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 forward. He played for the Japan national team.

Club career

He was born on the island of

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

and began his footballing career with JEF United Ichihara in 1994. He quickly established himself, scoring twelve goals in his first season; he scored his first goal on his debut against

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 ...

on 12 March. After three seasons with JEF United Ichihara, Jo moved to the Yokohama Marinos (later ''Yokohama F. Marinos'') in 1997. His performances in the 1998–99 season led to a loan move to the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Primera División team

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

. He failed to make an impact with the club, making just 15 appearances and scoring two goals before sustaining a knee injury. After his return to Japan, Jo struggled to reestablish himself as a regular goal scorer with the Marinos and

Vissel Kobe is a Japanese professional football club based in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. They are currently the J1 League champions. The club's home stadium is Noevir Stad ...

, with whom he joined in 2002. He joined

Yokohama FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club was formed by fans of Yokohama Flügels as a protest against Flügels' merger with Yokohama Marinos in 1999, becoming th ...

in 2003, where he scored 12 goals in his first season with them. He helped his club to become J2 Champions in 2006 gained and promotion to J1, but he retired from playing after that season.

International career

On 20 September 1995, Jo debuted for the Japan national team against

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. He made his first appearance in an international competition with the Japan U-23 national team in the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. In October 1996, he played for the Japan senior team for the first time in a year. He also played at the 1996 Asian Cup in December. After the 1998 World Cup qualification in 1997, Japan qualified for the 1998 World Cup for the first time in their history. He played at the 1998 World Cup and the

1999 Copa América The 1999 Copa América was a football tournament held in Paraguay, from 29 June to 18 July. It was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. In order to bring the number of competing teams to twelve, CONMEBOL invited CONCAC ...

. He played all matches in both competitions. He played 35 games and scored 7 goals for Japan until 2001.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

References

External links

* * *
Soccer in Japan

FootballDatabase
* * 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Muroran Association football people from Hokkaido Japanese men's footballers Men's association football forwards Japan men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Japan Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics 1996 AFC Asian Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1999 Copa América players J1 League players J2 League players La Liga players JEF United Chiba players Yokohama F. Marinos players Real Valladolid players Vissel Kobe players Yokohama FC players Japanese expatriate men's footballers Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain 20th-century Japanese sportsmen {{Japan-footy-forward-1970s-stub