News

Ehime FC have confirmed that promising midfielder Daichi Akiyama has arrived on loan from Cerezo Osaka. The 20-year-old has yet to make an appearance for the latter in 2015 despite playing three times last term, paving the way for his transfer on Monday. Cerezo’s MEIJI YASUDA J2 League rivals Ehime are one of the three teams to be based on Shiko…

Urawa Reds’ striker Shinzo Koroki left the Japan national camp on Tuesday after picking up an injury. The news is a blow for the 28-year-old who has made 12 appearances in the Samurai Blue shirt, although his last game came under Alberto Zaccheroni in 2011. New boss Vahid Halilhodzic has opted not to call up a replacement as Japan prepare to fac…

Sanfrecce Hiroshima ran out easy victors in their friendly test versus FC Imabari, winning 5-1 on Monday. The Shikoku regional league side were trashed at Sanfrecce’s training ground in Yoshida, with defender Sho Sasaki gearing up for his upcoming club debut with a brace. Brazilian striker Douglas, Soya Takahashi and Takuya Marutani got the othe…

Kawasaki Frontale striker Yu Kobayashi has withdrawn from Vahid Halilhodzic’s Japan squad due to an injury. The knock was sustained during Frontale’s 1-0 loss at Montedio Yamagata in J.League action on Sunday. Kobayashi will be replaced by Nagoya Grampus striker Kengo Kawamata, who netted twice in the 3-1 Yamazaki Nabisco Cup win at Fronta…

Fans stand to be eligible for free match tickets as part of FC Machida Zelvia’s “National Sakura Invitation Project”, the club announced on Saturday. With Japan’s iconic cherry blossoms (sakura) in bloom now, the club will offer free general admission tickets to anyone with the character for sakura in their first or last name. …

Gamba Osaka put out a notice inviting fans to send in questions for Brazilian strikers Lins and Patric over Twitter on Saturday. The purpose is for an interview commissioned for the May issue of club publication G-magazine. Fans hoping to have their question included in the “Twitter Q” feature are invited to tweet their questions with the …

Sanfrecce Hiroshima revealed on Saturday that they will soon release a DVD and Blu-Ray compiling their first 1000 goals scored in J.League since its inception. The video will show footage beginning from the early days of the new league format in 1993 and 1994 - the latter being the year in which Sanfrecce won the first stage of the season, recognised as …

Kashima Antlers expect to have Mitsuo Ogasawara out for up to a month after exams to his knee on Saturday revealed an injury. Ogasawara suffered the injury after a collision during Antlers’ 4-3 loss in the AFC Champions League against Guangzhou Evergrande last Wednesday. The club stalwart was unable to prevent their third defeat out of three mat…

Albirex Niigata’s Tatsuya Tanaka has officially become a father for the third time. In addition to savouring his team’s win over Kashiwa Reysol at the weekend, the 32-year-old was able to celebrate the birth of his new son. “I am glad to announce it is a very healthy baby boy,” Tanaka, who had previously spent 12 seasons at Ura…

Yoshinori Muto and Takashi Usami celebrated recent call-ups to the Japan squad in style with a goal apiece in matchday 3 of the J.League. FC Tokyo’s Muto moved top of the J.League scoring charts on three goals when he struck in his side’s second in a 2-0 win at Vissel Kobe, with fellow Samurai Blue Masato Morishige finding the net in the firs…

Vegalta Sendai confirmed their participation in the “Welcome to Sports Town Sendai” programme, which aims to increase support for the city. Each household to relocate to Sendai City from March 2015 onwards will be eligible to receive up to four general admission tickets to a Vegalta game The outfit will distribute a total of 100 tickets, j…

Nagoya Grampus announced that gas appliance manufacturer Paloma purchased the naming rights to their second home stadium on Thursday. Beginning from April, the 27,000-seat Nagoya Mizuho Athletics Stadium, which the club uses in addition to Toyota Stadium, will be known as Paloma Mizuho Stadium. The three-year contract will run till March 2018.

Albirex Niigata have revealed that a limited number of “Tour Tickets” will be available for their match against Vissel Kobe on 18th April. Along with admission to the MEIJI YASUDA J1 League round 6 fixture, the limited edition tickets also include a behind-the-scenes tour of the club’s workings at DENKA BIG SWAN STADIUM. Participants…

Omiya Ardija announced that midfielder Akihiro Ienaga will need three to four weeks in order to recover from a right knee injury on Wednesday. His injury came in Ardija’s MEIJI YASUDA J2 League opening win against Zweigen Kanazawa, in which Ienaga scored the match’s lone goal in the 86th minute. Daigo Watanabe will likely take the former G…

Newly-appointed Japan coach Vahid Halilhodzic has unveiled a 31-man squad for the upcoming international fixtures at the end of March.   Among his selections on Thursday for the friendlies against Tunisia and Uzbekistan were 18 players currently playing for J.League clubs.   Gamba Osaka defender Hiroki Fujiharu received his first senio…

Sagan Tosu on Wednesday announced details for the match between Kyushu Legends and Juventus Legends, to be held on 4th May. The Kyushu Legends team comprises former J.League players who once played for Kyushu clubs, as well as players who hail from the region. Former Sagan Tosu goalkeeper Takuya Muro and forward Tatsunori Arai (FW) have now been confi…

Kashima Antlers played out an epic against Guangzhou Evergrande in the AFC Champions League on Wednesday, only losing 4-3 to the Group H leaders. The J.League giants had all their games entering this fixture and their hopes took an early hit when Ricardo Goulart scored the opener for the hosts. Yet Hiroyuki Takasaki and Shoma Doi turned up with goals …

Both Nagoya Grampus and Montedio Yamagata got off to strong starts in Group B of the Yamazaki Nabisco Cup on Wednesday. Grampus fought back to win 3-1 at Kawasaki Frontale despite going a goal down due to last season’s J.League top scorer Yoshito Okubu’s header. Kensuke Nagai pulled the visitors level but the show belonged to team-mate Ken…

Kashiwa Reysol moved a step closer to progressing from the AFC Champions League group stages with their determined 2-1 victory over Shandong Luneng on Wednesday. Kosuke Taketomi fired Reysol into a deserved lead from a rebound in the 23rd minute as the hosts dominated, only for their Chinese opponents to reply through Walter Montillo in the second period…

J.League Female Manager Miki Sato will attend the MEIJI YASUDA J2 League match between Tochigi SC and JEF United Chiba on Sunday. Sato won the Grand Prize at the Horipro Talent Scout Caravan 2013, and has been actively promoting the 2015 J.League season after being appointed in her role this year. Tochigi head into matchday 3 ranked 16th, after taking…