◉ Date of birth : 12 March 1952
◉ Height : 177cm
◉ Playing position : MF (FW, DF)
◉ Furukawa Electric (1970～1977)
◉ Köln (Germany : 1977〜1980)
◉ Hertha (Germany : 1980～1981)
◉ Werder Bremen (Germany：1981〜1986)
◉ Furukawa Electric (1986〜1988)
🔴 National team : (1972〜1987)
☆ Kunishige Kamamoto
He is a former Japanese football player, manager and politician. He won the bronze medal with the Japan national team at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, finishing as the tournament’s top scorer with seven goals, and is the all-time leading goalscorer for Japan.
One-club man Kamamoto was the first real superstar that Japan produced, long before the inception (初め) of the J-League in 1993 and all the success and exposure (露出) that it has accompanied (伴う) it.
◉ Date of birth : 15 April 1944
◉ Height : 181cm
◉ Playing position : FW
◉ Youth Career : Waseda University
◉ Senior Career : Yanmar Diesel
🔴 National team : (1962〜1977)
★ Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi
He is a Japanese retired football goalkeeper. He is a former captain of the Japan national team. He was called up to the Japanese national team and played in the Atlanta Olympic games in 1996. He kept a clean sheet against Brazil in the first game. And he played in Japan’s first ever World Cup game in 1998 in a 1–0 defeat to Argentina. He helped Japan national team until 2008.
◉ Date of birth : 15 August 1975
◉ Height : 180cm
◉ Playing position : GK
◉ Current team : retired in 2018
◉ Yokohama F Marinos (1994～2001)
◉ Portsmouth (England : 2001〜2003)
◉ Nordsjælland (Denmark : 2003～2005)
◉ Jubilo Iwata (2005〜2013)
◉ FC Gifu (2014〜2015)
◉ SC Sagamihara (2016～2018)
☆ Hiroshi Kiyotake
He plays as an attacking midfielder for Japanese club Cerezo Osaka and the Japan national team. In 2012, he signed a four-year contract with German club Nürnberg. He subsequently (その後、次に) moved within the Bundesliga in 2014 to join Hannover 96, before transferring to join Spanish side Sevilla in La Liga.
◉ Date of birth : 12 November 1989
◉ Height : 172cm
◉ Playing position : MF, FW
◉ Current team : Cerezo Osaka
◉ Oita Trinita (2008～2009)
◉ Cerezo Osaka (2010〜2012)
◉ Nürnberg (Germany : 2012～2014)
◉ Hannover 96 (Germany : 2014〜2016)
◉ Sevilla (Spain : 2016〜2017)
◉ Cerezo Osaka (2017～)
★ Tatsuhiko Kubo
After 1998 World Cup, he was elected Japan national team by new manager Philippe Troussier. Although he played at 2000 Asian Cup and 2001 Confederations Cup, his opportunity to play in the matches was few and he was not elected Japan for 2002 World Cup.
In 2003, he was elected Japan for 2003 East Asian Football Championship and he scored 2 goals against China. In the first half of 2004, he played as striker and scored 6 goals in 9 games. However, he did not play for low back pain from late 2004. From February 2006, he came back to Japan and he scored 3 goals in 6 matches, however he was not elected Japan for 2006 World Cup. He played 32 games and scored 11 goals for Japan until 2006. If he had no injuries…
◉ Date of birth : 18 June 1976
◉ Height : 181cm
◉ Playing position : FW
◉ Current team : retired in 2015
◉ Sanfrecce Hiroshima (1995～2002)
◉ Yokohama F Marinos (2010〜2012)
◉ Yokohama FC (2007)
◉ Sanfrecce Hiroshima (2008〜2009)
◉ Zweigen Kanazawa (2010〜2011)
☆ Hiroki Sakai
He plays for Marseille and the Japan national team. He made his World Cup debut against Colombia , where he played the whole game, in a 2-1 win in 2018. And in 2018, he published his first book titled “Resetting Power ‘Nature and the Mind Becomes Stronger’ 46 Concept”.
◉ Date of birth : 12 April 1990
◉ Height : 185cm
◉ Playing position : DF, MF
◉ Current team : Marseille
◉ Kashiwa Reysol (2009～2012)
◉ Hannover 96 (Germany : 2012〜2016)
◉ Marseille (France : 2016〜)
★ Naohiro Takahara
He is a Japanese football player and manager. He was elected Japan U-17, U-20, U-23 national team and played at 2000 Asian Cup. He played 5 matches and scored 5 goals. Japan won the champions. However he missed the 2002 World Cup, co-hosted by his home country and South Korea, because of lung disease (venous thrombosis).
After that, he played for 2006 World Cup and 2007 Asian Cup. He played 57 games and scored 23 goals for Japan until 2008. Currently, he is playing manager for Okinawa SV.
◉ Date of birth : 4 June 1979
◉ Height : 180cm
◉ Playing position : FW
◉ Current team : Okinawa SV
◉ Jubilo Iwata (1998～2002)
◉ Boca Juniors (Argentine : 2001 : loan)
◉ Hamburg (Germany : 2002～2006)
◉ Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany : 2006〜2008)
◉ Urawa Red Diamonds (2008〜2010)
◉ Suwon Samsung Bluewings (Korea : 2010 : loan)
◉ Shimizu S-Pulse (2011～2012)
◉ Tokyo Verdy (2013〜2014)
◉ Sc Sagamihara (2014 : loan)
◉ Okinawa SV (2016～ : Playing manager)
☆ Keiji Tamada
He made his field debut as a member of the Japan national team in 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in 2004. After that, he scored 3 goals in the 2004 AFC Asian Cup, and this contributed to the Japan national team’s top place finish. He was also a member of the Japanese team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and scored a goal against Brazil in the first round of that World Cup. In 2010 World Cup qualifying matches, he scored 2 goals and helped Japan reach the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
◉ Date of birth : 11 April 1980
◉ Height : 173cm
◉ Playing position : FW, MF
◉ Current team : V-Varen Nagasaki
◉ Kashiwa Reysol (1999～2005)
◉ Nagoya Grampus (2006〜2014)
◉ Cerezo Osaka (2015～2016)
◉ Nagoya Grampus (2017〜2018)
◉ V-Varen Nagasaki (2019〜)
★ Kengo Nakamura
He plays for Kawasaki Frontale of J1 League and played for Japan national team from 2006 to 2013. He is a playmaking midfielder. Besides (～のほかに) passing, he is also an adept (熟練の、名人) dribbler with determination (決断) and strength (強さ). His goals and assists were instrumental (手段になる) in taking Kawasaki Frontale to the knock-out stages of the ACL 2007. He often contributes to the victory.
◉ Date of birth : 31 October 1980
◉ Height : 175cm
◉ Playing position : MF
◉ Current team : Kawasaki Frontale
◉ Kawasaki Frontale (2003～)
☆ Genki Haraguchi
He plays for Hannover 96 and Japan national team. A quickly emerging (新進の) star during Japan’s qualifying campaign (予選) for Russia 2018, right-footed left winger Genki Haraguchi scored five crucial (重要な) goals to steer the Samurai Blue to securing (確保する) a World Cup berth. And he played Round of 16 match against Belgium and got a score. However, unfortunately, Japan lost (2-3).
◉ Date of birth : 9 May 1991
◉ Height : 179cm
◉ Playing position : FW, MF
◉ Current team : Hannover 96
◉ Urawa Red Diamonds (2009～2014)
◉ Hertha BSC (Germany : 2014〜2018)
◉ Fortuna Dusseldorf (Germany : 2018 : loan)
◉ Hannover 96 (Germany : 2018〜)
★ Daisuke Matsui
In 2004, after four and a half seasons in Kyoto, he signed with Le Mans UC 72 of Ligue 2 in France. He chose Le Mans, then a second division club, over Lazio, one of the top clubs in Series A, because he believed that the style of Italian football was too defensive.
Anyway, he adapted to the fast, physical style of French football by changing his style and holding on to the ball less. In his first season with Le Mans, he helped the club earn a runners-up finish in Ligue 2 and a promotion to Ligue 1. He also played for the U-23 national team at the 2004 Olympics and played at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
◉ Date of birth : 11 May 1981
◉ Height : 175cm
◉ Playing position : FW, MF
◉ Current team : Yokohama FC
◉ Kyoto Purple Sanga (2000～2004)
◉ Le Mans (France : 2004〜2008)
◉ Saint-Étienne (France : 2008～2009)
◉ Grenoble (France : 2009〜2011)
◉ Tom Tomsk (Russia : 2010 : loan)
◉ Dijon (France : 2011〜2012)
◉ Slavia Sofia (Bulgaria : 2012～2013)
◉ Lechia Gdańsk (Poland : 2013)
◉ Jubilo Iwata (2014〜2017)
◉ Odra Opole (Poland : 2017)
◉ Yokohama FC (2018〜)
☆ Maya Yoshida
He plays as a centre back for Premier League club Southampton and the Japan national team. He is also the captain of the Japanese national football team after 2018 FIFA World Cup. In the 2018 FIFA World Cup, he played every single minute in all the group stage matches against Colombia, Senegal and Poland. His side were knocked out of the tournament after losing 3–2 to Belgium in the round of 16 match.
◉ Date of birth : 24 August 1988
◉ Height : 189cm
◉ Playing position : DF
◉ Current team : Southampton
◉ Nagoya Grampus (2007～2009)
◉ VVV-Venlo (Netherlands : 2010〜2012)
◉ Southampton (England : 2012～)