Tokushima Vortis

Tokushima Vortis (徳島ヴォルティス, Tokushima Vorutisu) is a Japanese professional football club located in Tokushima, capital of Tokushima Prefecture. The club currently playing in the J2 League, the Japanese second tier of professional football league.

Tokushima Vortis
徳島ヴォルティス

Full name	Tokushima Vortis
Nickname(s)	Vortis
Founded	1955; 70 years ago (1955)
Ground	Pocarisweat Stadium Naruto, Tokushima
Capacity	17,924
Chairman	Kazuhiro Kishida
Manager	Kosaku Masuda
League	J2 League
2024	J2 League, 8th of 20
Website	vortis.jp
Home colours Away colours

Name origin

The name, "Vortis" was named in 1997 (see below), and it was explained as a coinage of Italian "Vortice" (meaning whirlpool, after the famous Naruto whirlpool in Naruto Strait). The name was chosen to exhibit the dynamics of a whirlpool in the hope of swallowing up the whole audience in excitement by its power, speed and unity.^[1]

History

Founded in 1955 as Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Soccer Club, VORTIS joined the J-League in 2005. They are still sponsored by Otsuka's best-known brand, Pocari Sweat sports drink.^[1]

They were first promoted to the old Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1989, but the company's reluctance to professionalize the team forced it to compete in the former JFL and current JFL. In the 1997 old JFL season, they first sported a Vortis Tokushima name, but the lack of fan interest at the time forced them to go back to the corporate identity. They finally adopted the Tokushima Vortis name for good after winning the new JFL championship in 2004 and being promoted.^[2]

The first season in J2 was naturally a difficult one for Vortis, but they surprised many sceptics with their determination and quality of play. The team rose as high as fourth place, at one point, before slipping down the table later in the season to finish ninth. In 2006, the team was forced to rebuild, as the players who took the team into the J.League began to hit the ceiling of their abilities and made way for younger replacements. As a result, despite the encouragement of a local rivalry with Ehime FC, Tokushima drifted down-table, and they followed it up with a last-place finish in 2007 and 2008.^[2]

In 2013, they earned fourth place in J2, matching the same placement they had two years before in the division and twenty years before in the old JFL Division 1; this time they won the playoff, defeating Kyoto Sanga F.C. in the final round at the National Stadium in Tokyo, thus becoming the first professional Shikoku football club to compete in the top division of their national league.^[3]

Until their promotion, they were the only former JSL member currently a member of the J.League which has never competed in the top tier of Japanese football. With promotion and the creation of the J3 League in 2014, the distinction was taken over by Blaublitz Akita.

In the 2019 season, they finished 4th again and were one win away from a return to J1 in the playoffs, but ultimately failed to beat Shonan Bellmare away in the final game. In 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, they did one better and were promoted as J2 champions.

Team name transition

• Otsuka Pharmaceutical (1955–1996, 1998–2004)
• Vortis Tokushima (1997)
• Tokushima Vortis FC (2005–present)

Stadium

Their home stadium is Naruto Otsuka Sports Park Pocari Sweat Stadium, in Naruto, Tokushima.

League & cup record

Champions

Runners-up

Third place

Promoted

Relegated

League													J.League Cup	Emperor's Cup
Season	Div.	Teams	Pos.	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Attendance/G
Otsuka Pharmaceuticals
2003	JFL	16	1st	30	23	3	4	65	21	44	72	781	Not eligible	3rd round
2004		16	1st	30	25	3	2	74	20	54	78	3,046		2nd round
Tokushima Vortis
2005	J2	12	9th	44	12	16	16	60	76	-16	52	4,366	Not eligible	4th round
2006		13	13th	48	8	11	29	43	92	-49	35	3,477		4th round
2007		13	13th	48	6	15	27	31	67	-36	33	3,289		4th round
2008		15	15th	42	7	8	27	40	72	-32	29	3,862		3rd round
2009		18	9th	51	19	15	17	67	52	15	72	4,073		2nd round
2010		19	8th	36	15	6	15	51	47	4	51	4,614		3rd round
2011		20	4th	38	19	8	11	51	38	13	65	5,207		2nd round
2012		22	15th	42	13	12	17	45	49	-4	51	3,991		3rd round
2013		22	4th	42	20	7	15	56	51	5	67	4,348		2nd round
2014	J1	18	18th	34	3	5	26	16	74	-58	14	8,884	Group stage	3rd round
2015	J2	22	14th	42	13	14	15	35	44	-9	53	5,019	Not eligible	4th round
2016		22	9th	42	16	9	17	46	42	4	57	4,565		3rd round
2017		22	7th	42	18	13	11	71	45	26	67	4,979		2nd round
2018		22	11th	42	16	8	18	48	42	6	56	4,997		3rd round
2019		22	4th	42	21	10	11	67	45	22	73	5,736		3rd round
2020 †		22	1st	42	25	9	8	67	33	34	84	3,100		Semi-finalist
2021	J1	20	17th	38	10	6	22	34	55	-21	36	5,664	Group stage	3rd round
2022	J2	22	8th	42	13	23	6	48	35	13	62	4,224	Group stage	3rd round
2023		22	15th	42	10	19	13	43	53	-10	49	5,976	Not eligible	3rd round
2024		20	8th	38	16	7	15	42	44	-2	55	6,054	1st round	3rd round
2025		20	TBA	38									TBD	TBD

Key

• Pos. = Position in league; P = Games played; W = Games won; D = Games drawn; L = Games lost; F = Goals scored; A = Goals conceded; GD = Goals difference; Pts = Points gained
• Attendance/G = Average league home attendance
• † 2020 season attendance reduced by COVID-19 worldwide pandemic
• Source: J. League Data Site

Honours

Tokushima Vortis honours

Honour	No.	Years	Notes
Shikoku Football League	4	1978, 1979, 1981, 1989	as Otsuka Pharmaceutical
Japan Football League	2	2003, 2004	as Otsuka Pharmaceutical
J2 League	1	2020

Players

Current squad

As of 27 July 2025.^[4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  JPN Hayate Tanaka 2 DF  JPN Taiki Tamukai 3 DF  JPN Nao Yamada 4 DF  BRA Kaique Mafaldo (on loan from V-Varen Nagasaki) 5 DF  JPN Hayato Aoki 7 MF  JPN Shunto Kodama 8 MF  JPN Ken Iwao 9 FW  BRA Thonny Anderson 10 MF  JPN Taro Sugimoto 11 MF  JPN Koki Sugimori 13 FW  JPN Taiyo Nishino 14 MF  JPN Rio Hyon 15 DF  JPN Kohei Yamakoshi 16 FW  JPN Daiki Watari 18 DF  BRA Elsinho 21 GK  JPN Kengo Nagai 22 DF  JPN Ko Yanagisawa

No. Pos. Nation Player 23 MF  JPN Yu Takada 24 MF  JPN Soya Takada 25 MF  JPN Yudai Yamashita 26 MF  JPN Yusei Onoe 27 FW  NGA Lawrence David 28 MF  JPN Naoki Kanuma 29 GK  JPN Daiki Mitsui 30 FW  JPN Kiyoshiro Tsuboi 31 GK  JPN Toru Hasegawa 40 MF  JPN Ryota Nagaki 42 DF  JPN Yuya Takagi 44 DF  JPN Tatsuya Yamaguchi (on loan from Renofa Yamaguchi) 55 MF  JPN Takuya Shigehiro 84 MF  JPN Muku Fukuta Type 2 85 DF  JPN Riku Miyamura Type 2 86 FW  JPN Neo Nagamura Type 2 99 FW  BRA Lucas Barcellos

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  JPN Naoki Goto (at Vanraure Hachinohe) — DF  JPN Towa Nishisaka (at ReinMeer Aomori) — MF  JPN Hiroshi Omori (at Tochigi SC)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  BRA Thales Paula (at Nagano Parceiro) — FW  JPN Wadi Ibrahim Suzuki (at Azul Claro Numazu) — FW  JPN Akito Tanahashi (at Tochigi SC)

Club staff

Position	Staff
Manager	Kosaku Masuda
First-team coach	Masaya Yamaguchi Tsuyoshi Furukawa
Goalkeeper coach	Masahiko Nakagawa
Analyst	Akira Nakajima
Physical coach	Wellington
Rehabilitation fitness coach	Atsushi Nagatani
Chief trainer	Shoji Suzuki
Trainer	Hisaaki Maehara Masaya Furukawa Kenta Saito
Interpreter	Masahiro Fukasawa Masayuki Hatamoto Ferreira Hiroki Nunome
General manager	Yusuke Abe
Assistant general manager	Yuya Ishii Daiki Sugawara

Managerial history

Manager	Nationality	Tenure
		Start	Finish
Kunio Yamade	Japan	1988	31 January 1993
Hajime Ishii	Japan	1 February 1993	31 January 1996
Edinho	Brazil	1 February 1996	31 December 1998
Shinji Tanaka	Japan	1 January 1999	28 September 2006
Yutaka Azuma	Japan	28 September 2006	31 January 2007
Masataka Imai	Japan	1 January 2007	31 January 2008
Naohiko Minobe	Japan	1 February 2008	31 January 2012
Shinji Kobayashi	Japan	1 February 2012	31 January 2016
Hiroaki Nagashima	Japan	25 November 2015	31 January 2017
Ricardo Rodríguez	Spain	1 February 2017	31 January 2021
Takeshi Komoto (Interim)	Japan	1 February 2021	16 April 2021
Dani Poyatos	Spain	1 February 2021 Actual start date 16 April 2021[5]	31 January 2023
Beñat Labaien	Spain	1 February 2023	22 August 2023
Tatsuma Yoshida	Japan	23 August 2023	31 March 2024[6]
Kosaku Masuda	Japan	1 April 2024 (Interim) 7 May 2024 (Official)[7]	Current

Kit evolution

Home kits - 1st
2005-2006	2007-2008	2009-2010	2011-2012	2013
2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
2024	2025 -

Away kits - 2nd
2005-2006	2007-2008	2009-2010	2011-2012	2013
2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
2024	2025 -

Other kits - 3rd
2017 Summer 3rd	2019 15th Anniversary Summer Only	2021 Summer	2024 20th Anniversary