Yoichiro Kakitani

Yoichiro Kakitani (柿谷 曜一朗, Kakitani Yōichirō) (born 3 January 1990) is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a forward or an attacking midfielder.

Yoichiro Kakitani
柿谷 曜一朗

Personal information
Date of birth	(1990-01-03) 3 January 1990 (age 35)
Place of birth	Osaka, Japan
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s)	Forward, attacking midfielder
Youth career
1994–2005	Cerezo Osaka
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2014	Cerezo Osaka	129	(37)
2009–2011	→ Tokushima Vortis (loan)	97	(14)
2014–2015	FC Basel	18	(4)
2016–2021	Cerezo Osaka	124	(20)
2021–2022	Nagoya Grampus	57	(5)
2023–2024	Tokushima Vortis	29	(0)
International career‡
2005–2007	Japan U17	9	(6)
2007–2009	Japan U20	8	(3)
2013–2014	Japan	18	(5)
Medal record Cerezo Osaka Winner J.League Cup 2017 Winner Emperor's Cup 2017 Representing  Japan AFC U-16 Championship 2006 Singapore
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 5 January 2023, 21:23 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 14 October 2014

Club career

Cerezo Osaka

Born in Osaka, Kakitani joined Cerezo Osaka's youth team at the age of 4. In 2006, he signed his first professional contract with Cerezo at 16 – the club record for the youngest player signed to a professional contract. He played his first J-League game on 26 November 2006. He also trained with the Arsenal F.C. and Inter Milan youth teams.

Kakitani entered the e-School^[2] of Human Sciences, Waseda University in 2008. Kakitani was loaned to Tokushima Vortis on 18 June 2009 and returned to Cerezo Osaka in 2012.

Basel

On 7 July 2014 FC Basel announced that they had signed Kakitani on a four-year contract.^[3] Kakitani joined Basel to the start of the 2014–15 Swiss Super League season.^[4] He joined the team on 17 July for their 2014–15 season under head coach Paulo Sousa.^[5] Kakitani played his domestic league debut for the club in the away game in the Stockhorn Arena on 2 August, coming on as a substitute for Mohamed Elneny as Basel won 3–2 against Thun.^[6] He scored his first goal for his new club one week later, on 9 August, in the home game in the St. Jakob-Park as Basel won 4–1 against Zürich.^[7] The season 2014–15 was a successful one for Basel. Basel entered the Champions League in the group stage. They reached the knockout phase on 9 December 2014, as they managed a 1–1 draw at Anfield against Liverpool.^[8] But they were knocked out of the competition by Porto in the round of 16. At the end of the 2014–15 season, Basel won the championship for the sixth time in a row.^[9] In the 2014–15 Swiss Cup Basel reached the final. However for the third time in a row they finished as runners-up. However, Kakitani failed to make a lasting impression in this season under trainer Paulo Sousa. Of the 50 competition matches (36 Swiss League fixtures – 6 Swiss Cup and 8 Champions League) that Basel played that season, Kakitani appeared in just 28.

In their following season new head coach was Urs Fischer and under him Kakitani played only in seven games. Being unhappy, he decided to return to Japan. During his 18 months with the club, Kakitani played a total of 41 games for Basel scoring a total of 14 goals. 18 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, six in the Swiss Cup, three in the 2014–15 Champions League and 14 were friendly games. He scored four goals in the domestic league, four in the cup and the other six were scored during the test games.^[10]

Return to Cerezo Osaka

Unable to establish himself at Basel in the first half of the 2015–2016 season, Kakitani left the club in early January 2016 returning to his home club Cerezo Osaka which had been relegated to the J2 League during his absence.^[11] The team has been playing in the J1 League since the 2017 season.

Return to Tokushima Vortis

On 6 January 2023, Kakitani announcement officially return to former club, Tokushima Vortis for upcoming 2023 season, he played for the club on loan in the middle of the 2009 season.

International career

He was named Most Valuable Player in the AFC U-17 Championship 2006 after helping Japan win the tournament, scoring 4 goals.

Kakitani scored two goals at 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup in South Korea. Against France he scored a spectacular goal from the halfway line.^[12][13]

Kakitani debuted for the Japan senior team at the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup. He played his first international match against China, scoring his first international goal in the 59th minute. He then scored twice against South Korea in a 2–1 win. His three goals from three matches made him top goalscorer as Japan won the tournament.^[14]

Career statistics

Club

As of the start from 3 of November 2023.^[15][16][17]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Emperor's Cup		J. League Cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Cerezo Osaka	2006	J1 League	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2007	J2 League	21	2	1	0	–		0	0	22	2
	2008		24	0	0	0	–		0	0	24	0
	2009		6	2	–		–		0	0	6	2
	Total		52	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	53	4
Tokushima Vortis	2009	J2 League	27	4	1	0	–		0	0	28	4
	2010		34	4	2	0	–		0	0	36	4
	2011		36	6	1	0	–		0	0	37	6
	Total		97	14	4	0	–		0	0	101	14
Cerezo Osaka	2012	J1 League	30	11	3	1	7	5	0	0	40	17
	2013		34	21	0	0	8	3	0	0	42	24
	2014		14	1	0	0	0	0	8	4	22	5
	Total		78	33	3	1	15	8	8	4	104	46
FC Basel	2014–15	Swiss Super League	14	3	3	4	–		3	0	20	7
	2015–16		4	1	2	0	–		0	0	6	1
	Total		18	4	5	4	–		3	0	26	8
Cerezo Osaka	2016	J2 League	22	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	22	6
	2017	J1 League	34	6	5	1	1	1	0	0	40	8
	2018		21	4	0	0	2	0	3	1	26	5
	2019		23	3	1	1	4	0	0	0	28	4
	2020		24	1	0	0	4	1	0	0	28	2
	Total		124	20	6	2	11	2	3	1	144	25
Nagoya Grampus	2021	J1 League	36	5	4	0	5	2	7	2	52	9
	2022		21	0	2	0	6	1	–		29	1
	Total		57	5	6	0	11	3	7	2	81	10
Tokushima Vortis	2023	J2 League	37	7	0	0	–		0	0	37	7
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Career total			440	86	20	3	43	16	21	7	530	112

International

As of 14 October 2014

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Japan U17	2005	1	0
	2006	5	4
	2007	3	2
Total		9	6
Japan U20	2007	4	2
	2008	2	0
	2009	2	1
Total		8	3
Japan	2013	9	4
	2014	9	1
Total		18	5

Under-17

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kakitani goal.

List of international goals scored by Yoichiro Kakitani

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	5 September 2006	Jalan Besar Stadium, Jalan Besar, Singapore	Singapore	1–0	1–1	2006 AFC U-17 Championship
2	11 September 2006	Jalan Besar Stadium, Jalan Besar, Singapore	Iran	1–0	1–1	2006 AFC U-17 Championship
3	14 September 2006	Jalan Besar Stadium, Jalan Besar, Singapore	Syria	2–0	2–0	2006 AFC U-17 Championship
4	17 September 2006	Jalan Besar Stadium, Jalan Besar, Singapore	North Korea	1–2	4–2	2006 AFC U-17 Championship
5	19 August 2007	Gwangyang Football Stadium, Gwangyang, South Korea	Haiti	3–1	3–1	2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup
6	25 August 2007	Gwangyang Football Stadium, Gwangyang, South Korea	France	1–0	1–2	2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup

Under-20

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kakitani goal.

List of international goals scored by Yoichiro Kakitani

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	12 November 2007	Suphachalasai Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand	Myanmar	8–0	8–0	2008 AFC Youth Championship qualification
2	14 November 2007	Suphachalasai Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand	Laos	2–0	5–0	2008 AFC Youth Championship qualification
3	7 December 2009	Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground, Hong Kong	Macau	4–0	5–0	2009 East Asian Games

Senior team

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kakitani goal.

List of international goals scored by Yoichiro Kakitani^[18]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	21 July 2013	Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul, South Korea	China	2–1	3–3	2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
2	28 July 2013	Seoul Olympic Stadium, Seoul, South Korea	South Korea	1–0	2–1	2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
3				2–1
4	16 November 2013	King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium	Belgium	1–1	3–2	Friendly
5	4 June 2014	Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, United States	Costa Rica	3–1	3–1	Friendly

Honours

Basel

• Swiss Super League: 2014–15, 2015–16

Cerezo Osaka

• J.League Cup: 2017
• Emperor's Cup: 2017

Nagoya Grampus

• J.League Cup: 2021

Japan

• EAFF East Asian Cup: 2013

Japan U-17

• AFC U-17 Championship: 2006

Individual

• AFC U-17 Championship Most Valuable Player: 2006
• EAFF East Asian Cup Top Scorer: 2013
• J. League Division 1 Player of the Month: May 2013