is a former 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 last played as a defender. He last played for Japan national team until 2013.

Club career

Komano played for his local junior high school team. He was invited for trials from several clubs, including

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 ...

, JEF United Ichihara,

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima () is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Hiroshima. The club competes in the J1 League, top flight of the Japanese football league system. Sanfrecce is one of the most successful clubs in Ja ...

and local high school powerhouse Hatsushiba Hashimoto. He decided to join Sanfrecce Hiroshima youth team and entered Yoshida High School in Hiroshima. Komano was the first-choice right back for the club from 2001. He suffered several serious injuries and illnesses. He damaged the

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint, wrist joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in ...

s of his left knee in the match against

Yokohama FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club was formed by fans of Yokohama Flügels as a protest against Flügels' merger with Yokohama Marinos in 1999, becoming th ...

on 16 August 2003. While he was in hospital, he suffered from a

venous thrombosis Venous thrombosis is the blockage of a vein caused by a thrombus (blood clot). A common form of venous thrombosis is deep vein thrombosis (DVT), when a blood clot forms in the deep veins. If a thrombus breaks off ( embolizes) and flows to the lu ...

. Because of these, he was sidelined until April 2004. He broke his left

collar bone The clavicle, collarbone, or keybone is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on each side of the body. The clavicle is the ...

in an Olympic game against Ghana in August 2004. In September of the same year, he also suffered from a

uveitis Uveitis () is inflammation of the uvea, the pigmented layer of the eye between the inner retina and the outer fibrous layer composed of the sclera and cornea. The uvea consists of the middle layer of pigmented vascular structures of the eye and ...

problem that might have caused blindness. Komano moved to

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 ...

for the 2008 season after Hiroshima was relegated 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 Yasud ...

. Komano played as regular right side-back and played all 34 matches every season until 2013 except 2010 season for injury. However Júbilo was relegated to

end of 2014 season. He played many matches in 2 seasons in J2, Júbilo returned to J1 end of 2015 season. In 2016, Komano moved to FC Tokyo. However he could hardly play behind young player Ryoya Ogawa. In July 2016, Komano moved to Avispa Fukuoka. Although he played many matches, Avispa finished at the bottom place in 2016 season and was relegated to

. Although he played as regular player in 2017, his opportunity to play decreased in 2018 and he left the club end of 2018 season. In 2019, Komano signed with

Japan Football League The , also known as simply the JFL, is the 4th tier of the Japanese association football league system, positioned beneath the three divisions of the J.League. The league features fully professional teams that hold J.League 100 Year Plan club sta ...

club

FC Imabari FC Imabari (FC今治, ''Efu Shī Imabari'') is a Japanese football club based in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture. They currently play in the J2 League after promotion from J3 League in 2024, Japan's second tier of professional football. History The ...

. In 2022, Komano retired from football after 23 years as a professional footballer.

International career

In June 2001, Komano was selected Japan U20 national team for 2001 World Youth Championship. At this tournament, he played full-time in all 3 matches as left side midfielder and left side back. In August 2004, he represented Japan U23 national team at the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

and he played two matches as left side back and left side midfielder. He made his full international debut for Japan national team on 3 August 2005 in a 2005 East Asian Football Championship match against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. He was a member of the Japan team for the 2006 World Cup finals as a backup for first-choice Akira Kaji. Because of Kaji's injury, Komano played in Japan's opening game against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. He was also a member for the 2007 Asian Cup finals. He played all the Japan games except one for which he wasn't eligible due to suspension. On 29 June 2010, Komano missed a penalty in a penalty shoot-out against

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

as Japan lost 5–3 in the 2010 World Cup second round. Komano scored his first international goal in a friendly against

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

on 11 October 2011 at Nagai Stadium. He played 78 games and scored 1 goal for Japan. His last international match was in 2013.

Career statistics

.Avispa Fukuoka
/ref>

Club

International

:''Score and result list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Komano goal.''

Honours

Júbilo Iwata * J.League Cup:

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 ...

* Suruga Bank Championship:

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 ...

Japan * EAFF East Asian Cup:

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 ...

Individual *J.League Best XI:

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 ...

References

External links

* * * *
Japan National Football Team Database
*
Profile at Avispa Fukuoka
{{DEFAULTSORT:Komano, Yuichi 1981 births Living people Association football people from Wakayama Prefecture Japanese men's footballers Japan men's youth international footballers Japan men's international footballers J1 League players J2 League players J3 League players 21st-century Japanese sportsmen Japan Football League players Sanfrecce Hiroshima players Júbilo Iwata players FC Tokyo players FC Tokyo U-23 players Avispa Fukuoka players FC Imabari players Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Asian Games medalists in football Olympic footballers for Japan Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 AFC Asian Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Men's association football defenders