is a Japanese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

er for

FC Maruyasu Okazaki , playing as , is a Japanese professional football team based in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture. They currently play in Japan Football League The , also known as simply the JFL, is the 4th tier of the Japanese association football league system, p ...

Club career

Gamba Osaka

Hirai was born in

Tokushima is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 682,439 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,146 Square kilometre, km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture b ...

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

region, and began his career playing for his local club Kamihachiman SC before moving to a higher level joining Premiere SC in 2000. At the age of 15, he was invited to attend

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 ...

youth academy. After spending three years there, Hirai signed his first professional contract with Gamba on 6 December 2005. He was, along with fellow player Michihiro Yasuda, promoted to the senior squad and assigned the number 34 shirt. He made his professional debut on 9 December 2006 in the

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or Japan FA Cup, and rebranded as The JFA Emperor's Cup from 2024 onwards, is a Japanese annual football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football tournament in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formatio ...

4th round match against

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima () is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Hiroshima. The club competes in the J1 League, top flight of the Japanese football league system. Sanfrecce is one of the most successful clubs in Ja ...

. The following season, Hirai took over the number 14 shirt, previously worn by

Akihiro Ienaga is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a winger for Kawasaki Frontale. He also formerly played for the Japan national team. Club career Born in Hyogo Prefecture, Ienaga began his career as a trainee with Gamba Osaka, one of the l ...

. In the 2008 season, Hirai playing time increased significantly as he appeared in 8 league matches. He made his J. League debut on 27 April 2008 against

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 ...

coming on as a substitute in the 80th minute. After making a few substitute appearances, he made his first league start on 26 July 2008 in a 1–0 defaut

Oita Trinita is a Japanese football club located in Ōita, Capital of Ōita Prefecture. They currently play in J2 League, Japanese second tier of professional football. Name origin The club's name, ''Trinita'', is the Italian translation of the word ' ...

playing 45 minutes. Hirai scored his first professional goal on 2 July 2008 in a J. League Cup match against Yokohama F. Marinos, which proved to be the winner as Gamba won the match 1–0. During the season, he signed new five-year contract. Hirai had arguably one of the best seasons of his career in the 2010 season. He appeared in 31 total matches scoring a career-high 20 goals. On 23 March 2010, Hirai scored first career hat-trick against

Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A component of the Ministry of Defence (Singapore), Ministry of D ...

in the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

. He was later named

Man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

for this performance, which led to a 4–2 victory.

Albirex Niigata

On 12 January 2012 it was announced that Hirai would be joining

Albirex Niigata is a professional football club based in Niigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. They currently play in J1 League after being promoted from J2 League as cha ...

on loan for the 2012 season.

International career

On 16 March 2007, Hirai received his first call-up to the Japan U-20 squad, and won his first U20 cap as a substitute against

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

on 25 March.

Team honors

–

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

–

Japanese Super Cup The , the for sponsorship reasons, is an annual one-match association football competition in Japan organised by J.League and the Japan Football Association. This competition serves as the season opener and is played between the reigning J1 Leag ...

– 2007

Club career stats

''Updated to 23 February 2020''.

References

External links

* * * *
Profile at Giravanz Kitakyushu

Profile at Avispa Fukuoka
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirai, Shoki 1987 births Living people Association football people from Tokushima Prefecture Japanese men's footballers J1 League players J2 League players J3 League players 21st-century Japanese sportsmen Japan Football League players Gamba Osaka players Albirex Niigata players Avispa Fukuoka players Giravanz Kitakyushu players FC Maruyasu Okazaki players Men's association football forwards