The Most Famous

SOCCER PLAYERS from Japan

This page contains a list of the greatest Japanese Soccer Players. The pantheon dataset contains 21,273 Soccer Players, 4,198 of which were born in Japan. This makes Japan the birth place of the most number of Soccer Players.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Japanese Soccer Players of all time. This list of famous Japanese Soccer Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Japanese Soccer Players.

1. Koji Tanaka (b. 1955)

With an HPI of 71.22, Koji Tanaka is the most famous Japanese Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 49 different languages on wikipedia.

Koji Tanaka (田中孝司, Tanaka Kōji, born November 2, 1955) is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for the Japan national team.

2. Junji Nishikawa (b. 1907)

With an HPI of 67.56, Junji Nishikawa is the 2nd most famous Japanese Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 50 different languages.

Junji Nishikawa (西川潤之, Nishikawa Junji, born June 29, 1907, date of death unknown) was a Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team.

3. Kunishige Kamamoto (b. 1944)

With an HPI of 64.71, Kunishige Kamamoto is the 3rd most famous Japanese Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 60 different languages.

Kunishige Kamamoto (釜本邦茂, Kamamoto Kunishige, born 15 April 1944) is a former Japanese football player, manager, and politician. He won the bronze medal with the Japan national team at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, finishing as the tournament's top scorer with seven goals, and is the all-time leading goalscorer for Japan. Kamamoto served as the Vice-President of the Japan Football Association from July 1998 to July 2008. In 2005, he was inducted in the Japan Football Hall of Fame. He also served as a member of the House of Councillors between 1995 and 2001.

4. Hiroto Muraoka (1931 - 2017)

With an HPI of 64.60, Hiroto Muraoka is the 4th most famous Japanese Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 48 different languages.

Hiroto Muraoka (村岡博人, Muraoka Hiroto, September 19, 1931 – March 13, 2017) was a Japanese footballer. He played for the Japan national team.

5. Kakuichi Mimura (1931 - 2022)

With an HPI of 63.32, Kakuichi Mimura is the 5th most famous Japanese Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 52 different languages.

Kakuichi Mimura (三村恪一, Mimura Kakuichi, 16 August 1931 – 19 February 2022) was a Japanese football player and manager. He played for the Japan national team.

6. Tameo Ide (1908 - 1998)

With an HPI of 63.25, Tameo Ide is the 6th most famous Japanese Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 50 different languages.

Tameo Ide (井出多米夫, Ide Tameo, November 27, 1908 – August 17, 1998) was a Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team.

7. Kazuyoshi Miura (b. 1967)

With an HPI of 62.85, Kazuyoshi Miura is the 7th most famous Japanese Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 64 different languages.

Kazuyoshi Miura (三浦知良, Miura Kazuyoshi, born 26 February 1967), often known simply as King Kazu), is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Japan Football League club Atletico Suzuka, on loan from J2 League club Yokohama FC. He is the world's oldest active player to score in a professional match. He played for the Japan national team from 1990 to 2000, and was the first Japanese recipient of the IFFHS Asia's Footballer of the Year award. Miura, whose rise to fame in Japan coincided with the launch of the J.League in 1993, was arguably Japan's first superstar in football. He is also known for his trademark "Kazu Feint" and his famous "Kazu dance", when he scores notable goals or produces such plays. Miura holds the records for being the oldest active goalscorer in the J-League, the footballer with the world's longest professional career, and, as of 2024, is the oldest professional footballer in the world at 57. He also holds the unique distinction of having played professional football in five separate decades (1980s–2020s). His elder brother Yasutoshi is a former professional footballer.

People

Pantheon has 4,127 people classified as Japanese soccer players born between 1891 and 2003. Of these 4,127, 3,982 (96.49%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Japanese soccer players include Koji Tanaka, Kunishige Kamamoto, and Kazuyoshi Miura. The most famous deceased Japanese soccer players include Junji Nishikawa, Hiroto Muraoka, and Kakuichi Mimura. As of April 2024, 18 new Japanese soccer players have been added to Pantheon including Misaki Amano, Seiya Maikuma, and Kaishū Sano.