If you’re an avid follower of the J.League-sphere or a reader of J. League Regista, you know very well how the “The Market Report” is a fixed column for the pre-season. There are though two particular features we will have this time around: a) the main transfer market window happened in the Summer, while before it used to be just a repair session; b) we’re having these articles published in the beginning of August, so something else might happen outside of this list.
These articles have analysed all the transfers happened in this division until August 3rd, 2026 – and that’s how we’re gonna go forward. I have to admit the squads have done most of the job already in the Winter, giving their new signings time to adapt to the new realities throughout the transition tournament in the spring, the “100-Year Vision League”. And for some of them, that move worked, settling in pretty well.
But now we’re in “real deal” territory, and the first season-ever with a European calendar is about to start. It’s a major change for Japanese football, very much discussed, and approved a couple of years ago. It started as well in a strange year, with the 2026 FIFA World Cup to provide a fruitful break, plus the 2027 AFC Asian Cup in sight, giving another help to the J.League in terms of managing the newly-installed calendar.
To be honest, not so much has moved in the J3 League. I still believe this list will need a revisitation in four weeks, when the clubs will fight for the scraps once a few matches will be gone. Nonetheless, here we are with our Top 10 suggestions, reminding the audience that we excluded the loans turned into permanent moves from this Winter: otherwise, names like Riku Saga (Kagoshima United FC), Akito Tanahashi (SC Sagamihara), or Taika Nakashima (Thespa Gunma) would have been featured.
10. Ikhsan Fandi | BG Pathum United (THA) » Thespa Gunma
A few years ago, we published a piece around how ASEAN needed a shot from the J.League to come forward, grow their players and install a proper partnership with the Japanese championship. That happened already with Thailand, but other nations from the area struggled. And that’s where the arrival of Ikhsan Fandi, a Singaporean striker, could help, especially a club like Thespa Gunma, who doesn’t exactly enjoy the spotlight.
Gunma is in full J3 mood – last year they were terrible and the last six months they were so-and-so. Their slots upfront seem already booked, but the season is long, and the attention from Singapore might change the plans. Fandi has some records under his belt: first Singaporean player to ever score in the AFC Champions League knock-out stage, 23 goals in 49 games with the national team, and a stint in Europe.
9. Hayate Take | Tegevajaro Miyazaki » FC Gifu
At 31 years old, you would hope to see Take finding a squad which can get a hold of him for more than two seasons. That hasn’t happened yet. To recap: Fukushima, Toyama, Akita, Gunma, Osaka, Miyazaki (twice!), Toyama again, and now another club. All these moves were done between the line that separates the second division and the third tier, with Take struggling at the higher level – he scored just 16 goals in 115 matches.
The striker has a very different record when it comes down to the J3, where instead he bagged 47 goals in 126 games. Two strong seasons in Fukushima, a solid one in Toyama, and he was again pretty impactful when he was on loan to Miyazaki. Unfortunately, Tegevajaro decided to move on from him and now Take will play for FC Gifu. And being a no. 9 under offensive master Kiyotaka Ishimaru… oh boy, I can see a double-digits season coming.
8. Koya Okuda | Mito HollyHock » Fukushima United FC
I checked because I wanted to be sure. I felt it wasn’t the first time I was recommending Koya Okuda as a player to watch among the ones on the move. And I was right, because already in 2024 – when the midfielder left V-Varen Nagasaki to join Tochigi SC – we made a shoutout about his profile, although not exactly in the Top 10. And here we are again: only difference is that Okuda will move down the ladder, joining Fukushima United FC in the third division.
The reason to watch out for him is that Okuda was one of the key players among the ones who brought Mito HollyHock to get promoted to J1. The midfielder played in four different clubs in the second division, and besides Nagasaki, he never disappointed. He’s now back in the third tier after seven years, and his numbers with YSCC Yokohama were pretty outstanding. A matured version of Okuda in the hands of that madman occupying the dugout for Fukushima, Shuhei Terada? This is gonna be fun.
7. Rei Yonezawa | Kagoshima United FC » Kamatamare Sanuki
Injuries have not helped out. The new direction at Kagoshima either. Nonetheless, the last 2.5 season were not easy for Rei Yonezawa. He went from being an absolute star in the third tier – having scored tons of goals with both Cerezo Osaka U-23 and Kagoshima United FC – to disappearing from the news. An ACL injury cut his season in half in 2023, then another injury jeopardised his shot at J2 in 2024. When he came back, there was no more space for him in the starting line-up.
Yonezawa scored just five goals in the last two league seasons, and none in the “100-Year Vision League”. And yet, his flashy style on the pitch must still be there. Sure, he did mostly cameos with KUFC in the last six months, but joining Kamatamare Sanuki makes sense: they’re gonna need every goal they can and Kagawa already gave new life to the likes of Yusuke Goto, Shota Kawanishi, and Yuta Ono. And the J3 League all-time scoring record is just three goals away…
6. Hideatsu Ozawa | Gainare Tottori » Roasso Kumamoto
That might be a silent bargain. I put Ozawa here because it’s not the first time a decent player from Gainare Tottori gets poached by Roasso Kumamoto: Daichi Ishikawa went through the same journey back in 2022, and he’s now a J1 striker with JEF United Chiba. I think we’re not talking about the same level of talent, but nonetheless it’s an interesting add for Roasso, especially after their squad got dismembered because of the relegation from the J2 League.
Kumamoto lost Shuhei Kamimura, who was kind of a floor general under Takeshi Oki. Now, with a new coach in Tomohiro Katanosaka, Roasso might need a new star. Ozawa is probably the steadiest addition that the club had this Summer, with the midfielder having four seasons in Tottori as a pro, and three of them were pretty solid as a starting member of the club. Let’s see how it’ll turn out in Kyushu.
5. Yuya Taguchi | Ehime FC » Matsumoto Yamaga
The striker is a bit of an old fixation for J. League Regista. Speaking of starlets launched by Gainare Tottori, Taguchi was indeed shining with Gainare in his first seasons, establishing an interesting score in J3: 17 goals in the first two seasons, then a rollercoaster of a performance. A third struggling season in Tottori, another tough one in Gifu, before scoring 11 goals in 2024 and moving to Kanazawa, where he never maintained his form.
Like many promising J3 strikers, Taguchi failed to step up to the next level, struggling at Ehime FC, but some good signs were seen in the “100-Year Vision League”. And now, Taguchi is off to Yamaga, where Matsumoto needed a new striker after Takumi Kato left. I can see this working with head coach Nobuhiro Ishizaki, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a second season with 10+ goals in J3 by the new no. 17 at Matsumoto.
4. Seiichiro Kubo | Mito HollyHock » Renofa Yamaguchi
I was honestly surprised to see this going through. It was right for Kubo to find another solution, but I thought it was going to happen via loan, not permanently. Instead, Seiichiro Kubo left Mito HollyHock only being 25 years old, despite they might need him if the debut season in the top-flight doesn’t work out. And not just that: Kubo did a double leap backwards, moving to J3 outfit and just relegated Renofa Yamaguchi.
Don’t get me wrong: for Renofa, it’s a massive bargain. They lost Daigo Furukawa, who joined Oita Trinita in the second division, and Kubo could be a perfect match with Kosuke Fujioka, who won the top-scorer title in the third tier. A pair upfront like this makes you an automatic favourite for directly getting promoted. It’s up to Kubo to prove his value, after the last six months spent on loan to Fujieda MYFC.
3. Jiro Nakamura | Gamba Osaka » Tochigi SC
Call me delusional, but I can’t believe this is it. It’s a bit like Shoji Toyama or Ryonosuke Kabayama: after all the potential shown in a Gamba jersey and two failed loans at a J3 level – with Matsumoto Yamaga and FC Gifu –, is that really it for Jiro Nakamura? The same guy who showed flashes of greatness at 16 years old in the J3 League? And who’s still today the second-youngest ever to score in the history of the division (just behind Takefusa Kubo).
I know Nakamura didn’t develop as expected at Gamba, shredded into several changes of head coach (only Tsuneyasu Miyamoto gave him some minutes). His previous loans in J3 were way worse than his appearances with the U-23 of Gamba, putting together one goal and three assists in 34 games in J3. But I can’t believe this is it. Maybe receding the connection with Osaka will help, just as joining a dark horse team like Tochigi SC.
2. Juanma Delgado | V-Varen Nagasaki » Kagoshima United FC
It’s a 99% done deal, so official might be a stretch – but we’re there, and it might be enough for Kagoshima United FC to get a proper push not just to get promoted, but to win the whole league. In a pre-season piece, we’ve underlined how this might be most promising J3 League season ever, with a very balanced context. And Kagoshima are definitely on the run to get promoted, given also the results from the “100-Year Vision League” tournament.
But this signing would put Kagoshima at no. 1 to finish at the top. Juanma isn’t just a good striker; he’s a foreign player who properly settled in Japan (we had a full interview with him about it: here) and who found in Kyushu a particular inspiring setting. Put this data together with the 75 (!) goals he scored in J2, and with the fact that KUFC mostly need a solid striker with 15-20 goals in his boots, and you can understand how the Spanish might move the needle under the Sakurajima.
1. Shota Tamura | Nara Club » Ehime FC
But even if Juanma would be a great addition to Kagoshima, the best striker at this level probably wears the jersey of Ehime FC. And not from a long time, because his move from Nara Club happened only a few weeks ago. Shota Tamura always had an interesting profile, but his case to be considered elite at this level was made this Winter. He won the scoring title of the “100-Year Vision League” at the J2-J3 level with a margin (scoring 15 in 20 games).
Tamura isn’t exactly young (he’s 31), and he’s got already a certain journey on his shoulders. He started from Shonan Bellmare, was loaned twice to Fukushima United FC, and then in the lower levels of Japanese football. Disappointing stint at Roasso Kumamoto, an anonymous season with Suzuka Point Getters, before racking up goals for Veertien Mie in the Japan Football League (where he was converted into a striker). Nara Club brought him back to the pros in 2025, and here we are.
But there’s another reason why all of this will be interesting: Takeshi Oki. The sorcerer left Kumamoto after the relegation, but I think he’s still got it at this level. And Ehime probably won’t put too much pressure to come up immediately if the project isn’t solid. Furthermore, Oki developed always decent striker in his system: Baré, Toshiki Takahashi, Daichi Ishikawa, Kaito Taniguchi. Tamura could just be the next one in the line of succession.
And that’s a wrap for the pre-season regarding the J3 League! If you want to complete your preparation, remember the articles over the pro-debut for Reilac Shiga or how 2026-27 might be the best season ever in the history of the division. Enjoy this mysterious world!
