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 Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. He played for the Japan national team, scoring six goals in 60 appearances. He was the J.League Top Scorer and

J.League Best XI The J.League Best XI is an acknowledgement of the best eleven players in J.League. J1 League (1993–present) Multiple appearances Appearances by club Appearances by country * Only on two occasions there has been a full-Japanese Best X ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Club career

Okubo was born in

Kanda, Fukuoka 270px, Seiryu Cave is a town located in Miyako District, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 37,626 in 18,877 households, and a population density of 770 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geogr ...

on 9 June 1982. After graduating from high school, he joined

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

club

Cerezo Osaka is a Japanese professional football club based in Osaka. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name ''Cerezo'' (Spanish for cherry blossom) is also the flower of the city of Osak ...

in 2001. He played many matches as forward and offensive midfielder from first season. However Cerezo finished at the bottom place in 2001 season and was relegated to

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 ...

. In 2002 season, he scored 18 goals which was the second top scorer and Cerezo reached the second place and was returned to J1 in a year. From 2003, he scored more than 15 goals in J1. He was also selected

Asian Young Footballer of the Year The Asian Young Footballer of the Year award, officially known as the AFC Youth Player of the Year award, is presented to the best young football player in Asia. It has been awarded by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) since 1995. It is usually ...

award in 2003. In 2005, Okubo moved to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

on loan. Although the club results were bad, Mallorca finished at 17th place and remained La Liga in 2004–05 season. Although he played many matches as substitute forward in 2005–06 season, his opportunity to play decreased from April 2006. In June 2006, Okubo returned to

. At then Cerezo won only one of 13 matches and at the bottom place of 18 clubs in 2006 season. Although he played as forward all matches excluding suspension, Cerezo finished at the 17th place and was relegated to J2 again. In 2007, Okubo moved to J1 club

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 ...

. He played many matches as left midfielder in two seasons under manager Hiroshi Matsuda and scored more than ten goals both seasons. On 3 January 2009, Vissel Kobe announced Okubo's transfer to

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

of the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

. After just six months with Wolfsburg, he returned to Vissel Kobe. Upon his return, he became the first Japanese striker to have won the Bundesliga title. In June 2009, Okubo returned to Japan and re-joined

. He played as forward all 19 matches and scored 8 goals in 2009 season. Although his opportunity to play decreased for injuries in 2010, he played as regular player until 2012. However Vissel finished at the 16th place in 2012 season and was relegated to

. After Vissel Kobe was relegated to the

in 2013 season, Okubo transferred to

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 ...

. An ever-present figure and a regular starting eleven in Kawasaki, he scored 26 goals in his debut season in the

Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

football club and clinched top scorer of 2013 season. He played more than 30 matches every season and he became a top scorer for 3 years in a row until 2015 season. At the end of 2016 season and before

J.League Championship The J.League Championship is a two-legged championship series which determined the season champion for the first 12 J.League seasons (1993–2004) excluding the 1996 season. In the early years, the J.League seasons were Apertura and Clausura, ...

, Okubo announced he would leave

to sign for

FC Tokyo , commonly known as , is a Japanese professional football club based in Chōfu, Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, the top tier of football in the country. From 2025, FC Tokyo is one of the few J.League clubs to be simply called ''Footb ...

in 2017. He played in one season and scored eight goals. In 2018, Okubo re-joined

. However he could not as regular player and he mainly played as substitute forward. In June 2018, Okubo moved to

Júbilo Iwata is a Japanese professional association football, football team based in Iwata, Shizuoka, Iwata, located in Shizuoka Prefecture. The club competes in J2 League following relegation from J1 League in 2024 J1 League, 2024. Etymology The team's ...

International career

In 2003, Okubo was selected Japan national team by manager Zico. He made his international debut on 31 May 2003 in a friendly against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Tokyo National Stadium The Japan National Stadium, officially the , alternatively , and a.k.a. formerly is a multi-purpose stadium used mostly for association football in Kasumigaokamachi, Kasumigaoka, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. The facility served as the main stadi ...

when he was sent on to the pitch to replace

Takayuki Suzuki is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a forward. He made over 50 appearances for the Japan national team and he played professionally for two decades in Japan, Brazil, Belgium, Serbia and the United States. Club career ...

.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref> Although he played many matches as forward in 2003, his opportunity to play decreased from 2004 as he struggled to score goals under Zico. Okubo was also part of the Japan U-23 national team for

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, who exited in the first round, having finished fourth in group B, below group winners

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 ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

. In August 2007, Okubo was selected Japan for the first time in 2 years by manager

Ivica Osim Ivan Osim (6 May 1941 – 1 May 2022), best known as Ivica Osim, was a Bosnian professional Football player, footballer and Manager (association football), football manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Bosnian football managers of all ...

. Okubo scored his first international goal on 17 October 2007 in a friendly against

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Osaka Nagai Stadium is a stadium in Osaka, Japan. It is the home ground of J. League club Cerezo Osaka. The stadium has a seating capacity of 47,816. The rugby union club NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes Osaka use the venue for most of their home games. History When Nag ...

. In 2010, Okubo was selected Japan for

2010 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 as left midfielder in all 4 matches and Japan qualified to the knockout stage. Okubo's selection for the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Brazil was the big surprise of coach Alberto Zaccheroni's squad announcement. The forward had previously played just once for the coach in four years.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

VfL Wolfsburg *

: 2008–09 Individual *

: 2003 * J.League Top Scorer:

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
*

Real Mallorca bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Okubo, Yoshito 1982 births Living people Men's association football forwards Association football people from Fukuoka Prefecture Japanese men's footballers Japan men's international footballers J1 League players J2 League players La Liga players Bundesliga players Cerezo Osaka players RCD Mallorca players Vissel Kobe players VfL Wolfsburg players Kawasaki Frontale players FC Tokyo players Júbilo Iwata players Tokyo Verdy players Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in football Asian Games silver medalists for Japan 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players Olympic footballers for Japan Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Japanese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Asian Young Footballer of the Year winners Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games