J. League Regista

From Nagasaki to the Old Continent, going through Nagoya and Los Angeles. Maya Yoshida's career might be over with the national team, but he's already enshrined as a pacemaker in the history of Japanese football.

If you're a commander-in-chief, you're probably that for life. That must be the destiny of Makoto Hasebe, three-time captain for Japan at the FIFA World Cup, and now ready for the 2026 edition, but from the dugout.

The centre-back was one of the two Japanese captains at the FIFA World Cup to be the skipper more than once. Osaka, Salzburg, Kobe. Player, coach, executive - Tsuneyasu Miyamoto is a jack of all trades.

Calm and steady, but ready to battle: the first captain for Japan at a FIFA World Cup had to be a balanced guy like Masami Ihara.

In 2020, Kawasaki Frontale wrote history. In "J. Finest Hour", a column on historical winning teams in the Japanese football pyramid, we revisit other teams that had done the same. And we had to start from Júbilo Iwata, their 2002 campaign, and their shiny status at the beginning of the 2000s.

The career of Tomoaki Makino showed us regrets, glory, achievements, and a clear line for his future. And that future is becoming reality while getting his first coaching gig in the pro world with Fujieda MYFC.

One-hit wonders. A light in a strange career, which wasn’t made of sparks and constant success. A sudden corner of attention in an otherwise normal trajectory. “ Lost Treasures ” is a column talking about this kind of player in the history of the J. League. And the first player for this column had to be Mike Havenaar .

Sanfrecce Hiroshima have a new head coach since 2026, with Bartosch Gaul taking over. In a sit-down with the manager, he told us how the club's talent can emerge and why Japanese players are so interesting to coach. Read the full interview here: https://jleagueregista.com/bartosch-gaul-sanfrecce-hiroshima/

J. League developed through the football movements, which left a mark on it. Brazil had their best representative in a striker who almost quit before a truck driver put him back on the pitch. With Tiago Bontempo, we talked at the time about the significance of Marcos Gomes de Araujo, better known as Marquinhos, of Brazil's impact on the J.League. You can read the full article here: https://jleague...

Wataru Endo might not make it to the 2026 FIFA World Cup due to an injury picked up with Liverpool, which would be a massive shame, given his leadership and the role within the Samurai Blue. With the tournament just a few months from now and the uncertainty about his recovery, we took it back to a brief talk we had with Japan's captain in 2023, and reflected on why he should be there at all costs....

J. League Regista turns 10 years old, and a restyle was needed: here’s what you need (and like, maybe?) to know.