is a Japanese former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He is a retired international for the Japan national team.

Club career

Gamba Osaka

Inamoto was born in

Kagoshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,527,019 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 9,187 Square kilometre, km2 (3,547 Square m ...

. He played for Japanese club

Gamba Osaka is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's home stadium is Panasonic Stadium Suita. They form a ...

during his last year of high school, signing with the club in 1997. In April of that year, at the age of 17, he made his debut in the 1997 J.League season, making him the youngest player in the J.League (at that time). He played for Gamba until summer 2001 and played 118 matches in the J1 League.

Loan to Arsenal

Inamoto was then one of many high-profile transfers of Asian players to Europe, signing with

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

of the

English Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. Inamoto scored two goals for the Japan national team at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, but had already been released by Arsenal shortly before the tournament began.

Loan to Fulham

Inamoto was then signed by

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

on a long-term loan deal from

. Initially he settled well at the London club, garnering good notices as a tough-tackling midfielder with an eye for a spectacular goal. He became a fan favourite quickly, scoring four goals over the two legs of Fulham's 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup final win against

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, scoring once in the first leg and a hat trick in the second. Other notable goals he scored in his time for Fulham include goals against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and also in the 3–1 win against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

in October 2003. He also scored in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

against Everton which commentator

Barry Davies Barry George Davies MBE (born 24 October 1937) is an English retired sports commentator and television presenter. He covered a wide range of sports in a long career, primarily for the BBC. Although best known for his football commentary, Da ...

described as "a Japanese peach". Inamoto was also described as "bigger than Beckham" by the Japanese media. However, he sustained a fractured

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

in an international friendly against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and returned to

to do promotional work. Fulham were interested in signing him once more, but concerns remained over his recovery from injury.

West Bromwich Albion

Inamoto signed with

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

for a decidedly small £200,000 transfer fee, which was only to be paid once he had made an appearance for the Midlands club. However, Gary Megson departed as West Bromwich Albion manager shortly afterwards, and successor

Bryan Robson Bryan Robson (born 11 January 1957) is an English association football, football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club ca ...

was unsure of the player.

Loan to Cardiff City

Inamoto was loaned to Cardiff City for the latter part of the 2004–05 season, and impressed, being recalled to play a role in West Brom's survival campaign in the Premiership. In 2005–06 he was a regular in the West Brom side, and was called up to the Japan squad for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

, the first Albion player to play in the tournament for 20 years. While at West Brom Inamoto scored once, an extra time winner in a League Cup tie against former club Fulham on 25 October 2005.

Galatasaray

On 31 August 2006, Inamoto signed for

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

Eintracht Frankfurt

On 29 May 2007, it was revealed that he signed a two-year contract with German club

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

, joining on a free transfer. Inamoto was presented in a press conference joining fellow Japanese striker

Naohiro Takahara is a Japanese Association football, football manager and former Football player, footballer. He also played for Japan national football team, Japan's national football team. Currently, he is working as president for Okinawa SV. Club career Tak ...

in Frankfurt and was released on 30 May 2009.

Rennes

On 19 June 2009, French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

side

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

announced that Inamoto had signed a contract with them.

Kawasaki Frontale

Inamoto signed for J1 League club

Kawasaki Frontale is a Japanese professional football club based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. The club currently compete in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium i ...

on 11 January 2010 in a move back to his homeland after nine years away in Europe. He played for Frontale for 5 seasons. He left at the end of the 2014 season.

Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo

In 2015, Inamoto then subsequently featured for

Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo is a Japanese professional football club based in Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido. They will play in the 2025 J2 League, the second tier league of Japanese football, after relegation from the J1 League at conclusion of the 2024 season. Th ...

(later ''Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo'') in the

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yasud ...

. Consadole won the 2016 season and was promoted to J1. However he could only play single-digit matches every season from the 2016 season onward. He resigned at the end of the 2018 season.

SC Sagamihara

On 23 January 2019, Inamoto signed with

J3 League or simply J3 is the third division of . It was established in 2013 as the third-tier professional association football league in Japan under the organization of J.League. The league is known as the for sponsorship reasons. The third-tier nation ...

club SC Sagamihara. On 15 June 2019, he scored his first goal for the club in a league match against Gamba Osaka U23.

Nankatsu SC

On 18 January 2022, Inamoto signed for fifth tier

Kantō Soccer League , abbreviated as KSL, is the Japanese fifth tier of league football, which is part of the Japanese Regional Leagues. It covers most of the Kantō region, as well as the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, Tochigi, To ...

club, Nankatsu SC. On 30 July 2023, he scored his first goal for the club at the age of 43 in a league match against

Toin University of Yokohama is a private university in Aoba-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of ...

scoring a header. He retired from playing in December 2024.

International career

In August 1995, Inamoto was selected for Japan U17 for the 1995 U-17 World Championship. He played all three matches. In April 1999, he was selected for Japan U20 for the

1999 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Nigeria between 3 and 24 April 1999. This was the 12th edition of the tournament. Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship. :1.Teams tha ...

. At this tournament, he played three matches as Japan finished second. On 5 February 2000, Inamoto debuted for the senior Japan national team under manager

Philippe Troussier Philippe Omar Troussier,October's ten – Religious conversions
...

against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref> After his debut, Inamoto played ten matches or more every year under Troussier. In September 2000, Inamoto was selected for Japan U23 for

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. He played the full game in all four matches and scored a goal against

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. In 2000, Inamoto played at the

2000 AFC Asian Cup The 2000 AFC Asian Cup was the 12th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Lebanon between 12 and 29 October 2000. Japan def ...

. He played four matches as Japan won the championship. In 2001, he also played at the

2001 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup was the fifth FIFA Confederations Cup and the third to be organized by FIFA. It was also the first in which the original hosts, Saudi Arabia national football team, Saudi Arabia, did not participate (they were the ...

. He played four matches as Japan finished second. In 2002, he was selected by Japan for the

. He played all four matches and scored two goals against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in the first match and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

in the second match. Japan qualified for the knockout stage for the first time in their history. After the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Inamoto played at the

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and the

2005 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup association football, football tournament was the seventh FIFA Confederations Cup. It was held in Germany between 15 June and 29 June 2005, as a prelude to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was won by 2002 FI ...

. In 2006, he was selected by Japan for the

. He played two matches as Japan was eliminated at the group stage. After the 2006 FIFA World Cup, due to generational change, Inamoto was not selected for Japan again until June 2007. After that, he played several matches every year. In 2010, he was selected for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

. He played two matches as Japan qualified for the knockout stage. This World Cup would mark Inamoto’s last game for Japan. In total, he played 82 games and scored 5 goals for the national side.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Fulham *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Hokkaido Consodale Sapporo *

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Japan U17 * AFC U-17 Championship:

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Japan U20 * FIFA World Youth Championship runner-up:

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Japan *

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second-oldest c ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

runner-up:

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Individual *J.League Best Eleven: 2000

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Inamoto, Junichi Living people 1979 births Sportspeople from Kagoshima Prefecture Association football people from Kagoshima Prefecture Japanese men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Japan men's international footballers Japan men's youth international footballers AFC Asian Cup–winning players 2000 AFC Asian Cup players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Olympic footballers for Japan Asian Games competitors for Japan Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics J1 League players J2 League players J3 League players 21st-century Japanese sportsmen Premier League players English Football League players Ligue 1 players Süper Lig players Bundesliga players Gamba Osaka players Arsenal F.C. players Fulham F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Galatasaray S.K. footballers Eintracht Frankfurt players Stade Rennais FC players Kawasaki Frontale players Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo players SC Sagamihara players Nankatsu SC players Japanese expatriate men's footballers Japanese expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Wales Expatriate men's footballers in Wales Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Japanese expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany