is a Japanese professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a winger or a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for club

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

and the Japan national team.

Club career

Early club career

After attending

Kanagawa University , abbreviated to , is a private university in Japan. The main campus is located in Rokkakubashi, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. History The university was founded in 1928 by as . It was an evening school for the working youth. I ...

for four years, Itō first became a Special Designated Player for

Ventforet Kofu is a Japanese professional football club from Kōfu in Yamanashi Prefecture. The team currently competes in the J2 League, Japanese second tier of professional football, hosting their home matches in the JIT Recycle Ink Stadium, located in Kōf ...

, and obtained a new contract with the

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

side. His first professional season attracted attention from Chiba-based

Kashiwa Reysol is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Sankyo ...

, which signed him in January 2016. On 31 January 2019, Itō moved from Kashiwa Reysol to

Genk Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...

on a one-year loan deal. On 18 September, he made his Champions League debut as a starter in the group stage match against Red Bull Salzburg. On 30 March 2020, Ito signed permanently with Genk on a three-year contract.

Stade Reims

On 29 July 2022, Itō joined

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

. On 23 October 2022, he scored the winner in a 2–1 victory against

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

. In the

2023–24 Ligue 1 The 2023–24 Ligue 1, also known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, was the 86th season of the Ligue 1, France's premier football competition. The season began on 11 August 2023 and concluded on 19 May 2024. The relegation play-off was ...

opening game on 12 August, Ito scored a stunning goal against Ligue 1 powerhouse

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

to open the scoring, but his team eventually lost 2–1.

International career

Itō made his Japan national team debut in 2017. He was selected for Hajime Moriyasu's final World Cup squad in October 2022.

Controversy

Adultery and sexual assault allegations

On 31 January 2024, '' Shukan Shincho'' reported that police had launched an investigation into Itō following a criminal complaint filed by two women alleging that he had engaged in

sexual misconduct Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, ...

with them while they were intoxicated at a hotel in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

without their consent after a match for Japan against

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

in June 2023. In response to this report, the

Japan Football Association The Japan Football Association (JFA, ) is the Sport governing body, governing body responsible for the administration of Association football, football, futsal, beach soccer and Esports, efootball in Japan. It is responsible for the Japan national ...

decided on February 1 to withdraw Ito from the ongoing

2023 AFC Asian Cup The 2023 AFC Asian Cup was the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It involved 24 national teams after its expansion in 20 ...

after considering Ito's physical and mental condition. On 1 February, Itō filed a criminal complaint against the two women with the Osaka Prefectural Police for filing false complaints. On 19 February, he filed a lawsuit against the two women at the Osaka District Court, claiming that their sponsorship contracts were terminated due to false complaints and demanding 200 million yen in damages. The case was transferred to the

Tokyo District Court is a district court located at 1-1-4 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. See also *Judicial system of Japan In the judicial system of Japan, the Constitution of Japan guarantees that "all judges shall be independent in the exercise of thei ...

in May and both Itō and the women were referred to prosecutors in July. On 9 August, prosecutors dropped both charges against Ito and Ito's countersuit on his accusers, citing lack of evidence.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Itō goal.''

Honours

Genk *

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

: 2018–19 *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( ; ; ), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian Pro League champions (also received the Super Cup host) and the Belgian Cup winners. If both teams are the same, ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Reims *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

runner-up: 2024–25 Individual *

Team of the Season:

top assist provider: 2021–22 *

Goal of the Season: 2021–22 * Japan Pro-Footballers Association Best XI: 2022, 2023, 2024 Japan Pro-Footballers Association awards

References

External links

Profile
at Kashiwa Reysol * {{DEFAULTSORT:Itō, Junya 1993 births Living people Kanagawa University alumni Japanese men's footballers Japanese expatriate men's footballers J1 League players Belgian Pro League players Ligue 1 players Ventforet Kofu players Kashiwa Reysol players K.R.C. Genk players Stade de Reims players Men's association football forwards Japan men's international footballers 2019 AFC Asian Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players 2023 AFC Asian Cup players Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Japanese expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in France Association football people from Yokosuka, Kanagawa