2. Bundesliga
The Japanese stars of 2025/26
With a growing number of Japan internationals arriving in Germany, bundesliga.com keeps you up-to-date with the progress of the league’s Japanese stars throughout the 2025/26 campaign…
Club: Eintracht Frankfurt
Position: Attacking midfield
Age: 27 (Born 16 June 1998)
Appearances: 14
Starts: 14
Having helped guide Freiburg into the UEFA Europa League with 10 goals and seven assists in 2024/25, Dōan is getting to showcase his skills in the UEFA Champions League this season after completing a summer switch to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Matchday 14
Dōan played the full 90 minutes as Frankfurt secured a narrow 1-0 win over Augsburg, scoring the only goal of the game with a deflected effort.
Watch: The best of Ritsu Dōan
Club: Bayern Munich
Position: Centre-back
Age: 26 (Born 12 May 1999)
Appearances: 3
Starts: 1
Injury unfortunately disrupted Ito's debut campaign with champions Bayern, as the Japan international made just eight appearances in all competitions in 2024/25. Having made his long-awaited comeback on Matchday 11, the defender will hope to play more of a part in the side's title defence this time around.
Matchday 14
Ito made his first start since March in Bayern's 2-2 draw with Mainz.
Club: Mainz
Position: Midfield
Age: 24 (Born 30 December 2000)
Appearances: 14
Starts: 14
Sano was one of the driving forces behind Mainz's incredible 2024/25 campaign, covering a league-best 393.7 km as the 05ers stormed to a sixth-place finish in Bo Henriksen's first full season in charge.
Matchday 14
Sano has yet to miss a single minute for Mainz this season, going the distance once again in Mainz's hard-fought draw with Bayern.
Club: Borussia Mönchengladbach
Position: Striker
Age: 25 (Born 30 September 1999)
Appearances: 13
Starts: 6
Machino was one of Holstein Kiel's brightest sparks in a disappointing maiden Bundesliga season, which saw them relegated back to the second tier. The forward finished the season as the Storks' top scorer with 11 goals, which led Gladbach to come calling in the summer.
Matchday 14
Machino played 70 minutes but couldn't prevent Gladbach's 3-1 defeat against Wolfsburg.
Watch: All of Machino's goals for Holstein Kiel
Club: Hoffenheim
Position: Defender
Age: 28 (Born 25 August 1997)
Appearances: 1
Starts: 1
After suffering a nightmare start to his Bundesliga career on Matchday 1 against Bayer Leverkusen, when he picked up a serious knee injury, Machida is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Club: Mainz
Position: Midfielder
Age: 23 (Born 30 July 2001)
Appearances: 6
Starts: 2
On loan with an option to buy from Japanese side Kyoto Sanga, the energetic midfielder provides much-needed depth to the Mainz engine room, which is also having to contend with UEFA Conference League football in 2025/26.
Matchday 14
After scoring in midweek against Lech Poznań, Kawasaki was given a start in Mainz's 2-2 draw against Bayern.
Club: Freiburg
Position: Midfielder
Age: 24 (Born 25 October 2001)
Appearances: 9
Starts: 6
The former Strasbourg and Brøndby man adds further attacking quality to the Breisgau club's midfield in 2025/26, as Julian Schuster's side look to compete in the Europa League and the Bundesliga.
Matchday 14
Suzuki played the full 90 minutes as Freiburg drew 1-1 with Dortmund.
Club: St. Pauli
Position: Midfielder
Age: 23 (Born 16 February 2002)
Appearances: 14
Starts: 14
Fujita adds further international experience to the St. Pauli midfield as they aim to maintain their Bundesliga status once again.
Matchday 14
Fujita continued his record of starting every Bundesliga game this term, playing the full 90 minutes as Pauli secured a 2-1 win over Heidenheim.
Club: Werder Bremen (on loan from Southampton)
Position: Defender
Age: 25 (Born 28 June 2000)
Appearances: 13
Starts: 13
On loan from Southampton, Sugawara adds much-needed depth and international experience to Bremen's defensive line.
Matchday 14
Sugawara played the entire 90 minutes as Bremen were humbled 4-0 at home to Stuttgart.
Japanese players in Bundesliga 2:
Koji Miyoshi (Bochum)
Yosuke Furukawa (Darmstadt)
Hiroki Akiyama (Darmstadt)
Shinta Appelkamp (Fortuna Düsseldorf)
Daisuke Yokota (Hannover 96)
Shio Fukuda (Karlsruhe, on loan from Gladbach)