Doesn't look like there's a thread or any references to this guy, so here goes. Hailing from Okinawa, midfielder Christopher Tatsuki Kinjo is half American and half Japanese. Bilingual and known to his teammates as "Chris", he joined the Japan FA-run Academy Fukushima at age 13 and stayed until the 2011 disaster, after which facility was converted to a home base for recovery efforts in the region. After moving back to Okinawa briefly, he joined the U-19 team at Fortuna Düsseldorf in July 2011. He made 4 appearances in the A-Jugend Bundesliga West before blowing out his right ACL in May 2012 and returning to Japan. Rehab over the next year led to a successful trial with Avispa Fukuoka in the J.League Division 2, where he played in 2 league matches in 2013.
Just by chance. I follow the J-League and player names other than Japanese, Korean and Brazilian stand out. Interestingly enough, I think that makes it at least 4-5 Yanks in the top 2 divisions in Japan.
I know of Mizuki Hamada (Niigata), Piakai Henkel (Okayama), Ken Iwao (Bellmare), Hirofumi Moriyasu (Gifu), Daniel Schmidt (Vegalta Sendai) plus Christopher. There is also Iranian-American coach Afshin Ghotbi (Shimizu). Do you know of anyone else?
Is Moriyasu confirmed? I didn't know about Iwao or how he has a US passport. Also Tokyo Verdy has the young GK William Popp, then there's Mobi Fehr in J3.
Here is a Sydney newspaper article referring to Moriyasu as "US-born". I believe that Iwao is from Guam (and thus American). Some sites list him as from Guam, others list his as from Gunma, Japan. I thought I had a more definite link, but I can't find it now. So call him a maybe.
I'd say Moriyasu is a "maybe" as well. According to this article in Japanese, he was born in Kagawa Prefecture and moved to the States at age 1, staying until 1st grade when his father's business assignment ended. He also spent middle school in the US and played with the Dallas Texans, returning to Japan by 2001. Actually, based on the facts available I'd say Moriyasu may have had a green card at one point, but is unlikely to actually have a US passport. His family never immigrated on a permanent basis, and even Japanese families that do settle down in the US tend not to go through with naturalization. So it's conceivable that Moriyasu is technically a Yank, but I wouldn't place any bets on it.
I believe the understanding, perhaps mistaken, was that Moriyasu was American-born. If he wasn't, then all bets are off. (As an aside, I know of one Japanese family that recently obtained citizenship after many years. Very glad to have 'em here.) Of course we can now add the young man from the Marinos to the list.