These Japanese play in the Bundesliga

At the start of the group stage of the World Cup in Qatar, the German national team meets Japan on Wednesday. The team from the Far East has participated in every final tournament since 1998 and has failed to reach the quarter-finals three times. There has never been a competitive match against Germany, but the DFB team should be well prepared for the opponent.

After all, Japanese gamers have enjoyed a growing popularity in this country in recent years. While Yasuhiko Okudera was still a real “exotic” when he moved to 1.FC Köln in 1977, numerous clubs now rely on the qualities of the Japanese. They are generally regarded as tactically well trained and disciplined, and the mentality seems to suit the Bundesliga well. In all likelihood, there will be at least four current Bundesliga professionals in Hajime Moriyasu’s starting lineup on Wednesday.

Large contingent from the Bundesliga

VfB Stuttgart’s Wataru Endo and Hiroki Ito, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Daichi Kamada and FC Schalke 04’s Maya Yoshida are considered fine. Takuma Asano (VfL Bochum), Ritsu Doan (SC Freiburg), Ko Itakura (Borussia Mönchengladbach) and Ao Tanaka (Fortuna Düsseldorf) can also hope for a substitute from the bench. A look at the most capped Japanese players in the Bundesliga shows that the many Japanese players in the Bundesliga are not a development that has only recently begun. From the large contingent of current German legionnaires, only Eintracht star Kamada gets into the top 10, and only like that.

The Bundesliga record players from Japan

10. Daichi Kamada, 108 games, 18 goals for Eintracht Frankfurt

9. Hiroshi Kiyotake, 117 games, 17 goals for 1.FC Nürnberg and Hannover 96

8. Shinji Okazaki, 128 games, 37 goals for VfB Stuttgart and FSV Mainz 05

7. Naohiro Takahara, 135 games, 25 goals for Hamburger SV and Eintracht Frankfurt

6. Shinji Kagawa, 148 games, 41 goals for Borussia Dortmund

5. Genki Haraguchi, 157 games, 6 goals for Hertha BSC, Hannover 96 and Union Berlin

4. Gotoku Sakai, 170 games, 2 goals for VfB Stuttgart and Hamburger SV

3. Yuya Osako, 181 games, 26 goals for 1.FC Köln and Werder Bremen

2. Yasuhiko Okudera, 234 games, 26 goals for 1.FC Köln and Werder Bremen

1. Makoto Hasebe, 362 games, 7 goals for VfL Wolfsburg, 1.FC Nuremberg and Eintracht Frankfurt

(Information via Transfer market)