Not-so-famous Japanese Players Abroad \ Japanese players in minor leagues

Kashiwa Reysol’s side-back Ryuta Koike (23) set to join Jun Amano at Belgian second division club Lokeren.

 

I have mixed feelings about proven J.League talent going to a second tier team in Belgium. However, if that's what it takes for some of them to get an opportunity in Europe, and the players themselves are willing to put in the time/effort to work their way up, I'm all for it.

 

Official:

Welkom, Ryuta Koike 🇯🇵https://t.co/3BbfEtNpMH pic.twitter.com/AuoQRDH8vJ

— KSC Lokeren - Temse (@KSCLokeren) July 30, 2019

 

You cant blame them, they wanna take a shot at another country, league, Im sure they aim higher and this is the start of that.

 

Amano and Koike Start for Lokeren

 

Nikki Havenaar scores a goal and keeps a clean sheet for FC Thun

 

https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20190815-00010003-goal-socc

Former Sanfrecce Hiroshima DF Soya Takahashi signs for AFC Eskilstuna in the Swedish 1st division

 

How is the level on this dude?

 

good on him, I'd love to live in Sweden for a year....

 

Why?

 

Sweden has a great reputation worldwide as a place to live in.

 

Not anymore! The beautiful picture and reputation is dying. Still a good place compared to many other countries its ok I guess. But we have given it away.

 

Shinta Appelkamp is on the bench for Dusseldorf now. Apparently he is japanese?

 

Louis Yamaguchi is on the bench for Extremadura in their match away to Lugo.

 

Yes, he once started for Japan's U18 NT a year ago, and played at Mitsubishi Yowa until 2015. Has being going through Düsseldorf's youth ranks since and is part of the U23 team since this summer.

 

Atsushi Zaizen has claimed a regular spot for Wacker Innsbruck in the Austrian Second division.

 

General question here, is J-league comparable in terms of quality compared to MLS? I don't follow J-league at all, so just curious.

 

J-League is better than MLS by miles, in terms of quality of play and tactics, maturity, and infrastructure.

Not to talk about youth development in the country in general, as high-school and university tournaments and teams are very competitive and feeding J-League teams with up and coming talents, and if we add to that the youth teams of the J-League teams, we can say that Japan is among top 10 nations in the world in terms of quality of play + infrastructure + youth development combined.

 

I think it's a nuanced question. I follow both leagues (in the past week I attended games in both San Jose and Kawasaki) and feel that Japan has much better on-ball quality and a completely integrated football pyramid from youth clubs, HS/college, pro club academies, and lower level leagues to the pro clubs, as well as a better defined vision nationally. MLS on the other hand has a lot of technically incompetent players but also more physically imposing athletes, which makes a difference especially in the defensive phases I suppose.

My fan experience is a tale of two worlds really - I support Kawasaki Frontale, perhaps the Japanese club most obsessed with tiki-taka (ish) combination play over the past 6-7 years, and the Quakes - who until this year played ridiculously ugly hoofball even by MLS standards.

 

https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20191002-43472286-gekisaka-socc

Ryotaro Ishiyama signs for AJ Ajaccio in the French 2nd division

 

https://www.proximus-sports.be/nl/v...26231/goal-oh-leuven-2-3-ksc-lokeren-75-koike

Ryuta Koike scored.

 

Takuhiro Nakai (who turns 16 yo today) is set to sign professional contract with Real Madrid.

https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20191023-10220488-nksports-socc

 

Hi My name is Ryu. 6 years old Soccer Player. I am half Japanese and half Greek. I want to share my journey and adventure as I become a better soccer player. Please check out my soccer journals and soccer drill videos!! Let’s learn soccer together!