Tokyo — Strong and effective communication channels as well as discipline is the key to the rise of Japanese soccer, according to former Platinum Stars and Golden Arrows striker Norikazu Murakami.
The now 41-year-old who currently works as a coach, scout and translator at J-League club Vissel Kobe, became the first, and to date, only Japanese soccer player to play in South Africa’s PSL when he joined the now defunct Platinum Stars in 2009. He scored four goals for Stars before going on to have a spell with Arrows.
South Africa will always have a special place in the heart of Murakami. His daughter, Mei was born in Sandton, and will therefore be eligible to play for South Africa should she decide to follow in the footsteps of her father and become a footballer.
He also took part in “Muti” rituals during his time with Stars as he believes in always showing respect to the culture of countries that he visits.
“I just came into the changing room and at the end of the warm-up, the kit manager called me into the toilet. There was smoke. They burnt something and put something on my foot in my socks which felt like sand. Some players did not believe in it and did not like the tradition. I believe that it could bring me luck so I followed it. My policy is that I should respect the culture,” he said.
“The Japanese players have an army style level of discipline. If the coach tells you to run, you have to do it. Like everyone, we also need tactics but we focus a lot on fitness which helps. The most important principle is your fitness. It’s believed that you can win the game if you run more than your opponent. Everything in South Africa was a lot different to what I expected. It was more Europeanised than I thought and it was nice to play with a mixed group of players,” said Murakami.
The adherence to fitness that Murakami emphasises can be seen in the longevity of Japanese footballers. 56-year-old Kazuyoshi Miura who started his professional career in 1986 is widely believed to be the oldest active professional footballer. Miura made a return to Europe in January as he joined Portuguese second tier outfit Oliveirense on loan from Yokohama FC.
While the vast majority of footballers who played in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa are now retired, now less than ten of Japan’s 23-man squad were active as recently as 2023 — Eiji Kawashima (40), Juinichi Inamoto (43), Takayuki Morimoto (35), Makoto Hasebe (39), Yasuyuki Konno (40), Keiji Tamada (43), Shinji Okazaki (37), Daisuke Matsui (42), Yasuhito Endo (43) and Yuto Nagatomo (36).
Japanese soccer has grown in leaps and bounds since the nation co-hosted the 2002 World Cup in 2002. The Samurai Blue, currently ranked 20th in the world went on to reach the knockout stages of the 2010, 2018 and most recently 2022 World Cup. In contrast, the South African national team have shown no clear signs of improvement since hosting the World Cup in 2010. Since then, Bafana Bafana have not qualified for the World Cup.
In Qatar, Hajime Moriyasu’s side also inflicted defeats upon Spain and Germany in the group stage before falling on penalties to Croatia in the last 16, in a game in which they were the better side over 90 minutes.
Despite the success of the Japan team in the 2022 World Cup, Murakami believes that it will still take at least another 20-years before the country can realistically aim to challenge for the World Cup. He also believes that the success of the team in Qatar was due to the squad being mainly European based- 16 out of the 23 players at the World Cup were European based. At its core, Murakami believes that Japanese and South African football share many problems in common, with South Africa suffering more due to a lack of players in top leagues.
The South African top-flight is widely touted as being the most funded league in South Africa while the J-League of Japan is one of the most professional and well-funded leagues in Asia. Miura suggests that this is both a good thing and a bad thing for player development.
“There are a lot of skillful players in South Africa but they are not achieving success in Europe. We need to ask ourselves why? It may come down to the tactical aspects of football. Players need to play as a team instead of as individuals. The South African system is organized with nice stadiums. They have money and players are popular. You can have a good life as a footballer in South Africa and the same thing applies to Japan but both countries are still far away from the level of Europe. Some players in both leagues no longer have the ambition to go out into other countries. Players from countries like Nigeria are hungry and because of that, their players come to places like South Africa and Japan and do well because they are hungry. Players from Japan and South Africa also need that hunger. South African past players like Quinton Fortune and Benni McCarthy became what they were because they went to Europe,” said Murakami.
Mamelodi Sundowns have won the South African Premiership five times in a row. If one tunes into the South African top-flight, basic football errors such as poor passing and wastefulness in possession are easily observative in all the teams on a game by game basis bar the mighty Masandawana.
“Players from South Africa sometimes want to show their skills a bit too much. It is good for the fans and what the fans want to see but it is not effective when it comes to bringing football results. The skills will not bring goals. It’s okay if you want to put on a show but won’t work in big tournaments like the Champions League or World Cup,” added Murakami.
While Murakami notes that Japanese and South African football share common challenges, it’s safe to say that there is now a gulf in class between South African and Japanese football. This could be seen during the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup as South Africa’s best team Mamelodi Sundowns were outplayed and fell to a 2-0 defeat to Kashima Antlers. Over four years later at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, the Japan U-23 side claimed a 1-0 win over South Africa in the tournament opening fixture.
“South African players need to know their style of football and strengths better. This will help them to work better as a team. If you do not have discipline, you will struggle to win the game. Japan’s communication has helped them to improve,” said Murakami.
One thing that the Japanese football development system does well is produce a high amount of educated footballers. This will equip the footballers with something to fall back upon after their playing days eventually ends. A big contributor to this is the fact that the University system in Japan is good with a lot of players having to go to a good University in order to develop their skills.
Murakami himself boasts a degree in law from Meiji University. Japanese dribbling wizard Kaoru Mitomo who plies his trade with Brighton and Hove Albion in the English Premier League has a physical education degree from the University of Tsukuba.
“After you turn 18 in Japan, a lot of good Universities want you. You go there to learn and play at a high level. University football is really good in Japan. Most spend 3-4 years at University before turning professional. After one year, most are not yet at the level required to play professionally,” he said.
Murakami is interested in coaching outside the borders of Japan one day and says that he has received interest. When asked if he will ever coach in South Africa, he said, “anything can happen.”
IOL Sport