The Japanese players that played in the Bundesliga in 2025/26
How did the likes of Ritsu Dōan, Hiroki Ito and Shūto Machino fare this past season? Read on for more on the Bundesliga's Japanese stars...
Club: Eintracht Frankfurt
Position: Attacking midfielder
Age: 27 (born 16 June 1998)
Appearances: 30
Starts: 27
Having helped guide Freiburg into the UEFA Europa League with 10 goals and seven assists in 2024/25, Dōan slotted in seamlessly at Frankfurt, registering 10 goal involvements across the season.
Club: Bayern Munich
Position: Centre-back
Age: 27 (born 12 May 1999)
Appearances: 16
Starts: 10
Injury once again disrupted Ito's second season at champions Bayern, but he did enjoy a mini run in the starting line-up during the business end of the campaign.
Club: Mainz
Position: Midfield
Age: 25 (born 30 December 2000)
Appearances: 34
Starts: 34
Sano started every game for the second season in a row as Mainz flirted with the drop before climbing the league ladder to finish 10th. He also produced his first four Bundesliga goal involvements.
Club: Borussia Mönchengladbach
Position: Striker
Age: 26 (born 30 September 1999)
Appearances: 32
Starts: 9
Machino scored a team-leading 11 goals for relegated Holstein Kiel in 2024/25, but a bit-part role in his debut season at Gladbach produced just three strikes in 32 outings.
Club: Hoffenheim
Position: Defender
Age: 28 (born 25 August 1997)
Appearances: 1
Starts: 1
Machida suffered a serious knee injury on his Bundesliga debut that ruled him out for the season.
Club: Mainz
Position: Midfielder
Age: 24 (born 30 July 2001)
Appearances: 10
Starts: 3
Despite fitness troubles that restricted Kawasaki to 10 Bundesliga appearances, Mainz triggered their option to buy the Kyoto Sanga loanee with two months of the 2025/26 season remaining.
Club: Freiburg
Position: Midfielder
Age: 24 (born 25 October 2001)
Appearances: 25
Starts: 18
Suzuki registered four goals and three assists in the Bundesliga, before suffering a broken collarbone with two games - and the UEFA Europa League final - still to play.
Club: St. Pauli
Position: Midfielder
Age: 24 (born 16 February 2002)
Appearances: 32
Starts: 31
Fujita scored just once in 32 Bundesliga appearances as his maiden season at St. Pauli ended in relegation to the second division.
Club: Werder Bremen (on loan from Southampton)
Position: Defender
Age: 25 (born 28 June 2000)
Appearances: 31
Starts: 29
Sugawara's six assists from right-back helped Bremen finish three points clear of the relegation zone. The only real blot to his copybook was a fifth-minute red card on the penultimate weekend.
Club: Borussia Mönchengladbach
Position: Centre-back
Age: 21 (born 4 September 2004)
Appearances: 8
Starts: 3
Takai found playing time limited to 339 first-team minutes after switching to Gladbach on loan from Tottenham Hotspur during the winter transfer window.
Club: Eintracht Frankfurt
Position: Left-back
Age: 19 (born 18 March 2006)
Appearances: -
Starts: -
Another mid-season mover, Kosugi is still awaiting his Frankfurt debut - though he did make the matchday squad on seven occasions.
Club: Eintracht Frankfurt
Position: Striker
Age: 18 (born 25 October 2007)
Appearances: -
Starts: -
Kumashiro scored 10 goals in 11 appearances for the Frankfurt reserves, following his January switch from Roasso Kumamoto.
Club: St. Pauli
Position: Centre-back
Age: 27 (born 10 January 1999)
Appearances: 15
Starts: 14
Andō joined Pauli as a 2024/25 East Asian Championship winner with Japan. The winter signing from Japanese J-League side Avispa Fukuoka quickly bolted down a place at the heart of the defence, but was powerless to stave off relegation.
Club: Wolfsburg
Position: Striker
Age: 21 (born 26 March 2005)
Appearances: 12
Starts: 2
Shiogai swapped Nijmegen for Wolfsburg in January 2026, but was predominantly used as a substitute. The striker could have a role to play in the relegation play-off, though, after the Wolves finished the regular season in 16th place.
Club: St. Pauli
Position: Striker
Age: 26 (Born 5 May 1999)
Appearances: 3
Starts: 0
Having made the switch from Kyoto Sanga in January, Hara played just 25 Rückrunde minutes for relegated St. Pauli.
Japanese players in Bundesliga 2
Koji Miyoshi (Bochum)
Yosuke Furukawa (Darmstadt)
Hiroki Akiyama (Darmstadt)
Shinta Appelkamp (Fortuna Düsseldorf)
Daisuke Yokota (Hannover 96)
Shio Fukuda (Karlsruhe, on loan from Gladbach)
