J2 League – Page 4 – J.League Regista

2023 Regista Awards: J2 League

A debut in J1 for next year, a “rookie” coach, and a returning Brazilian: these have been the awards for 2023 in the second division.

Hikaru Nakahara was supposed to be the “next fancy winger” for Cerezo Osaka, but he should look for a new start in Tokyo.

Rei Hirakawa’s career felt stuck. He needed an environment to thrive. Roasso Kumamoto and Takeshi Oki were the perfect match.

Hisashi Jogo is one of the one-club-guys still around, and he should be deservedly getting a legacy trophy in the J.League Cup final for it.

Besides Ayase Ueda, Japan lacks a classic striker, a towering option. But this time around, three profiles are lurking to be a possible solution.

At 29 years old, after a life within lower tiers, Yuya Yamagishi is becoming indispensable for a J1 team.

Relegations have been introduced to J3 for the first time ever: it’s better to revisit what happened the first time around in J1 & J2.

After more than 700 matches in the Japanese pro-world, Nobuhiro Ishizaki is ready to give it another shot in Hachinohe.

Even if Sagan Tosu’s system is keeping the team in J1, no one excepted Kenta Kawai to do this well in a J1 dugout.

It’s not the first time both S-Pulse or Iwata are in J2, but it’s the first time where the Shizuoka-based football look stuck.