Gabriele Anello

Enigma on the Wing Taichi Hara disappeared from the J.League-sphere for a long time, only to pop up again and become a key-player for Kyoto Sanga.

From J. League Regista:

It's a strange season for Kyoto #Sanga, who turned from relegation contender to title chasers 🔃

That's (also) thanks to Taichi #Hara, who turned his career around by joining them and coming back to Japan.

A note for sports: Bluesky’s engagement rate was x10 higher than X’s across a sampling of identical posts made on both platforms by @rapsheet.bsky.social (sharing with permission)

Fwiw we see a similar trend across all communities, not just sports. Real people, real conversations.

Rumor without substance, but... the East Asian side of football would need a move like this with such a force.

They've been played all this decade despite the West could put just one team into the best six qualificated teams for the 2026 WC (and it was Jordan!).

The Purple Amusement Park Fujieda MYFC got promoted to J2 in 2023 with no expectations, and yet Daisuke Sudo and his squad are here to stay.

From J. League Regista:

"I want to entertain people with football" - that's been the mission from Day 1 for head coach Daisuke #Sudo 🟣

And he's been keeping his word with the amusement park he built in #Fujieda 🎡

Quite the come-up for Junnosuke Suzuki this last year and change:

2024
June - first J1 start
July - regular starting role

2024
Feb~ - starts every J1 game
July - first senior NT cap, move to Copenhagen
Sept - first UCL appearance
Oct - starts for Japan in win vs. Brazil

JAPAN 3-2 BRAZIL WHAT A REMARKABLE GAME THIS HAS BECOME

Ueda makes up for that open net miss in the first half by banging it in with his head. Scenes.

J. Legends – Kim Jin-hyeon The kid who once learned Japanese to better integrate himself in Osaka is now a Cerezo legend: this is the story of Kim Jin-hyeon.

From J. League Regista:

It's been a long time since we've done one of these episodes, but #JLegends is back to talk about the most-capped foreign player in J1 history.

#Kim Jin-hyeon stood by #Cerezo Osaka, through thick and thin - even when the odds were against him 🇰🇷🧤

Real Madrid’s Endrick has not played in five months. What’s going on? It has been a whirlwind year for the 19-year-old Brazilian. Now he hopes he can get the gametime necessary to go to the World Cup

Endrick has not played a match in five months.

Injuries have played a part, but the youngster is also receiving precious few opportunities under Xabi Alonso.

Mario Cortegana explains what's going on.

YUKI

Lost Treasures – Yojiro Takahagi Absolute class in the middle of the pitch, although the light shone for too few seasons: this is Yojiro Takahagi’s story.

From J. League Regista:

#LostTreasures returns with a new episode, featuring a magician who not everyone had the chance of witnessing at his best.

Yojjro #Takahagi was one of the classiest players in J.League history - his sparkle didn't last long, but it was so bright 💫🧙

'Once a Lion always a Lion' - Why it is impossible to not love 1860 Munich 1860 Munich have once again dominated the headlines this summer. Now the chaos off the pitch has reached the pitch. Despite all that, it is impossible not to love this club.

1860 Munich have once again dominated the headlines this summer. Now the chaos off the pitch has reached the pitch. Despite all that, it is impossible not to love this club.

Story for Gegenpressing

gegenpressing.substack.com/p/once-a-lio...

Fanatics has released a ‘Football Meets Football’ collaboration to combine soccer and NFL culture.

We ranked all 32 crossover kits: http://dlvr.it/TNNdjs

Sanfrecce fail to extend their lead & get sucker-punched in the last 10 mins of the game, Part 3298243594 🤦‍♂️

J. League Worldwide #22 J.League reached all the angles of the world, including Poland, where Adam got interested in the J.League through his Scottish life-experience.

From J. League Regista:

#JLeagueWorldwide is back! The column resumes its journey to explore how J. League fans worldwide became attached to the world of Japanese football.

In Episode 22, Adam told us how his passion for the J.League flourished.
🇵🇱🤝🇯🇵

Strange to see him going without any announcement, but good to know he's still involved with Akita!

Thanks for the feedback, Martin. Since I have you, a question was going through my mind in the last few days while looking at Akira's roster: what happened to Masaki Okino? He was almost an MVP in 2020 and now he just disappeared from rotations.

2025 Market Week – The Loan Market The second part of the “Market Week” in 2025 talks about loans: players to go, to come back, and to hope for new beginnings.

The 2025 #MarketWeek goes on with a special report and the second part: "The Loan Market"

Featuring:
📌 Gamba Osaka's talent and his need for minutes
📌 A Grampus winger (and fan) looking to return to Nagoya
📌 Some fresh air for Reds in their CBs-relay

2025 Market Week – Leaps & Renegades The first part of “Market Week” in 2025 talks about transfers, between people who will go down for a new start and the ones leaping to J1.

From J. League Regista:

📌 A winger renaissance in Tochigi
📌 Kofu no. 10 looking for a new beginning
📌 Brazilian wizard awakening?

#MarketWeek comes back with the first part of our mid-season overview: "Leaps & Renegades" is here 👇
jleagueregista.wordpress.com/2025/09/20/2...

Bummer.

Tonight in the #JLeague : FC Tokyo vs. Tokyo Verdy

THE TOKYO DERBY 🔥 @ Ajinomoto 🏟️

#Footy-Live

We’ve been living through 72 nonstop hours of this exact tweet

Ticket to Thrive Some J.Leaguers and Japan NT members moved this Summer: let’s recap the moves, who lost out on such an occasion and much more.

From J. League Regista:

Summer window is over and some question marks are still over #Japan and its players:

❓ Why some haven't moved this Summer
❔ How the J.Leaguers will adapt to Europe
⁉️ What's next for some key-figures (W. #Endo, #Tomiyasu)

Time is ticking for 2026 😬🕑

Stage 16 of the Vuelta a Espana was cut short by pro-Palestine protests on Tuesday, the second time a stage finish has been impacted because of demonstrators at the 2025 race.

More from @alirampling.bsky.social and @jacobwhitehead.bsky.social ⤵️

🔗 theathletic.com/6613152/?sou...

Hello, Nihon – USA & Canada Which hubs are the most welcoming towards Japanese players? The Major League Soccer has been more aware of them than before.

From J. League Regista:

Japanese players are now a hot commodity, but which leagues and nations value them the most?

In the 4th episode, we analyzed how the #MLS - so USA & Canada - are tackling this opportunity (feat. @manuelveth.bsky.social from @transfermarkt.com) 🇺🇸🇨🇦🤝🇯🇵

#HelloNihon

Serie A side Cremonese have signed Jamie Vardy as a free agent, wrapping up an intriguing deal shortly before Monday’s transfer deadline.

The 38-year-old has signed a one-year deal, with the option of a further 12 months if certain conditions are met.

🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/631...

Me watching this summer’s transfer window:

When We Were J.Leaguers – Joaquín Larrivey More than 200 goals in his career, including Japan: we sat down with Joaquín Larrivey to talk about his experience with JEF United Chiba.

From J. League Regista:

It took a while, but #WhenWeWereJLeaguers is back! And Episode 3 of the column brings us to Argentina and JEF United Chiba 🟡🟢

In fact, we sat down with Joaquin #Larrivey to revisit his Japanese experience 🇦🇷⚽️

YouTube video by FourFourTwo Inside Japan’s Football Obsession | J.League x FourFourTwo

The @fourfourtwo.com video on #JLeague fan culture is out featuring yours truly doing the talking head thing!

Super stoked to have been asked to take part in this; it looks absolutely phenomenal and it's wonderful to see overseas media go beyond the usual surface-level content.

Bummer that Iwata isn't there.