The Invisible Star

Summer 2014. A man is working at a sporting good store in Yamaguchi. His job is an add to his real passion, football – he trains in the morning, and then he’s got to take over in the afternoon at the sporting store. He’s playing in the Japan Football League, and that Summer he’s witnessing the last FIFA World Cup of his favourite player – legendary Spanish goalkeeper, Iker Casillas.

Looking back at that time, the man is realistic: “At times I asked myself I could have done better, but I’ve already sacrificed enough to come this far. I’m doing everything I can do to enjoy what I have now”. And asked if he feels the weight of time going by, he’s the earnest: “I don’t feel the change so much. When I look at how the careers of Higashiguchi and Iikura evolved, I think it’s amazing”.

After a decade, that man went from barely having a pro-career in football to being the guardian of one of the biggest J.League clubs. A transformation that requested going through the whole ladder of Japanese football, from JFL to J1. To leave his beloved hometown, Osaka. Someone might say “pride” was the key-element for this rise, but the protagonist of this story might not agree.

“I’m proud to carry the badge of Gamba Osaka, but on the other hand, pride is dangerous – it can get it the way of your own development”. Lyrics and music by Jun Ichimori, who deservedly got the “Best Goalkeeper” award in our “Regista Awards” of 2024 for the J1 League. And his story is a pretty unique one.

From JFL to J1

In 2010, Ichimori enrolled into the Kansai Gakuin University, after losing promotion to a top team (and we’re gonna go back on this later in the piece). He secured there a starting spot on his second year, and defended the goal posts of the University for four years. Then it was time to get a pro-contract – but Ichimori had to settle for something in the middle: Renofa Yamaguchi.

At that time, Renofa were not yet in the pro-world, but they were playing in the Japan Football League. Nonetheless, Ichimori did the right guess – Yamaguchi came fourth in the table and reached the 2,000-mark in terms of average spectators, the conditions necessary to reach J3. Furthermore, Ichimori entered the Top 11 and even travelled with a JFL squad to play overseas (against Laos, the U-23 of Myanmar, and Cambodia).

It’s even more incredible thinking that, in the first year, Ichimori worked at a sporting store because JFL players were not full-pro (we told about it already in the stories around Noriaki Fujimoto and Ryuta Koike). But it didn’t stop there – because Renofa immediately jumped from J3 to J2 the year later, with Ichimori going through the whole transition from a part-time footballer to a second division-life.

After 2016, Ichimori signed for Fagiano Okayama – replacing a keeper who had one of the best individual seasons ever, 2016’s Hirotsugu Nakabayashi. Ichimori stayed there for three years, conceding just 95 goals in 90 games with the club, plus having 24 clean sheets. At that point, someone in Osaka remembered about him, and though about bringing him back in the region – Gamba Osaka.

Osaka, the black and the blue

You know what’s fun? Ichimori was probably destined to be in Osaka. He’s born in 1991 in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture – a populous city of the Prefecture just on the Osaka Bay. And the first move to an official club in Osaka turned him from a forward to a goalkeeper. He was destined to be at… Cerezo Osaka! He joined the youth sector alongside current J.Leaguer Takahiro Ogihara and Ryo Nagai.

So no Cerezo, despite Ichimori always remembered how life seemed strange back in 2014: “I was playing at Renofa and I was working. But I also saw a poster of the 2012 London Olympics, with Hotaru (Yamaguchi) and Takahiro (Ogihara) on it. What was I doing? We started from the same place”. That revenge came under the form of a contract with Gamba, but things didn’t take off.

Ichimori ended up playing with Gamba Osaka U-23, back in J3. In 2020 he featured there 10 times, but head coach Tsuneyatsu Miyamoto didn’t seem him at all. Until Miyamoto was the head coach of Gamba, Ichimori hasn’t played one minute with the first team. Things changed under Tomohiro Katanosaka, who came back to Osaka after a great stint with Oita Trinita, and wanted a keeper capable of building up the play.

Things lasted briefly – Katanosaka was sacked, Ichimori got injured, and Gamba hired Hiroshi Matsuda, who moved Ichimori back on the bench. So the keeper needed a new beginning – which materialised into a loan to Yokohama F. Marinos. The club needed to properly replace Yohei Takaoka, who left to join Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS. Ichimori played an excellent season, but Marinos didn’t retain him – and you can see the results now.

The Guardian

Without Matsuda anymore on the bench, Gamba Osaka hired Dani Poyatos back in 2023 and the Spanish head coach surely relied on Ichimori from the start. Poyatos wasn’t sold on neither an aging Masaaki Higashiguchi, nor on Kosei Tani, who didn’t shine on building up the play. And it’s incredible how all three of them are all born in the Osaka area, who gave Gamba three excellent keepers.

One day we’ll write about him (also because we’ve already done it on Tani), but Masaaki Higashiguchi has been one of the best keepers in the history of the J.League. When he joined from Albirex Niigata, he was immediately the no. 1 of a J.League-winning squad. And during the years, even when Gamba were struggling, he kept Gamba afloat with a lot of saves. But that spark declined in 2023 – he kept a clean sheet just twice over 23 games.

Gamba Osaka enjoyed stability in that no. 1 position because of Higashiguchi’s heroics – but at 39 years old they’re not possible anymore. And Ichimori was able to have the better of two excellent keepers, plus taking back his Osaka-bound passion. Gamba conceded 26 goals less than 2023, and gained 12 positions on the table (from 16th to 4th), clinching a spot in the 2025-26 AFC Champions League Two.

That’s (also) on Ichimori’s back – who played every minute of this season (one of just 10 players in the whole three leagues). Ichimori was also at the J.League Awards a few days ago, where Sanfrecce’s Keisuke Osako got the spot in the Best XI, but Ichimori had a shot at it. It’s an incredible tale of resilience for someone who seemed invisible a couple of years ago, and now he’s on the verge of taking the league by storm.

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Thanks for your support over the Regista Awards for 2024. We got already the editions around the J2 League and the J3 League, and we talked as well of Hiiro Komori and his rise at JEF United Chiba. Stay tuned for the next piece!