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 and manager. He is currently manager of Veertien Mie.

Playing career

Higuchi was born in

Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture to ...

on May 5, 1961. After graduating from high school, he played for

Nissan Motors , trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun brands, ...

from 1980 to 1984.

Coaching career

After retirement, Higuchi started coaching career at

(later ''Yokohama F. Marinos'') from 1985 and mainly coached youth team (1993–1998) and top team (1999–2005). In 2006, 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

Montedio Yamagata is Japanese professional association football club based in Tendo, Yamagata. The club plays in J2 League. Montedio is a coined word combining the Italian word for "mountain" (Monte) and the word for "God" (Dio). History The club based in T ...

and became a manager for top team first time in his career. In 2008, he moved 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 ...

club

Omiya Ardija is a professional association football club based in Ōmiya in Saitama, Japan. Its "hometown" as designated by the league is the whole of Saitama city, which is shared with neighbours Urawa Red Diamonds. Omiya competed in the J1 League follow ...

. Although he managed in J1 League in his career, he resigned in a year. In 2009, he signed with J2 club

Yokohama FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the first tier of football in the country. The club was formed by fans of Yokoh ...

. However he resigned for poor performance in a year. In 2010, he returned to Yokohama F. Marinos and served as an assistant coach under manager

Kazushi Kimura is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for Japan national team. Club career Kimura was born in Hiroshima on July 19, 1958. After graduating from Meiji University, he joined Nissan Motors (later ''Yokohama Marinos'') in 198 ...

. In 2012, Higuchi became a manager as Kimura successor. In 2013 J1 season, although the club was the top place until late, the club lost the last two matches and missed the league champions. In

2013 Emperor's Cup The is the regular edition of the annual Japanese national cup tournament. It started on 31 August 2013 and ended on 1 January 2014 with the final at National Stadium in Tokyo. Yokohama F. Marinos defeated 2013 J.League Division 1 champions S ...

, the club won the champions defeated league champions

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima ( ja, サンフレッチェ広島, translit=''Sanfuretche Hiroshima'') is a Japanese professional football club based in Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the coun ...

. He managed Marinos until end of 2014 season and moved to

Ventforet Kofu is a Japanese football club from Kōfu in Yamanashi Prefecture. The team currently competes in the J2 League and play their home games in JIT Recycle Ink Stadium, located in Kōfu. The word "Ventforet" is a compound formed from two French roo ...

in 2015. However the club results were bad and he resigned in May when the club at the bottom place. In 2016, he signed with

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 ...

club YSCC Yokohama which was the bottom place for the 2nd consecutive year in J3 until 2015. Although the club was bottom place in 2016, the club left the bottom place first time in 2017. He managed the club until end of 2018 season. He signed with J2 club FC Ryukyu in 2019 season.

Managerial statistics

Update; ''Games managed up to December 31, 2020''J.League Data Site
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Honours

;Yokohama F. Marinos *

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 ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

References

External links

*
Yokohama F. Marinos
1961 births Living people Association football people from Mie Prefecture Japanese footballers Japan Soccer League players Yokohama F. Marinos players Japanese football managers J1 League managers J2 League managers J3 League managers Montedio Yamagata managers Omiya Ardija managers Yokohama FC managers Yokohama F. Marinos managers Ventforet Kofu managers YSCC Yokohama managers FC Ryukyu managers Association footballers not categorized by position {{Japan-footy-bio-stub