is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. He played for Japan national team.

Club career

Aoki was born in

Takasaki is a city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 372,369 in 167,345 households, and a population density of 810 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Takasaki is famous as the hometown of th ...

on 28 September 1982. After graduating from high school, he joined

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 ...

club

Kashima Antlers are a football club in Kashima, Ibaraki, currently playing in the J1 League, top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The name ''Antlers'' is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has fi ...

in 2001. He played as defensive midfielder from first season and Antlers won the champions in 2001 J1 League and 2002 J.League Cup. He became a regular player from 2003 season and played many matches for a long time. In 2007, Antlers won the champions in

for the first time in 6 years 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 ...

. Antlers won the champions in

for 3 years in a row (

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 ...

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 ...

). From 2010 season, although his opportunity to play as starting member decreased, Antlers won the champions

2010 Emperor's Cup The began on 4 September 2010 and ended on 1 January 2011 with the final at National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Gamba Osaka were the two-time defending champions, having won two previous tournaments. Kashima Antlers won the tournament and was awar ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and 2012 J.League Cup. From 2012, he played many matches as center back. Antlers won the champions in

2015 J.League Cup The 2015 J.League Cup, also known as the 2015 J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup for sponsoring purposes, is the 40th edition of the most prestigious Japanese soccer league cup tournament and the 23rd edition under the current J.League Cup format. Form ...

. However he could hardly play in the match in 2016. In July 2016, Aoki moved to

Sagan Tosu is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J1 League. The team is located in Tosu, Saga Prefecture. ''Sagan'' is a coined word with a couple of meanings behind it. One of its homophones is in Japanese. This symbolises ...

. He played for the club in 2 seasons. In 2018, he moved 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 ...

club

Roasso Kumamoto is a Japanese football club based in Kumamoto, the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture. The club currently plays in the J2 League, which is the second tier of football in the country. ''Roasso'' is a portmanteau of the Italian words ''rosso'' an ...

. In 2019, he moved to Prefectural Leagues club

Nankatsu SC are a Japanese football club based in Katsushika, Tokyo. They play in the Kantō Soccer League. As the club aims for a future qualification to the J.League, they currently hold the J.League 100 Year Plan status. History The club's origin date ...

National team career

In June 2001, Aoki was selected Japan U-20 national team for 2001 World Youth Championship. At this tournament, he played full time in all 3 matches as defensive midfielder. He made his international debut for

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

on 20 August 2008 in a friendly against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

Sapporo Dome is a stadium located in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, and is primarily used for baseball and association football. It is the home field of the association football club Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, and was also home to the baseball team Hokkaido Nipp ...

Club statistics

National team statistics

Appearances in major competitions

Team honors

A3 Champions Cup A3 Champions Cup (also known as East Asian Champions Cup) was an annual football (soccer) tournament jointly organized by the China PR, Japan and Korea Republic football Association. It began in 2003, involving the league champions of China, Japan ...

– 2003 *

– 2001, 2007, 2008, 2009 *

– 2007 *

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 ...

– 2002 *

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 ...

– 2009

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
* *

1982 births Living people Association football people from Gunma Prefecture Japanese footballers Japan youth international footballers Japan international footballers J1 League players J2 League players Kashima Antlers players Sagan Tosu players Roasso Kumamoto players Asian Games medalists in football Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Association football defenders {{Japan-footy-midfielder-1980s-stub