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 ...

former

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. His brother Yuto Sato is also a footballer.

Club career

Born in Kasukabe, Saitama, Japan, Sato is a product of

JEF United Ichihara , full name and also known as , is a Japanese professional football club that plays in the J2 League. On 1 February 2005, the club changed its name from ''JEF United Ichihara'' to the current name after Chiba city had joined Ichihara, Chiba as ...

's youth system. He was promoted to JEF's top team in 2000. His first league appearance came on April 15, 2000, against

Júbilo Iwata is a professional Japanese association football team that currently play in the J2 League. The team name ''Júbilo'' means 'joy' in Spanish and Portuguese. The team's hometown is Iwata, Shizuoka prefecture and they play at Yamaha Stadium. For ...

. He scored his first league goal on March 21, 2001, against Júbilo Iwata. Frustrated with a lack of playing time, Sato decided to move 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 ...

side

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 2002. Cerezo's coach Akihiro Nishimura rated him highly, as he had also managed Sato for Japan's youth team the previous year. However, Sato suffered from

Guillain–Barré syndrome Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rapid-onset muscle weakness caused by the immune system damaging the peripheral nervous system. Typically, both sides of the body are involved, and the initial symptoms are changes in sensation or pain often ...

at the beginning of the season, and found himself playing not many games with

Akinori Nishizawa is a Japanese former footballer who played as a forward. He played for Japan national team. Club career Nishizawa was born in Shizuoka on 18 June 1976. After graduating from Shimizu Higashi High School, he joined Cerezo Osaka in 1995. He ...

and

Yoshito Okubo Yoshito is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yoshito can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *義人, "justice, person" *儀人, "ceremony, person" *佳人, "good, person" *嘉� ...

ahead of him in the pecking order. The club finished 2nd and was promoted 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 ...

. Sato was loaned out to J1 side

Vegalta Sendai is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in J2 League. The team is located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. History Founded in 1988 as ''Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. Soccer Club'', Vegalta joined the J-League in 1999 after p ...

in the 2003 season. He finally became a first-choice forward, playing 30 games and scoring 9 goals. Despite his efforts, Sendai was relegated to J2. His loan contract became a permanent one and he played 44 league games with 20 goals for Sendai in the 2005 season but failed to navigate the club to J1. He was transferred to J1 side

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 ...

in the 2005 season. He scored 18 goals during his first season with the club, including two hat-tricks. On April 22, 2006, Sato set the record for the fastest goal in J1 League history, scoring just 8 seconds after kick-off against

. On November 22, 2015, he equalled

Masashi Nakayama is a Japanese football manager and former player who is the manager of Azul Claro Numazu from 2023. He played as a forward in his playing career. Club career Playing as a forward, Nakayama made his J1 League debut on 11 March 1994. From then ...

as the all-time top-scorer in the

with 157 goals. After equalling the record, having spent 12 years in Hiroshima, Sato decided to sign for J2 club

Nagoya Grampus (formerly known as ) is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture and founded as the company team of the Toyota Motor Corp. in 1939, the c ...

. Grampus finished at the 3rd place in 2017 season and was promoted to J1. Although Sato played many matches in 2017, he could not play many matches in 2018. In 2019, Sato re-joined J2 club

JEF United Chiba , full name and also known as , is a Japanese professional football club that plays in the J2 League. On 1 February 2005, the club changed its name from ''JEF United Ichihara'' to the current name after Chiba city had joined Ichihara, Chiba as ...

(formerly ''JEF United Ichihara'') for the first time in 18 years. He retired at the end of the 2020 season.

International career

In June 2001, Sato made the Japan U-20 national team squad for the 2001 World Youth Championship. At this tournament, he played 2 matches. Sato 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 February 11, 2006, in a friendly against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He scored his first international goal on February 22, 2006, in an 2007 Asian Cup qualification against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. In the run-up to the 2006 World Cup, he was regularly picked for the Japan national team, but he was left out of the final squad by national coach Zico. Sato was a member of the Japan team for the 2007 Asian Cup finals and played four games in the tournament, all as a substitute. He played 31 games and scored 4 goals for Japan until 2010.

Style of play

Sato has cited Filippo Inzaghi as his inspiration; his playing style has often been described as being similar to that of the Italian former striker.

Personal life

His twin brother Yuto is also a professional footballer who plays for

and has been capped once at international level.

Career statistics

Club

Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社
"2016J1&J2&J3選手名鑑"
February 10, 2016, Japan, (p. 11 out of 289) ¹Includes J1/J2 Play-offs,

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 ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

and

J.League Championship The J.League Championship is a two-legged championship series which determined the season champion for the first 12 J.League seasons (1993–2004) excluding the 1996 season. In the early years, the J.League seasons were divided into two halve ...

International

International goals

Honors

Club

Sanfrecce Hiroshima *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

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 ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

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 ...

Individual

Best Eleven:

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

: Top scorer:

* J1 League: Top scorer:

* J.League Most Valuable Player:

References

External links

* * *

*
Profile at Nagoya Grampus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sato, Hisato 1982 births Living people Men's association football forwards Association football people from Saitama Prefecture Japanese footballers Japan men's youth international footballers Japan men's international footballers J1 League players J2 League players JEF United Chiba players Cerezo Osaka players Vegalta Sendai players Sanfrecce Hiroshima players Nagoya Grampus players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players Japanese twins Twin sportspeople