There are often talks of how Japan’s football movement and the J.League itself developed in the last decade. I think there’s a department where you can exactly see this progress, a specific role on the pitch: keepers. No. 1s don’t come cheap, and they evolved so much in the last 10-15 years. Until a decade ago, Japan were lucky to have 2-3 interpreters who were good enough to make the cut for the Samurai Blue.
For a decade and three FIFA World Cup tournaments, Japan didn’t even flinch – the clear no. 1 was Eiji Kawashima. He had European experience, he was capable of adapting to several leagues thanks to his polyglot skills, and he had a lot of credit under his belt within the national team. Who was there besides him? Shusaku Nishikawa, for sure. Shuichi Gonda lost his way after a first breakout and disappeared for a few years after Brazil 2014.
Now, though, there’s clearly a different situation. There’s a clear no. 1 in Zion Suzuki, but 5-6 more keepers could make the cut for Japan between the ones who have already featured for the Samurai Blue – Keisuke Osako, Tomoki Hayakawa (who was the MVP last year), Leo Kokubo, Alexandre Pisano, Kosei Tani – and the ones who probably deserved a shot – Ryosuke Kojima, Taishi Brandon Nozawa, Kosuke Nakamura, Park Iru-gyu.
In the same weekend in which Shusaku Nishikawa – another unsung hero with gloves and the same age as this piece’s protagonist – became the all-time leader for games played in the J1 League, Masaaki Higashiguchi played his 400th match in the Japanese top flight. And yes, his performance in the Osaka Derby was one to forget, but this doesn’t diminish his achievements.
Prophet Away From Home
Higashiguchi is actually from Osaka, and he was about to be a forward when age 7 he tried his hand at goalkeeping. And it didn’t happen by will, but just because Higashiguchi lost a game of rock-paper-scissor with a teammate and he had a shot at it. Having done well, he was given some chances in that position. Higashiguchi was even in Gamba Osaka’s youth ranks, but he couldn’t make the cut as a keeper due to being short.
Luckily, in high school, he grew from 162 to 180 centimetres, and then enrolled in the Fukui University of Technology. Bad luck followed him around, because the soccer club was disbanded, and then Higashiguchi moved to the Niigata University of Management. He was even picked as a player for the 2007 Universiade, and his growth couldn’t be ignored by the biggest club in the region.
Albirex Niigata, in fact, were closing on him. Actually, Gamba Osaka offered him a way back once Higashiguchi turned pro, but the keeper thought that staying in Niigata was the right choice. And although it took a year, that choice paid off: in 2010, Higashiguchi was supposed to be third keeper, but Takahiro Takagi was out due to injury, and Takaya Kurokawa suffered the same fate on Matchday 2 of that season.
Therefore, Higashiguchi subbed in and kept the spot between the posts before getting injured himself, and a tough one: three months of recovery due to a fracture to his left orbit and nasal bone. But once he recovered, Higashiguchi came back and was the starter for four years, despite injuries tried to blow his career twice with the same injury – ACL rupture. Nonetheless, he was an asset in the league.
An Absolute Success
Higashiguchi couldn’t ignore again the sirens from Osaka. Gamba needed a successor after Yosuke Fujigaya, and he was picked for the no. 1 spot. And he finally got healthy: he played every minute of that 2014 season. But not just that: he won the monthly MVP award in November-December, and Gamba Osaka made a miracle: they won the J1 League as a newly-promoted team, and they did the treble by winning also both national cups.
Kenta Hasegawa stated back then that Higashiguchi was his MVP, and without him the title wouldn’t have been possible. He collected two more trophies in 2015, and in general, Higashiguchi gave a good reason to why Gamba Osaka brought him back after 13 years. Despite the club struggled to keep its spot at the top, Higashiguchi kept a solid level, playing every match in six out of the first eight seasons at the club.
And then there’s Japan – he was among the three chosen keepers for both the 2015 AFC Asian Cup and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Unfortunately, despite doing so well for Gamba, Higashiguchi never had a breakthrough. Yes, he featured just eight times with Japan, and even when Kawashima wasn’t in the picture, he wasn’t given a fair chance. For example, at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, Gonda was preferred as the no. 1.
Until 2021, he was the undisputed started for Gamba, and he was already 35. After that, he had two tough seasons, but he was still in the mix for the no. 1 spot at his club. And despite all the good done between the posts, Higashiguchi never featured in the J.League’s “Best Eleven” – not even once, although he was the best goalkeeper in the 2015 AFC Champions League.
Legend and Vessel
I mentioned how Higashiguchi didn’t retain fully his no. 1 spot already between 2023 and 2024. In the first year, Kosei Tani was back from his long loan at Shonan Bellmare, and the club wanted to give him a shot. Unfortunately, Tani didn’t shine and then Higashiguchi took back the spot. In 2024, instead, Jun Ichimori took the chance after Higashiguchi got injured and he had a major impact on Gamba’s fortunes.
In the previous paragraph you can already find a reason on why Higashiguchi had restricted minutes in the last four years: competition. I mentioned Ichimori and Tani, but the rise of Rui Araki is another factor limiting minutes. Nonetheless, Higashiguchi has been a major professional – he volunteered to play with the U-21 team back in September as an overage player, showing real commitment to the club and the game, I’d say.
Secondly, he lost a bit of explosiveness. The Osaka Derby from last week is just an example, conceding two goals that Higashiguchi and his version from a few years ago would have let go. Another problem was the change of head coach: Jens Wissing, who coached the team for six months and won the AFC Champions League Two, actually relied a lot on Higashiguchi, who featured for most of the 100-Year-Vision League.
But now, that exploit seems over. Higashiguchi is 40 years old, and it seems right that Gamba Osaka will move on with Araki, who showed some potential throughout the last months. But the whole path by Higashiguchi is incredible – injuries, a folded soccer club, competition: he wasn’t supposed to reach 400 J1 games.
He knows this has been an incredible ride, as he said in April: “I’m turning 40 this year, but the reason I’m still able to play professionally is undoubtedly because of my 14 years of experience. Experiencing the joy of winning and the excitement of competing for titles fueled my desire to improve and become stronger, and the thought of wanting to relive those moments has always motivated me.”
