is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Japan national team.

Club career

Early years

Born in Kanagawa, Mitoma grew up in the

Kawasaki Kawasaki ( ja, 川崎, Kawasaki, river peninsula, links=no) may refer to: Places *Kawasaki, Kanagawa, a Japanese city **Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, a ward in Kawasaki, Kanagawa **Kawasaki City Todoroki Arena **Kawasaki Stadium, a multi-sport stadium *K ...

area and joined the Frontale academy at the U10 level. Offered a promotion from the U-18s to the senior team coached by Yahiro Kazama, he chose instead the University of Tsukuba, a Japanese university football powerhouse who had recently produced Frontale stalwarts such as Shogo Taniguchi and Shintaro Kurumaya. Mitoma professed to feel unprepared to enter professional football at age 18, citing the struggles of fellow Kawasaki academy products

Ko Itakura is a Japanese footballer who plays as center-back or defensive midfielder for Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach and the Japan national team. Club career Born in Yokohama, Ko Itakura joined J1 League club Kawasaki Frontale in 2015, wit ...

and Koji Miyoshi to win regular playing time with the senior squad. He wrote his university thesis on dribbling. During his time at Tsukuba, Mitoma was selected to represent Japan at the

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and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Universiade tournaments, as well as the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...

and the

2019 Toulon Tournament The 2019 Toulon Tournament (officially french: 47ème Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) was the 47th edition of the Toulon Tournament. It was held in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône from 1 to 15 June 2019. England w ...

with the under-23 national team. Playing in the Kanto University Soccer League with Tsukuba, he was named to the all-league XI in his final three seasons while majoring in physical education. In addition, Tsukuba appeared in the

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and

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 ...

tournaments making an upstart run to the round of 16 in the latter edition, upsetting

J.League The , officially is Japan's professional football league including the first division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the Japanese association football league system. J1 League is one of the most successfu ...

clubs

YSCC Yokohama , commonly referred to as simply Y.S.C.C. or Y.S.C.C. Yokohama (Y.S.C.C.横浜 or simply YS横浜) is a Japanese multisports club based in Yokohama. Although they compete in a number of different sports, YSCC is best known for its association fo ...

, Vegalta Sendai (against whom Mitoma scored a brace), and Avispa Fukuoka along the way. While enrolled in college, Mitoma also occasionally joined Frontale's senior team for training sessions as a Special Designated Player starting in his sophomore year, appearing in a single J.League Cup match in 2019.

Kawasaki Frontale

In July 2018, Mitoma agreed on a professional contract with Kawasaki Frontale senior team starting in 2020. He made his official pro debut on the opening matchday of the

2020 J1 League The 2020 J1 League, also known as the for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th season of the J1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1993. The league began on 21 February and eventu ...

and quickly established himself after the league resumed following the COVID-19 outbreak, becoming the first rookie to reach double digits in goals in the first division since

Yoshinori Muto is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a forward or a winger for Vissel Kobe. Muto started his career with J1 League club FC Tokyo in 2013 who he played with for three seasons. In May 2015, he signed for German club Mainz 05 where ...

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 10 August 2021, Mitoma joined Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion on a four-year deal, joining

Union SG Royale Union Saint-Gilloise , abbreviated to Union SG or USG, unofficially simply called Union, is a Belgian football club originally located in the municipality of Saint-Gilles, in Brussels, although since the 1920s it has been based at the Jos ...

on loan for the first year. Mitoma scored his first goal for Union SG on 16 October, where he scored a hat-trick in a 4–2 home victory over Seraing. On 13 August 2022, Mitoma made his Premier League debut for Brighton, coming on as a 75th-minute substitute for Leandro Trossard in a 0–0 draw with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

at the Falmer Stadium. He made his first start for Albion on 24 August, playing 67 minutes of the 3–0 away win over League One side Forest Green Rovers in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

second round. Mitoma made his first Premier League start on 29 October, setting up Leandro Trossard's fifth minute opener in the eventual 4–1 home thrashing over Chelsea. A week later, he scored his first goal for the Seagulls, heading them level from Adam Lallana's cross in the eventual 3–2 away win over Wolves. Mitoma also helped Brighton in both other goals with his run into the box creating Pascal Groß's 83rd minute winner. Mitoma scored again in Brighton's next match four days later, putting Albion in front in the eventual 3–1 away win over

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 ...

in the

's third round. He scored his first home goal on 31 December, giving Brighton a lifeline in the eventual 4–2 home loss against Arsenal. He later had a goal ruled out for offside which would've cut the Gunners' lead to one.

International career

After being capped at youth level, Mitoma was called up to the Japan senior squad for the first time in November 2021 for 2022 World Cup qualfiers against Oman. He made his debut on 16 November, coming on as a substitute in the 1–0 away win over Oman. On 24 March 2022, Mitoma scored his first two international goals in a 2–0 World Cup qualification win 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 ...

. Coming from the bench at the 86th, the winger opened the score three minutes later. He scored another during the added time. This win confirmed Japan's qualification for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

. Mitoma's double offers him his First "A" international titularisation at the following game, five days later, against Vietnam. On 1 November, Mitoma was named in Japan's 26-man squad for the

. In the last group game which came against Spain on 1 December, Mitoma assisted Ao Tanaka's winner that saw Japan qualify to the round of 16 as group winners. The goal came with controversy, originally being ruled out for the ball going out of play, VAR awarded the goal giving the reason that the curvature of the ball was hanging over the chalk.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Kawasaki Frontale *

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 ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

* Japanese Super Cup:

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Individual * J.League Best XI: 2020 *Japan Pro-Footballers Association awards: MVP ,Best XI (2022) Japan Pro-Footballers Association awards

References

External links

*
Kaoru Mitoma
at Kawasaki Frontale (in Japanese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitoma, Kaoru 1997 births Living people University of Tsukuba alumni Japanese footballers Association football people from Kanagawa Prefecture Association football wingers J1 League players Belgian Pro League players Premier League players Kawasaki Frontale players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Royale Union Saint-Gilloise players Olympic footballers of Japan Japan youth international footballers Japan international footballers Footballers at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Asian Games medalists in football Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Japanese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Belgium Japanese expatriate sportspeople in England Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Belgium 2022 FIFA World Cup players