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 le ...

who played as a defender. He last played for Japan national team until 2008.

Club career

After graduating from Takigawa Daini High School, Kaji joined

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 Osaka. ...

in 1998. He made his first league appearance on 25 July 1998 against

Avispa Fukuoka is a Japanese professional football club, currently competing in the J1 League. The team is located in Hakata, Fukuoka. "Avispa" means "wasp" in Spanish. They were originally called Fujieda Blux and based in Fujieda, Shizuoka before moving t ...

. At the club, he found it difficult to break into the first team and was loaned out 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 Yas ...

side

Oita Trinita is a Japanese football club currently playing in J2 League, having been relegated after the 2021 season after a three-year stint in J1 League. The club's home town is Ōita, Ōita, Ōita city, but the club draws support from Beppu, Ōita, Beppu, ...

at the start of the 2000 season. After spending two years at Oita, Kaji came back to

J1 League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...

in 2002 to play for

FC Tokyo Football Club Tokyo, commonly known as , is a Japanese professional football club based in Chōfu, Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The team is one of only four in the J.League to be si ...

. The manager

Hiromi Hara is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for Japan national team. He also managed Japan national team as caretaker. Club career Hara was born in Nasushiobara on October 19, 1958. After graduating from Waseda University, he jo ...

made him a regular and assigned a more attacking role. His club won the 2004 J.League Cup by beating

Urawa Reds , colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, is a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the J ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

which ended 0–0 after the extra time. The penalty shoot-out was required and his successful conversion as the last penalty taker for Tokyo finally broke the deadlock. He was transferred to

Gamba Osaka is a Japanese professional 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 name ''Gamba'' comes from the Japanese , meaning "to do your best" or "to st ...

at the beginning of the 2006 season and scored in the beginning league match against

. He was selected as a member of the 2006

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 in two occasions there was a full-Japanese Best XI (20 ...

. The club won the champions 2007 J.League Cup,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and

2009 Emperor's Cup The 89th Emperor's Cup began on September 19, 2009 and ended on January 1, 2010 with the final at National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Gamba Osaka won the title for two years in a row. Since Gamba already confirmed 2010 AFC Champions League berth, th ...

. In Asia, the club won the champions 2008 AFC Champions League and the 3rd place 2008 Club World Cup. From 2012, his opportunity to play decreased for injury. After eight years with Gamba Osaka, Kaji signed with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Guada ...

on 24 June 2014. However, the club was disbanded in 2014, he returned to Japan and joined

Fagiano Okayama is a Japanese football club based in Okayama, the capital of Okayama Prefecture. They play in the J2 League, the second tier of the country's football league system. Their home stadium is City Light Stadium, in Okayama City, though some home ...

in 2015. He retired end of 2017 season.

International career

Kaji was a member of the Japan U20 national team for the 1999 World Youth Championship finals where the team finished runners-up. He gained his first cap for Japan national team when national coach Zico played him on 8 October 2003 in a friendly against

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. He was rated highly by Zico who made him the first-choice right full-back. He was a member of the Japan team which won the

2004 AFC Asian Cup The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. ...

in China. In a

2005 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup 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 FIFA World Cup winners ...

against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, his goal was disallowed by a controversial offside decision. His first goal for the country finally came on 17 August 2005 in a

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South Americ ...

against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. He made the final squad for the

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

finals. In a preparation match against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

just before the tournament, he injured his ankle when tackled by

Bastian Schweinsteiger Bastian Schweinsteiger (; born 1 August 1984) is a German former professional footballer who usually played as a central midfielder. Earlier in his career, he primarily played as a wide midfielder. Schweinsteiger is regarded as one of the great ...

.BBC SPORT , Football , World Cup 2006 , Teams , Japan , Zico furious with Schweinsteiger
/ref> Zico considered his replacement but decided to keep him. He missed Japan's first game in the tournament against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

with

Yuichi Komano Yūichi, Yuichi, or Yuuichi is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yūichi can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *勇一, "courage, 1" *祐一, "to help, 1" *祐市, "to help, cit ...

filling in for his place, but he returned to the team and played in the rest of the competition. After the 2006 World Cup, Zico was replaced by

Ivica Osim Ivan Osim (6 May 1941 – 1 May 2022), best known as Ivica Osim, was a Bosnian professional footballer and football manager. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Bosnian football managers of all time and as one of the most influential foo ...

who also regularly picked him for the national team. He was a member of the Japan team for the

2007 AFC Asian Cup The 2007 AFC Asian Cup was the 14th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held from 7 to 29 July 2007. For the first time in its h ...

and played all the Japan games in the tournament. On 20 May 2008, he announced retirement from international football. He played 64 games and scored 2 goals for Japan until 2008.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honors

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

–

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or also Japan FA Cup is a Japanese football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football match in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formation of the J.League, Japan Football League and their predecessor, J ...

–

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

J.League Cup The is a Japanese football (soccer) competition organized by J.League. It has been sponsored by Yamazaki Biscuits (YBC) of Yamazaki Baking (formerly Yamazaki Nabisco) since its inception in 1992. It is also known as the or (Levain is one of YB ...

–

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

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

–

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 cont ...

–

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when ...

–

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

(Runner-up) Individual *

–

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaji, Akira 1980 births Living people Association football people from Hyōgo Prefecture Japanese footballers Association football defenders Japan youth international footballers Japan international footballers J1 League players J2 League players Major League Soccer players Cerezo Osaka players Oita Trinita players FC Tokyo players Gamba Osaka players Chivas USA players Fagiano Okayama players 2004 AFC Asian Cup players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players AFC Asian Cup-winning players Japanese expatriate footballers Japanese expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States