is a former

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 ...

ese

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.

Club career

Araiba was a product of the youth system of

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 ...

. He made two first team appearances for Gamba in 1997 while he still belonged to their youth team. He signed a professional contract in 1998 and started to play regularly for the club's first team. He played mainly as left midfielder. He moved to

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 2004. He played as left side-back as

Naoki Soma is a Japanese football manager and former player. He played for the Japan national team He is the current manager of Omiya Ardija. Club career Soma was born in Shizuoka on July 19, 1971. After graduating from Waseda University , mottoen ...

successor. The club won the league champions 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 ...

). The club also won

, 2010 Emperor's Cup,

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. He moved to his local Osaka league and signed with

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 2013. He retired at the end of the 2014 season.

National team career

In August 1995, Araiba was selected Japan U-17 national team for 1995 U-17 World Championship. He played all 3 matches.

Club statistics

Team honors

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 ...

- 2007, 2008, 2009 *

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, 2010 *

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 ...

- 2007, 2010 *

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 Y ...

- 2011, 2012

References

External links

* * 1979 births Living people Association football people from Osaka Prefecture Japanese men's footballers Japan men's youth international footballers J1 League players Gamba Osaka players People from Hirakata Kashima Antlers players Cerezo Osaka players Men's association football defenders {{Japan-footy-defender-1970s-stub