The Japanese players gracing the Bundesliga in 2025/26
With a growing number of Japan internationals arriving in Germany, bundesliga.com keeps you up-to-date with the progress of the league’s Japanese stars throughout the 2025/26 campaign…
Club: Eintracht Frankfurt
Position: Attacking midfielder
Age: 27 (Born 16 June 1998)
Appearances: 27
Starts: 25
Having helped guide Freiburg into the UEFA Europa League with 10 goals and seven assists in 2024/25, Dōan got to showcase his skills in the UEFA Champions League this season after completing a summer switch to Frankfurt.
Matchday 27
Dōan played 80 minutes as Frankfurt lost 2-1 to Mainz in the Rhine-Main derby.
Watch: The best of Ritsu Dōan
Club: Bayern Munich
Position: Centre-back
Age: 26 (Born 12 May 1999)
Appearances: 11
Starts: 5
Injury disrupted Ito's debut campaign with champions Bayern, as the Japan international made just eight appearances in all competitions in 2024/25. Having made his long-awaited comeback on Matchday 11, the defender will hope to play more of a part in the side's title defence this time around.
Matchday 27
Ito came on as a 72nd-minute substitute as Bayern beat Union Berlin 4-0.
Club: Mainz
Position: Midfield
Age: 25 (Born 30 December 2000)
Appearances: 27
Starts: 27
Sano was one of the driving forces behind Mainz's incredible 2024/25 campaign, covering a league-best 393.7 km as the 05ers stormed to a sixth-place finish in Bo Henriksen's first full season in charge.
Matchday 27
Sano played the full 90 minutes as Mainz defeated Frankfurt 2-1 at home.
Club: Borussia Mönchengladbach
Position: Striker
Age: 26 (Born 30 September 1999)
Appearances: 26
Starts: 7
Machino was one of Holstein Kiel's brightest sparks in a disappointing maiden Bundesliga season in 2024/25, which saw them relegated back to the second tier. The forward finished the campaign as the Storks' top scorer with 11 goals, which earned him a move to Gladbach in the summer.
Matchday 27
Machino came off the bench for the 19th time this season as Gladbach drew 3-3 with Cologne in the Rhine derby.
Watch: All of Machino's goals for Holstein Kiel
Club: Hoffenheim
Position: Defender
Age: 28 (Born 25 August 1997)
Appearances: 1
Starts: 1
Machida has not played since suffering a serious knee injury on his Bundesliga debut.
Club: Mainz
Position: Midfielder
Age: 24 (Born 30 July 2001)
Appearances: 8
Starts: 2
On loan with an option to buy from Japanese side Kyoto Sanga, the energetic midfielder provides much-needed depth to the Mainz engine room, which is also having to contend with UEFA Conference League football in 2025/26.
Matchday 27
Kawasaki came on in the 82nd minute for Mainz in their 2-1 win against local rivals Frankfurt.
Club: Freiburg
Position: Midfielder
Age: 24 (Born 25 October 2001)
Appearances: 22
Starts: 16
The former Strasbourg and Brøndby man adds further attacking quality to the Breisgau club's midfield as Julian Schuster's side look to compete in the Europa League and the Bundesliga in 2025/26.
Matchday 27
Suzuki played the full 90 minutes as Freiburg defeated St. Pauli 2-1 away from home.
Club: St. Pauli
Position: Midfielder
Age: 24 (Born 16 February 2002)
Appearances: 26
Starts: 25
Fujita adds further international experience to a St. Pauli side aiming to preserve their Bundesliga status once again.
Matchday 27
Fujita played the full 90 minutes as his St. Pauli side fell to a 2-1 home loss against Freiburg.
Club: Werder Bremen (on loan from Southampton)
Position: Defender
Age: 25 (Born 28 June 2000)
Appearances: 25
Starts: 24
On loan from Southampton, Sugawara adds much-needed depth and international experience to Bremen's defensive line.
Matchday 27
Sugawara played the entire 90 minutes as Bremen edged out Wolfsburg 1-0.
Club: Borussia Mönchengladbach
Position: Centre-back
Age: 21 (Born 4 September 2004)
Appearances: 6
Starts: 3
On loan from Tottenham Hotspur for the remainder of 2025/26, Takai, who has four international caps with Japan, adds depth to Gladbach's defence.
Matchday 27
Takai missed Gladbach's draw with Cologne with a muscle injury.
Club: Eintracht Frankfurt
Position: Left-back
Age: 19 (Born 18 March 2006)
Appearances: -
Starts: -
Kosugi made 62 appearances for Swedish club Djurgårdens before moving to Frankfurt, where he joins an impressive list of Japanese players to represent the Hessen club.
Matchday 27
Kosugi did not make the squad for the defeat against Mainz.
Club: Eintracht Frankfurt
Position: Striker
Age: 18 (Born 25 October 2007)
Appearances: -
Starts: -
The young attacker will initially feature for Frankfurt U21s but could be called upon in the coming weeks.
Club: St. Pauli
Position: Centre-back
Age: 27 (Born 10 January 1999)
Appearances: 9
Starts: 8
Andō adds strength to Pauli's defensive line, having joined the club after helping Japan win the 2024/25 East Asian Championship.
Matchday 27
Andō was replaced in the 90th minute as St. Pauli lost 2-1 at home against Freiburg.
Club: Wolfsburg
Position: Striker
Age: 20 (Born 26 March 2005)
Appearances: 8
Starts: 2
Shiogai joined the wave of Japanese winter signings in the Bundesliga by swapping NEC Nijmegen for Wolfsburg in January 2026.
Matchday 27
Shiogai came on in the 75th minute as Wolfsburg lost to Bremen.
Club: St. Pauli
Position: Striker
Age: 26 (Born 5 May 1999)
Appearances: 2
Starts: 0
Hara has joined Pauli from Kyoto Sanga, adding to the club's already strong Japanese contingent.
Matchday 27
The forward was an unused substitute as Pauli lost at home to Freiburg.
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)
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