is a Japanese football player. He is a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

currently playing for

Blaublitz Akita is a Japanese professional association football team based in Akita, Akita Prefecture. In 2014 they entered the J3 League after previously playing in the Japan Football League, the third tier of the Japanese association football league system. ...

Personal life

He graduated with first-class honours in Sports Science from Fukuoka University.

Career

Singapore

He signed for

Albirex Niigata FC (Singapore) Albirex Niigata Singapore FC, abbreviated as Albirex Niigata (S), is a Singaporean football club that plays in the Singapore Premier League. The club is a satellite team of Albirex Niigata of Japan. History Albirex Niigata Singapore, a satellit ...

from the

S.League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), which re ...

in 2016 after graduation from Fukuoka University. He was signed after Albirex Niigata Singapore chairman Daisuke Korenaga had watched a few of Inaba's games in his university tournaments and called him two weeks after to offer a contract. Inaba had a good season for the team as Albirex became the first team in Singapore to win all 4 trophies on offer in Singapore. He extended his contract for 2017, becoming only one of six players from last season to remain at the club. Inaba was handed the captaincy of the team for the 2017 S.League season. During the September international break, he was selected to participate in a week-long training stint with his parent club. He traveled to Niigata prefecture with defensive stalwart Yasutaka Yanagi and the duo trained with the first team, playing in a training match against

Iwaki FC is a football (soccer) club based in Iwaki, a city in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The club will play in J2 League from 2023 season, which is the 2nd level in the Japanese football pyramid. History Founder Club Iwaki FC was founded in 20 ...

, a non-J League team. He made 24 appearances in the league and scored two goals as the team retained the S.League title. He also led the team to repeat last season's feat, as the team won all 4 trophies on offer again.

Japan

His stellar performances in the S.League saw Inaba secure a move back to Japan for the 2018 season, signing for

J3 League or simply J3 is the third division of . It was established in 2013 as the third-tier professional association football league in Japan. The third-tier nationwide league is a relatively recent development in Japanese football with a first attempt ...

side

Kataller Toyama is a football club in Japan that was formed from the merger of the ALO's Hokuriku and YKK AP SC. The club currently plays in J3 League. History The idea of a merged club had been discussed by the Toyama Prefectural Football Association as e ...

Club career statistics

As of 25 November 2022.Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社
"J1&J2&J3選手名鑑ハンディ版 2018 (NSK MOOK)"
7 February 2018, Japan, (p. 261 out of 289)

Honours

Club

Albirex Niigata (S) *

(2): 2016, 2017 *

Singapore Cup The Singapore Cup is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Singaporean football. Established in 1998, it is the foremost football cup competition in the country. It is open to clubs in the Singapore Premier League. Since ...

(2): 2016, 2017 *

Singapore League Cup The Singapore League Cup was an annual soccer competition in Singapore. It was launched in 2007, and was open to teams who play in the S.League. The 2007 competition was sponsored by SingTel, and officially titled the SingTel League Cup. Eight of ...

(2): 2016, 2017 * Singapore Charity Shield (2): 2016, 2017

References

External links

*
Profile at Kataller Toyama

“I wanted to be a footballer, not a salesman": Albirex’s 'De Rossi' chases childhood dream

No sitting back on Saturday: Albirex skipper Inaba
1993 births Living people Japanese footballers Singapore Premier League players Albirex Niigata Singapore FC players J2 League players J3 League players Kataller Toyama players Blaublitz Akita players Association football forwards Fukuoka University alumni Japanese expatriate footballers Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Singapore Expatriate footballers in Singapore {{Japan-footy-forward-1990s-stub