Three years ago, the arrival of Japanese captain, Makoto Hasebe, made him only the third Japanese player to grace the fields of the Bundesliga but what he did was spark a revolution in Germany’s top flight. By the start of the 2011/12 season, there were nine Japanese players in the Bundesliga, six of them were regulars in the national team.
Thirty years before Hasebe’s Wolfsburg debut, another Japanese man by the name of Yasuhiko Okudera, currently the president of Yokohama FC and Plymouth Argyle, became the first Japanese player to play in Europe after his move to 1. FC Köln. Consequently, he won the Bundesliga title the same year and played a combined 259 Bundesliga matches for Köln, Hertha Berlin and Werder Bremen. Fast forward to 2009 and Makoto Hasebe became just the second Japanese player to lift the Bundesliga title since 1977.
The 2010 World Cup did bring Japanese football to the forefront. After a successful run in South Africa, German clubs were keen to tap into the Japanese market. Shinji Kagawa and Atsuto Uchida would join their country’s captain and later see Shinji Okazaki and Tomoaki Makino arrive in the winter transfer window. While Kagawa and Uchida didn’t feature in the World Cup in South Africa, their recent performances for their respective clubs have earned them regular spots for the Samurai Blue.
At Dortmund, Shinji Kagawa was able to make an instant impact, scoring a handful of goals including a brace on his European debut during BVB’s Europa League qualifiers. During the first half of the season Kagawa was an integral part of Dortmund’s eventual championship winning campaign. Unfortunately, while on international duty in January, a major injury more or less ended his excellent debut season in the Bundesliga. He was sorely missed as Dortmund stumbled towards the end of the season and he was given a hero’s welcome when he did make his return to the football pitch.
Right back Atsuto Uchida joined Schalke from Kashima Antlers in 2010
Over in Gelsenkirchen, Atsuto Uchida would’ve seemed like an unlikely fit for a side led by Felix Magath. Nevertheless, like Kagawa, he was able to settle in right away and played an important part in Schalke’s DFB Pokal winning season. Despite finishing poorly in the league, Schalke were able to win Germany’s domestic cup and also make a sensational run to the semi finals of the Champions League in 2010/11 making Uchida the first Japanese player to feature in that stage of Europe’s biggest club competition.
The success of these players opened the door for clubs all across the league. Despite signing a handful of players, not many clubs have taken full advantage of this surge of popularity in Japanese football. While clubs like Hoffenheim, Hertha Berlin and Schalke offer Portuguese, Chinese and Russian alternatives to their websites, Bayern Munich is the only Bundesliga club that has a Japanese version of theirs.
Gamba Osaka's 19 year old winger now on loan at Bayern Munich
In fact, Bayern Munich have done well to increase their influence within Japan this year and in early February they announced a partnership with Japan’s most circulated newspaper, Yomiuri Shimbun, allowing them an inside view of the club. They had also planned to play a summer charity match against Gamba Osaka in support of the victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami but were later forced to scrap those plans as J. League fixture clashes prevented Gamba from taking part.
The two would deal again as the Japanese club’s 19 year old winger, Takashi Usami, joined Bayern on loan, becoming the eighth Japanese player to join a Bundesliga club in just a short space of time. He showed his immense talent during the Bavarians’ pre-season but at this very young age his chances within the first team are going to be limited. Still, with a chance to make the move permanent next year, Usami will want to impress at any opportunity he gets.
Sometimes it’s clear why Japanese footballers have been so successful within Germany. Schalke’s match against Inter last season showed Uchida’s eagerness to learn after he said, “It’s amazing to see. In that sense, by playing so close to these people I want to learn from them and take their strong points with me in my study of football.” And it’s a mentality that all recent Japanese recruits have shown. A mentality that has endeared them to fans across Germany.
Makoto Hasebe steps in goal to replace sent off keeper, Marwin Hitz, against Hoffenheim
In fact, during his previous spell at Wolfsburg, Felix Magath said about Hasebe, “I never had any doubts that Japanese players could integrate quickly into the Bundesliga. Their discipline is comparable to that of a German player.” A sentiment about Bundesliga players from the far east that is very true. There’s no fights over money for these players, no solid gold cars or sex scandals. Instead, this group of footballers have always come off as humble and honest, always looking to better themselves and their teams and push their country to a new level in the grand scheme of football.
We won’t know for sure if this is just a fad or whether Japanese talents are here to stay, but the level of quality they bring to the Bundesliga is undoubted.
