Shinji Kagawa, right, of Borussia Dortmund takes on Chancel Mbemba of Anderlecht during the Uefa Champions League Group D match against RSC Anderlecht at Constant Vanden Stock Stadium on October 1, 2014 in Anderlecht, Belgium. Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
Shinji Kagawa, right, of Borussia Dortmund takes on Chancel Mbemba of Anderlecht during the Uefa Champions League Group D match against RSC Anderlecht at Constant Vanden Stock Stadium on October 1, 20Show more

Shinji Kagawa and Shinji Okazaki head up Japan’s boom in Bundesliga



BERLIN // With Shinji Okazaki as the Bundesliga’s top scorer at Mainz 05 and Shinji Kagawa back at Borussia Dortmund, Japanese stars are enjoying a boom in Germany’s top flight.

There are now 13 players from Japan in the Bundesliga, more than ever before, and eye-catching performances have helped boost the profile of football in the Far Eastern country.

With five goals in five games, Okazaki is the league’s top scorer after six matches, while Dortmund have sold 15,000 shirts, worth over a million euros, since Kagawa’s return from Manchester United.

Due to demand, Borussia held a special autograph session just for the Japan midfielder and fans quickly snapped up special Kagawa T-shirts before he scored against Freiburg in his first game back.

Dortmund’s neighbours and arch-rivals Schalke 04 are also experiencing plenty of interest from Asia with right back Atsuto Uchida receiving a daily basket of post from Japan.

Along with plenty of love letters, he has also received such unusual items as bags of tea and bath salts from adoring Japanese fans.

“The fans send everything which I could possibly miss from Japan,” he explained to German magazine Sport Bild.

More importantly for Schalke, Uchida made his comeback after a long injury break in their 3-0 win at Bremen last month and played in the 2-1 win at home to Borussia Dortmund last Saturday.

Okazaki is nursing a calf injury but hopes to play against second-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday, having helped steer Mainz to joint fourth in the table.

His prowess has opened up plenty of marketing potential in Japan with the club even offering guided tours of their Coface Arena in Japanese on the back of his performances.

“We are considering flying to Asia at the end of the season,” said Mainz’s manager Christian Heidel.

“There is contact with firms who are interested in presenting us in Asia and that we play a game or two there.”

Thomas Kroth, who used to play alongside Yasuhiko Okudera, the Bundesliga’s first Japanese import, at Cologne in the 1970s, now works as an agent for Asian players looking to play in Germany’s top flight.

“They don’t see Germany as a stop-off point, as so many Brazilians did in the 1990s, who actually wanted to play in Spain or Italy,” said Kroth.

“They live for their job, feel at home in Germany and concentrate on the task in hand.”

Eintracht Frankfurt’s Makoto Hasebe joins Kagawa and Okazaki as the third of the top three Japanese players in the Bundesliga.

The 30-year-old captain of Japan’s national side has played in the Bundesliga since 2007 and was part of the VfL Wolfsburg side which won the German title in 2009.

Former Germany midfielder Pierre Littbarski is chief scout at Wolfsburg and played in Japan’s J-League from 1993 to 1997.

He described one incident which highlights Hasebe’s status in Japan.

“I was a bit shocked when I went to meet Makoto in a rehabilitation centre,” said the 54-year-old.

“I needed an hour to get in and the whole area was completely sealed off.

“I needed a special visitors pass for it.”

Okazaki has a good explanation of why both Hasebe and Uchida enjoy cult status in Japan.

“They are both single and look pretty good, so they are both very popular,” he quipped.

“If I had the same face as Uchida, I would definitely get a few more headlines in the newspapers.”

Follow our sports coverage on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE

The specs

Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now

COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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'C'mon C'mon'

Director:Mike Mills

Stars:Joaquin Phoenix, Gaby Hoffmann, Woody Norman

Rating: 4/5

Low turnout
Two months before the first round on April 10, the appetite of voters for the election is low.

Mathieu Gallard, account manager with Ipsos, which conducted the most recent poll, said current forecasts suggested only two-thirds were "very likely" to vote in the first round, compared with a 78 per cent turnout in the 2017 presidential elections.

"It depends on how interesting the campaign is on their main concerns," he told The National. "Just now, it's hard to say who, between Macron and the candidates of the right, would be most affected by a low turnout."

MATCH INFO

Brescia 1 (Skrinia og, 76)

Inter Milan 2 (Martinez 33, Lukaku 63)

 

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

The specs

Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors

Power: 480kW

Torque: 850Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)

On sale: Now

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

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JOKE'S%20ON%20YOU
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MWTC info

Tickets to the MWTC range from Dh100 and can be purchased from www.ticketmaster.ae or by calling 800 86 823 from within the UAE or 971 4 366 2289 from outside the country and all Virgin Megastores. Fans looking to attend all three days of the MWTC can avail of a special 20 percent discount on ticket prices.

THE SPECS

Jaguar F-Pace SVR

Engine: 5-litre supercharged V8​​​​​​​

Transmission: 8-speed automatic

Power: 542bhp​​​​​​​

Torque: 680Nm​​​​​​​

Price: Dh465,071

THE LIGHT

Director: Tom Tykwer

Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger

Rating: 3/5

The schedule

December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club

December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq

December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm

December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition

December 13: Falcon beauty competition

December 14 and 20: Saluki races

December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm

December 16 - 19: Falconry competition

December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am

December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am

December 22: The best herd of 30 camels

The%20Kitchen
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Sheer grandeur

The Owo building is 14 storeys high, seven of which are below ground, with the 30,000 square feet of amenities located subterranean, including a 16-seat private cinema, seven lounges, a gym, games room, treatment suites and bicycle storage.

A clear distinction between the residences and the Raffles hotel with the amenities operated separately.