Tomoya Andō and St. Pauli’s history of Japanese stars
Tomoya Andō, who was unveiled at St. Pauli on 1 January, is now the fifth Japanese player in the club's history. We take a trip down memory lane to see how it all began.
Upon his arrival, Andō, who had never before represented a team outside of his native Japan, was keen to stress why he felt Pauli and Germany were the perfect fit for him.
"Moving to the Bundesliga is an important step for me and I think now is the perfect time to do it,” he said. “I'd like to continue my development at St. Pauli and I'm convinced I've found the right club for that, not least because it's a route that’s been successfully taken by other Japanese players. I'm now looking forward to a new challenge with my new team and getting started again soon."
His nod to copatriots previously at Pauli is certainly true – there have been four others before him: Kazuo Ozaki, Ryō Miyaichi, Joel Chima Fujita, and Nick Schmidt.
Watch: The top 5 Japanese goals in the Bundesliga
Kazuo Ozaki
Ozaki was the very first Japanese player to represent Pauli and, incidentally, only the second Japanese footballer to play professionally in Germany, after the legendary Yasuhiko Okudera, who turned out for Cologne, Hertha Berlin, and Werder Bremen between 1977 and 1986.
Although better known for his time at Arminia Bielefeld, where he netted 21 goals in 124 appearances across all competitions over the course of five seasons between 1983 and 1988, Ozaki was only on Pauli's books for one campaign in 1988/89.
However, the midfielder was limited to just six total Bundelsiga appearances, all of which came off the bench, with the Kiezkicker claiming a tenth-place finish that year. Just 12 months after joining, Ozaki would return to Japan, signing for Mitsubishi Mizushima in July 1989.
Nevertheless, despite struggling at Pauli, Ozaki enjoyed a successful career for the Japan national team, scoring three goals in 17 appearances for the Samurai Blues.
Ryō Miyaichi
Following Ozaki's departure in 1989, Pauli would have to wait 16 years before the next Japanese player would come through the doors at the Millerntor in the form of Miyaichi.
The winger arrived in July 2015 from English outfit Arsenal. However, just one week before the season's inception, Miyaichi tore the cruciate ligament in his left knee in the final pre-season friendly against Spanish side Rayo Vallecano, meaning he wouldn't make his full competitive debut until April 2016 in a home win over Union Berlin.
The injury set the tone for would be a running theme for the winger, who tore the cruciate ligament in his right knee in pre-season training ahead of the 2017/18 campaign.
In total, Miyaichi only managed 77 Bundesliga 2 appearances across six seasons, scoring eight goals in the process. He was also capped five times for Japan and is still playing in the J League for Yokohama F. Marinos.
Joel Chima Fujita
Onto the active players now; Fujita became a Kiezkicker in July 2025, joining from Belgian side Sint-Truiden and is currently enjoying a very impressive debut campaign in Hamburg.
So far in 2025/26, Fujita has started every game across both the Bundesliga and DFB Cup, making 18 appearances and missing just 18 minutes of football for Pauli this term.
A player with a work rate managers dream of having at their disposal, Fujita ranked second at the club for distance covered (162.5km), intensive runs (941), and duels won (135) before the winter break.
He also produced a memorable performance on Matchday 14, assisting twice as 10-man Pauli downed Heidenheim 2-1 at home to claim their first win since their Matchday 3 victory over Augsburg.
Fujita has seven senior caps to his name for Japan and will be hoping for a seat on the plane to this summer's FIFA World Cup in North America.
Watch: Fujita stars in Matchday 14 win over Heidenheim
Nick Schmidt
Schmidt has not yet made a senior appearance for the club, but has been at Pauli's academy since 2015. He signed his first professional contract for the club ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.
Born in Kiel to a German father and Japanese mother, Schmidt has steadily risen through the ranks at Pauli.
The talented 18-year-old defensive midfielder has made 23 appearances for the reserves in the Regionalliga Nord (fourth division) since the beginning of last season. He also has seven caps for the Japanese youth sides (U18 and U20).
Although he's yet to feature for Pauli, Schmidt has been named on the bench on both Matchdays 2 and 4 in the Bundesliga, so the prospect of a debut in 2026 is not unlikely.
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