The Silent Rise

September 2021 – it’s international break. J1 League is living through a particular season, since it’s the first ever with 20 teams. This came after the league froze out relegations in the year before, with two teams avoiding the drop. One of the two, indeed, was the same who faced a dilemma at the time – changing their head coach after two dreadful years, but in the middle of a delicate season.

For Shonan Bellmare, at that time, being in J1 was a gift. It didn’t happen that much, and the club struggled to avoid relegation. Since the renaming from Bellmare Hiratsuka in 2000, Shonan played in J1 seven seasons until 2021, and finished in the relegation zone five times (including 2020, when relegation were not in place, and 2019, when the drew against Tokushima Vortis to keep the J1 slot after the play-outs).

The times when Cho Kwi-jae was leading to team to three promotions, two J2 League titles, and the 2018 J.League Cup were far away. He had to resign in the middle of the 2019 season because of a power harassment scandal, with Kenji Takahashi first and then Bin Ukishima – the academy director at Bellmare – taking the reins. Ukishima avoided relegation, then got last in 2020, then struggled to turn the boat around in 2021.

That’s why the board of Shonan looked to a new solution. Someone fresh, but with a great experience – eager to prove his value on the pitch. He was already in the staff of Ukishima, but it was the first year that he left his true love, Gamba Osaka. He played there, he coached there, but he couldn’t take his first steps as a head coach – because for Satoshi Yamaguchi was important to have a proper testing ground. And, for now, he passed the test.

The Player

Who was though Satoshi Yamaguchi? Well, his career have earned more glory than someone might remember. Born in 1978, Yamaguchi was a child prodigy, becoming the younger player ever featuring in the J.League when he featured in the 1996 opening game for JEF United Chiba Ichihara against Kyoto Sanga – at the time, he was 17 years, 11 months and 3 days old. Yuki Abe will take that record, always with JEF, a couple of years later.

Never mind, though – because Yamaguchi will become an anchor for JEF. Five seasons with the Chiba-based outing, before switching to Gamba Osaka in 2001. And that’s where things got interesting, since Yamaguchi moved to Kansai in a moment where Gamba were just building up their future dynasty. To put it in perspective, Yasuhito Endo just joined and Akira Nishino became the head coach a year later.

With Gamba, Yamaguchi won everything in 10 years – the maiden J1 title for the club in 2005, two Emperor’s Cup, a J.League Cup, a Japanese Super Cup, and the AFC Champions in 2008. He also got into the “Best XI” for three years in a row, from 2006 to 2008. In 2011, he took the decision to come back to JEF United Chiba, this time in J2 and without the “Ichihara” anymore in the name. 

He had a good three years-run, but JEF failed in coming back to J1, despite always reaching the play-offs. He then moved to Kyoto Sanga in 2015 and became the captain, but when head coach Masahiro Wada was dismissed, his playing time diminished, and decided to retire despite: a) he had a contract in 2016; b) other clubs were sniffing around his availability (Renofa Yamaguchi). That was it – and now?

The Manager

Well, Gamba Osaka had already placed their offer, asking to Yamaguchi if he wanted to come back as a scout. Yamaguchi did that, then assistant coach in the U-23 team under Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, and in the end he got promoted to the first team as an assistant coach both under Miyamoto and Lévir Culpi. But in 2021, he decided to spread his wings and move to Kanagawa, where Shonan Bellmare were ready to welcome him.

First as an assistant coach to Ukishima, Yamaguchi took over in September 2021 – he managed to save Bellmare in the last match… at Gamba Osaka! It could have been just a fluke, and instead he led Bellmare in 2022 to an egregious season, reaching 12th place. Then he got 15th twice, first in 2023 with 18 teams in J1, and then in 2024, when the clubs became 20. But in both cases, he didn’t risk that much in terms of relegation.

Yamaguchi and Bellmare surpassed some serious rough patches. In 2022, they were in relegation zone after a loss in Kobe, then went undefeated in the last seven games (15 points). In 2023, Shonan stayed dead last for almost three months – then a run of 13 points in the last six games avoided the worst. Same happened a bit in 2024, when Shonan spent 15 of the 38 games in the relegation zone, but didn’t enter again into the drop zone after a win in Osaka against Gamba back in July. 

Yamaguchi stayed faithful to his preferred system, the 3-1-4-2, and gave space and platform to players who thrive under him. Shuto Machino is an easy name (praise the lord for him), Yuki Ohashi is now scoring goals in the Championship. Satoshi Tanaka came back after a disappointing European experience and became a better version of himself. Kosei Tani became a hope for Japan’s goal at Shonan. That’s a lot.

The Legend?

In general, there’s one data to reflect about – even if considering just the years in which Yamaguchi was at the helm, Shonan Bellmare are currently into their longest streak of J1 seasons (5, counting ’25). And you have to give it to the Shonan’s board – despite the rough patches, they sticked with Yamaguchi and went with his plan. That’s perspective, something that not all Japanese clubs have (ask Grampus or FC Tokyo for reference).

And there’s more – the attendance. Despite sharing the Prefecture with two giants who won six J1 titles in the last eight years (Kawasaki Frontale and Yokohama F. Marinos), Bellmare had the best average attendance of their history in 2023 (13,161). It means the fanbase is growing, and it’s a very good news. Especially looking at how 2025 might go – it’ll be another run to retain their spot in J1.

But it’s gonna be an interesting one, because the Bellmare roster is full of talent and solid players. 2025 will have a healthy dualism in goal between Naoki Kamifukumoto and Tatsunari Nagai. Tomoya Fujii, who has joined from Kashima Antlers, might be a silent steal of the transfer window. Not every contender in the relegation fight has Yuto Suzuki and Kosuke Onose on the right flank, and Shonan kept Taiga Hata. And up front, they have Masaki Ikeda, Sho Fukuda, plus a newly-branded no. 10 in Akito Suzuki.

And it’s gonna be about Yamaguchi too – in the modern era of Japanese football, he’s the second longest-serving head coach in the history of Bellmare, just behind Cho Kwi-jae. But he’s been way more in J1 than the current Kyoto Sanga head coach – he’s gathered 1.08 PPG in 158 matches in the top-flight for Bellmare, while Yamaguchi is at 1.12 PPG in 116 J1 matches. Which is a fine margin, but it makes all the difference in the world in the relegation fight.

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It’s gonna be crucial for Yamaguchi to succeed, a head coach who also won already “Manager of the Month” four times (!) – June ’22, October ’23, July and October ’24 – proving a certain constance. The future might be his, especially if he’ll be able to keep Shonan around in J1 for another time.