The return of long-lost faces – Kataller Toyama are back in the second division after 11 years, Sagan Tosu after 14 (!), and Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo after nine. The hang-in-there efforts by small realities like Iwaki FC, Fujieda MYFC, or Ehime FC. The first time of FC Imabari at this level, and the return – under new management and name – of Omiya Ardija (or should we say RB Omiya Ardija).
To introduce this new, marvellous season, “The Market Report” is back for 2025 and the names excluded are of certain relevance:
- After a lot of going around, Hiroto Yamada left Cerezo Osaka once it and for all, by signing with Sagan Tosu (who definitely needed a no. 9).
- Kyushu-legend Masashi Kamekawa has left Avispa Fukuoka and joined Renofa Yamaguchi, who could use some veterans to repeat last season.
- Kengo Nagai has shown some sparks of promise between the posts, but Shimizu S-Pulse don’t have space for him and he’s been loaned to Tokushima Vortis.
- After scoring a lot of goals in J3 – between Gainare Tottori, FC Gifu and Zweigen Kanazawa -, Yuya Taguchi will give J2 a go with Ehime FC.
- Last but not least, Chie Edojoon Kawakami had a solid stint with Thespa Gunma and he’s been signed by Fujieda MYFC.
But let’s go through the Top 10 transfers we’ve found from this Winter.
10. Hiroshi Kiyotake | Cerezo Osaka » Oita Trinita
This is probably more of a romantic call, but we needed to do it. Actually, in a first version of this special table, it was higher – but then we realised how the physical form of the former Sevilla and Nurnberg has been dreadful, and it’s more of a hope. It’s already sad enough to see Hiroshi Kiyotake leaving Cerezo Osaka for a second time, but the loan at Sagan Tosu from last Summer left something as a clue.
Kiyotake joins Oita Trinita – the club who launched him before Cerezo bought him, where he won a J.League Cup back in 2008. Kiyotake is actually born in Oita, and he’s been named the captain of Trinita for the 2025 season. Trinita had a terrible 2024, but they hold on to Tomohiro Katanosaka on the bench, and they hope to see Kiyotake flourish again near to home.
9. Ryoga Sato | Avispa Fukuoka » Júbilo Iwata
Speaking of dreadful situations, wow – that’s a massive one. For everyone involved. With surprise of no one, Júbilo Iwata had another promotion and another immediate relegation. Hopefully they’ll stop, but it’ll be hard to go back immediately to J1 – and it’s not like things for Sato have been going better. After 26 goals in two years of J2 with Tokyo Verdy, he signed with Avispa Fukuoka in the hope of conquering J1.
Unfortunately, Hasebe didn’t rate him that much and Sato ended up winning a J.League Cup in Fukuoka, but playing way fewer minutes and scoring 10 goals in 58 matches in all competitions in the last two seasons. Coming back to J2 could be a partial medicine, since Sato is still just 25 years old. For Júbilo, the need of a solid striker is real – Ryo Watanabe didn’t shine in the last 18 months after Fujieda, and Matheus Peixoto must confirm himself at this level.
8. Takumi Hama | Azul Claro Numazu » Kataller Toyama
It was nice to see Azul Claro Numazu playing last year, and Takumi Hama was one of the main attractions from their side. The wing-back featured for the Shizuoka-based side for six seasons, and now he’s got the chance of playing in a different level than the J3 League. After 152 games and nine goals in the third tier, it was time to move on. Funny though that’s happening with another promoted side.
Kataller Toyama are coming back to J2 after a decade, and they lost an important piece in Shosaku Yasumitsu – 36 games in J3 and eight goals. If he moved to Red Bull Omiya, Toyama needed a new interpreter on that flank, and Hama could be a good replacement. At 28 years old, it’s a bit “now or never” for the former Azul Claro Numazu player.
7. Kaina Yoshio | Yokohama F. Marinos » Montedio Yamagata
To us it’s incredible how Kaina Yoshio is just 26 years old, and went through already two or three major career changes. A graduate from Yokohama F. Marinos, the winger went through a couple of loans – first to Vegalta Sendai in J1, then to Machida Zelvia in the second division. 10 goals and 10 assists in 2021 pushed Marinos to bring him back, but in the end – despite winning the 2022 J1 League – Yoshio didn’t stay there.
Yokohama F. Marinos kept him for a couple of years, but he wasn’t heavily involved in the rotations. So Yoshio moved to South Korea, joining Jeju United on loan, but didn’t stay there. Now he’s got a new chance with Montedio Yamagata, who have a real shot at promotion to J1 – although Yoshio will have to face a lot of competition on the flanks (Shoma Doi, Chihiro Kato, Ryoma Kida).
6. Tomoya Wakahara & José Aurelio Suarez | Kyoto Sanga & Toksuhima Vortis » JEF United Chiba
Maybe he wasn’t the best choice available, but Kazuki Fujita was a promising keeper for JEF United Chiba, who needed a proper replacement for the outgoing Shota Arai. Once it was clear that the keeper wasn’t going to stay – he returned to his parent club, Albirex Niigata -, JEF needed a new keeper. And they found two, actually – although one was supposed to be the starter.
Tomoya Wakahara has been a promise waiting to be fulfilled with Kyoto Sanga. Once the club reached J1, he wasn’t the starter anymore and moved to V-Varen Nagasaki, where he struggled to be the no. 1. JEF shouldn’t have been the final destination, but he got injured – and that’s where José Aurelio Suarez comes into play. He left Tokushima Vortis and now he’s gonna be the no. 1 – a safe choice to secure the goalposts of JEF.
5. Hidetoshi Takeda | Urawa Red Diamonds » Vegalta Sendai
Three loans were not enough for Takeda to be kept by Urawa Red Diamonds, the club who welcomed him back in 2020 – when the high-schooler from Aomori Yamada signed for the Saitama-based giants. Three loans – to FC Ryukyu in J3 (good), to Omiya Ardija (meh) and Mito HollyHock (very well) in J2 – granted him a return to Urawa, but Reds didn’t use him that much in 2024. It was natural to leave at 23 years old for a new adventure.
Now Takeda is coming back to Vegalta Sendai (for good) – and that’s a marvellous news, since Takeda is a Sendai-born kid, and he’s played for Vegalta in their youth ranks. That will give that extra motivation needed to shine for the club, and try to bring them back to J1. Sendai have been steadily improving after a shock return season to J2, and they could definitely be on the mix this season.
4. Kosuke Fujioka | FC Gifu » FC Imabari
At 30 years old, it was about time to see him stepping up from J3 to J2. He couldn’t do that with FC Gifu, since the club wasn’t able to come even near to promotion positions, despite Fujioka put together 38 goals in three seasons for FC Gifu (19 in 2024, 16 in 2022 – 2023 wasn’t good at all). For a guy who was playing in JFL and Regional Leagues until 23 years old between the reserves of Fagiano Okayama and Tegevajaro Miyazaki, it’s a massive step.
FC Imabari have got their promotion, and they surely have already a massive weapon in Marcus Vinicius, but you could never have enough firepower up front. Wesley Tanque scored 6 goals in 16 games in last season’s J3, but he’s kind of a unproven commodity. Another double-digits season by Fujioka would help having a quiet season.
3. Ryo Shiohama | Fukushima United FC » Roasso Kumamoto
In the Market Report section, when we last talked of possible leaps, Ryo Shiohama was among those names, and it’s even more fitting that he picked Roasso Kumamoto as his next destination. After Fukushima United FC dreamt of reaching J2 – got into the play-offs and drew against FC Osaka -, it was natural to move up the ladder at 24 years old. And this might be a wonderful choice for him.
Roasso Kumamoto are playing a wonderful brand of football under wizard Takeshi Oki, who made many players a favour with his 3-3-1-3. Roasso just lost Daichi Ishikawa to JEF United Chiba, and they needed a replacement. Shiohama has been a talisman with FUFC, the clear general of their offensive efforts. Let alone what he could do under Oki – we wouldn’t be surprised to see him stepping up to J1 in 2026.
2. Gabriel | Yokohama FC » RB Omiya Ardija
After winning the J3 by a landslide, Omiya Ardija said goodbye to the J.League and Red Bull took over. And you could see the impact of this passage – their Winter transfer market window was massive. Yuta Toyokawa and Teppei Yachida from Kyoto Sanga, Caprini from Yokohama FC, they confirmed permanently both Kenyu Sugimoto and Toya Izumi. But there’s one signing which stood up from the others.
That’s Gabriel, the Brazilian centre-back who had a very solid stint with Yokohama FC, winning two promotions to J1 with them and being the anchor at the back. And there’s more, because Gabriel has been nominated the captain of RB Omiya Ardija for 2025 – at 29 years old, he’s ready to be the leader, and maybe it’s too soon to forecast RBO already in the fight for promotion… but we wouldn’t be surprised to see them in the play-offs run.
1. Hotaru Yamaguchi | Vissel Kobe » V-Varen Nagasaki
That’s a DISTANT number 1, winning by a landslide. When we read of the news, we couldn’t believe our eyes. From lifting the J1 title with Vissel Kobe to moving to V-Varen Nagasaki in the J2 League… it’s a big leap. Someone might say backwards, but to explain this move, probably you need a bird’s eye view. Otherwise why one of the biggest pay-checks in J1 should move not one, but three or four steps down the ladder?
Well, because V-Varen Nagasaki are on their way to become a structural J1 team – a bit like it happened for Machida Zelvia. Investments have been there, the squad has been good in the last years, and in 2024 Nagasaki moved to their new stadium, the Peace Stadium (of 20,000 seats). Yes, V-Varen lost incredibly the play-offs semifinal at home against Vegalta Sendai, but that should be just a bump in the road.
Hotaru Yamaguchi is already 34 years old, and he had what he wanted from his career. He won two J1 titles, three Emperor’s Cup, one J.League Cup, two Japanese Super Cups. He’s been at two FIFA World Cups and one Olympic Games edition with Japan. He’s been to Europe – although just six months (his stint with Hannover 96 will deserve a deep dive). It’s the right time to be the captain and the skipper of a project which is growing like this.
That’s the second article around the J2 League coverage – if you wanna read about the possible troubles at Mito HollyHock, just click here. And if you’re curious around the Market Report from the J1 League, click here.
