is a Japanese former

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 played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Endō's playing career unfolded entirely within Japan, where he was associated with

Gamba Osaka is a Japanese professional association football, 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 home stadium is Panasonic Stadium Suita. They form a ...

for 20 years. He made his senior international debut in 2002, representing Japan in three

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

s and three

Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six Continental football championships, continental champions ...

s. In the process he earned over 150 caps, scoring 15 goals and becoming the most capped Japanese male player of all time. He is also one of the few players to have made over 1,100 official appearances and the highest number of J.League appearances in history with 672 appearances. His brother Akihiro Endō is also a former footballer. However, neither of them are related to Wataru Endō.

Club career

Yokohama Flügels

Endō was born in

Kagoshima , is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 583,966 in 285,992 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Etymology While the ...

on 28 January 1980. After graduating from Kagoshima Jitsugyo High School, he joined

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 ...

club

Yokohama Flügels The , also known as the AS Flügels, was a Japanese football club that played in the J.League between 1993 and 1998. The club was an original member ("Original Ten") of the J.League in 1993. In 1999, the club merged with local rivals Yokohama Ma ...

in 1998. In March, he debuted against Yokohama Marinos in the opening game of the 1998 season. Largely as a central midfielder, he helped his club win the championship in the 1998 Emperor's Cup. Due to financial strain, the club was disbanded at the end of the season and merged with Yokohama Marinos.

Kyoto Purple Sanga

In 1999, Endō moved to Kyoto Purple Sanga with contemporaries Kazuki Teshima and Hideo Oshima. He became a regular player and played many matches. However the club was relegated to the

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 Yasud ...

at the end of the 2000 season.

Gamba Osaka

In 2001, Endō moved to J1 club

. He was a central player for the club for a long time under manager Akira Nishino (2002–2011). He was selected as a J.League Best Eleven 10 years in a row (

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

–

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

). In 2005, Gamba won the championship in the

for the first time in the club's history. In 2008, Gamba won the championship in the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

for 2 years in a row as a Japanese club (

Urawa Reds The or simply Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ, ''Urawa Rezzu''), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, are a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan, who p ...

won it in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

). Gamba also won the

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or Japan FA Cup, and rebranded as The JFA Emperor's Cup from 2024 onwards, is a Japanese annual football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football tournament in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formatio ...

. Endō was selected as the "Japanese Footballer of the Year". In 2009, Gamba won the

for 2 years in a row. Endō was selected as the Asian Footballer of the Year. Manager Nishino left Gamba after the 2011 season and the club's performance deteriorated. In 2012, Gamba finished at the 17th place of 18 clubs and was relegated to the

. Endō remained with Gamba and Gamba won the championship in the 2013 season. In the 2014 season, Gamba returned to J1 and won all three major titles in Japan,

, J.League Cup and

. Endō was selected as the J.League MVP and "Japanese Footballer of the Year" for the second time.

Júbilo Iwata

In October 2020, he joined J2 League side

Júbilo Iwata is a Japanese professional association football, football team based in Iwata, Shizuoka, Iwata, located in Shizuoka Prefecture. The club competes in J2 League following relegation from J1 League in 2024 J1 League, 2024. Etymology The team's ...

on loan from Gamba Osaka. In December 2021, he joined Júbilo Iwata on a full transfer. In May 2023, Endō was named

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

of J.League's first 30 years. On 9 January 2024, Endō announced his retirement from professional football, having played in a record of 672 J.League matches.

International career

Endō played in the 1999 World Youth Championship and Japan finished as runner-up, losing to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in the final. Since 2002, Endō had been a member of the Japan national team, and was selected for Japan's

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

squads. He was also a member of the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the contin ...

winning teams. On 24 June 2010, Endō scored from a free kick against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

in a 3–1 win as Japan qualified for the

second round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

of the World Cup. On 12 October 2010, he became the fourth player to earn a 100th full international cap for Japan in a friendly match against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. On 16 October 2012, Endō became Japan's most capped player in a friendly match against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. His start in this match was his 123rd appearance for the national team, surpassing Masami Ihara's previous record of 122 caps. Endō was included in Japan's squad for the 2015 Asian Cup and scored the team's opening goal of the tournament in a 4–0 defeat of

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. In the team's next match, he earned his 150th cap as Japan defeated

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

1–0. He played 152 games and scored 15 goals for Japan until 2015.

Style of play

He is considered a cult hero among fans of Gamba Osaka and the Japan national team, attributed to his longevity as a professional athlete, technical ability, leadership, and goal scoring ability. He is also known for his excellent accuracy on free kicks and is revered as one of Japan's most creative

s as well as one of the most talented Japanese footballers and

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

s of his generation, this despite only playing domestically in his home country.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Yokohama Flügels *

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Gamba Osaka *

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

* J.League Cup:

Japanese Super Cup The , the for sponsorship reasons, is an annual one-match association football competition in Japan organised by J.League and the Japan Football Association. This competition serves as the season opener and is played between the reigning J1 Leag ...

* Pan-Pacific Championship:

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

Bronze Medalist. Júbilo Iwata *

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Japan *

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second-oldest c ...

Afro-Asian Cup of Nations The Afro-Asian Cup of Nations, also called the AFC Asia/Africa Challenge Cup, was an intercontinental football competition endorsed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), contested between repr ...

Kirin Cup The is an association football tournament organised in Japan by the Kirin Brewery Company. The host, Japan national football team, Japan, is a participant in every edition. The tournament was founded in 1978 then known as Japan Cup (Internatio ...

Individual * Asian Footballer of the Year: 2009 *

Best Player:

* J.League MVP Award:

* Japanese Footballer of the Year: 2008, 2014 * J.League Best Eleven:

* J.League 20th Anniversary Team * J.League 30th Anniversary Team * MVP of the J-League's first 30 years

References

External links

* * *
Japan National Football Team Database
*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Endo, Yasuhito 1980 births Living people Japanese men's footballers Japan men's youth international footballers 21st-century Japanese sportsmen Japan men's international footballers J1 League players J2 League players Yokohama Flügels players Kyoto Sanga FC players Gamba Osaka players Júbilo Iwata players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2004 AFC Asian Cup players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 AFC Asian Cup players 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 AFC Asian Cup players AFC Asian Cup–winning players FIFA Men's Century Club Asian Footballer of the Year winners Men's association football midfielders Association football people from Kagoshima AFC Champions League Elite–winning players