Tomokazu Myojin

Tomokazu Myojin
Personal information
Full name	Tomokazu Myojin
Date of birth	January 24, 1978 (age 46)
Place of birth	Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1993–1995	Kashiwa Reysol
Senior career*
Years	Team
1996–2005	Kashiwa Reysol
2006–2015	Gamba Osaka
2016	Nagoya Grampus
2017–2019	AC Nagano Parceiro
Total
National team
1997	Japan U-20
2000	Japan U-23
2000–2002	Japan
Honours
Kashiwa Reysol
Gamba Osaka
Representing Japan
FIFA Confederations Cup
AFC Asian Cup
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Tomokazu Myojin (明神智和, Myojin Tomokazu, born January 24, 1978) is a former Japanese football player. He played for the Japan national team.

Biography

Myojin was born in Kobe on January 24, 1978. He joined J1 League club Kashiwa Reysol from their youth team in 1996. He played many matches as defensive midfielder from first season. He became a regular player under manager Akira Nishino in 1998. In 1999, Reysol won the champions in J.League Cup and the 3rd place in J1 League. In 2000, Reysol won the 3rd place in J1 League for 2 years in a row and he was selected Best Eleven award. However the club results were sluggish from 2002 and was relegated to J2 League end of 2005 season.

In 2006, Myojin moved to Gamba Osaka which was managed by Akira Nishino. He played as regular player with many Japan national team player and Gamba won the many title, 2007 J.League Cup, 2008 and 2009 Emperor's Cup. In Asia, Gamba also won the champions in 2008 AFC Champions League and the 3rd place in 2008 Club World Cup. This is the golden era in the club history and he was one of the central player under manager Nishino. However manager Nishino left Gamba end of 2011 season and the club performance deteriorated soon. In 2012, Gamba finished at the 17th place of 18 clubs and was relegated to J2 League. Although his opportunity to play decreased from 2013, Gamba won the champions in 2013 J2 League and was returned to J1. In 2014, Gamba won all three major title in Japan, J1 League, J.League Cup and Emperor's Cup. He resigned end of 2015 season.

In 2016, Myojin moved to Nagoya Grampus. However he could not play many matches. Grampus also finished at the 16th place and was relegated to J2. In 2017, Myojin moved to J3 League club AC Nagano Parceiro; after three seasons, he retired at the end of 2019.

In June 1997, Myojin was selected the Japan U-20 national team for 1997 World Youth Championship. At this tournament, he played full time in all 5 matches as defensive midfielder. In September 2000, he was selected Japan U-23 national team for 2000 Summer Olympics. At this tournament, he played full time in all 4 matches as defensive midfielder with Junichi Inamoto.

He was capped 26 times and scored 3 goals for the Japanese national team between 2000 and 2002. He played three games at the 2002 World Cup.

Statistics

^[1]^[2]

Club statistics			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Japan			League		Emperor's Cup		J.League Cup		Asia		Total
1996	Kashiwa Reysol	J1 League	11	0	0	0	2	0	-		13	0
1997			13	1	1	0	6	0	-		20	1
1998			28	0	2	0	4	1	-		34	1
1999			30	1	3	0	4	0	-		37	1
2000			29	2	2	0	2	0	-		33	2
2001			29	0	1	0	4	0	-		34	0
2002			27	1	0	0	1	0	-		28	1
2003			29	1	2	1	4	0	-		35	2
2004			28	5	0	0	6	0	-		34	5
2005			28	1	1	0	4	0	-		33	1
2006	Gamba Osaka	J1 League	25	0	5	0	2	0	3	0	35	0
2007			33	2	2	0	10	0	-		45	2
2008			32	3	5	0	4	0	11	1	52	4
2009			31	2	5	2	2	1	5	0	43	5
2010			29	4	3	0	1	0	6	0	39	4
2011			27	2	1	0	0	0	5	0	33	2
2012			31	1	5	1	2	0	5	0	43	2
2013		J2 League	20	0	1	0	0	0	-		21	0
2014		J1 League	12	0	4	0	5	0	-		21	0
2015		J1 League	10	0	1	0	3	0	4	0	18	0
2016	Nagoya Grampus	J1 League	15	0	0	0	3	0	-		18	0
2017	AC Nagano Parceiro	J3 League	16	0	1	0	-		-		17	0
2018			14	0	0	0	-		-		14	0
2019			8	0	2	0	-		-		10	0
Country	Japan		555	26	47	4	69	2	39	1	701	33
Total			555	26	47	4	69	2	39	1	701	33