Hotaru Yamaguchi Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Hotaru Yamaguchi

Yamaguchi lining up for Japan at the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Personal information

Date of birth

6 October 1990 (age 33)

Place of birth

Nabari, Mie, Japan

Height

1.73 m

Playing position

Defensive midfielder

Club information

Current club

Vissel Kobe

Number

Youth career

2003–2008

Cerezo Osaka

Senior career*

Years

Team

Apps^†

(Gls)^†

2009–2015

Cerezo Osaka

140

(11)

2016

Hannover 96

(0)

2016–2018

Cerezo Osaka

(3)

2019–

Vissel Kobe

133

(16)

National team^‡

2010–2012

Japan U23

(1)

2013–

Japan

(3)

Honours


Representing Japan
Asian Games
Gold	2010 Guangzhou	Team

Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 November 2022 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19 November 2019

Hotaru Yamaguchi (山口蛍, Yamaguchi Hotaru, born 6 October 1990) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Vissel Kobe. He is also a member of the Japan national team.

Club career
International career
Career statistics
- Club
- International
Honours
See also

Club career

Early career

Yamaguchi began playing football in the third grade, playing mostly as an attacking midfielder. Upon entering junior high, he participated in trials with the Cerezo Osaka, Gamba Osaka and Kyoto Purple Sanga youth academies and ultimately joined the Cerezo Under-15 team, from whom he received an invitation on the spot. He enjoyed steady progress at the club, being selected to be part of the first entering class of the Japan Football Association Elite Program at the end of his first year. In 2006 Yamaguchi was promoted to the Cerezo Under-18 team, which later won the JFA Prince League U-18 in the 2008 season, in which he served as captain and was named league MVP.

Cerezo Osaka

Along with academy teammate Yusuke Maruhashi, Yamaguchi was promoted to the senior team in 2009, spending three months of the season training with the Palmeiras Under-21 academy. He was named to the Japan Under-21 team in his second season and played in all of the matches in a gold medal campaign at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.

Yamaguchi began to receive substantial playing time with Cerezo in 2011, scoring his first league goal on Matchday 24 against Urawa Reds. The addition of Fábio Simplício resulted in Yamaguchi being increasingly deployed as an attacking midfielder toward the latter part of the season, which he finished with 30 appearances. He followed up by winning a regular position in the Cerezo side in 2012, combining with Takahiro Ogihara in central midfield for both club and country, being named to the Under-23 team.

Hannover 96

On 21 December 2015, Hannover 96 announced that they signed Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi played for Hannover 96 in 2016, however returned to Cerezo Osaka mid-season.

International career

Yamaguchi represent the U-23 national side under Takashi Sekizuka in Japan's successful qualification for the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was included in the final squad at the 2012 Summer Olympics, contributing to a fourth-place finish at the tournament.

In July 2013, Yamaguchi received his first call up to the senior Japan side by Alberto Zaccheroni for the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup, where he played in all three matches and was named tournament MVP.

In May 2018, he was named in Japan's preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Cerezo Osaka	2009	J2 League	3	0	0	0	–		–		–		3	0
	2010	J1 League	2	0	0	0	2	0	–		–		4	0
	2011		17	1	4	0	0	0	2	0	–		23	1
	2012		30	2	4	2	6	0	–		–		40	4
	2013		34	6	0	0	8	1	–		–		42	7
	2014		19	1	1	0	0	0	8	0	–		28	1
	2015	J2 League	35	1	0	0	–		–		2	0	37	1
	2016	J2 League	19	1	1	0	–		–		2	0	22	1
	2017	J1 League	32	2	5	1	2	0	–		–		39	3
	2018	J1 League	33	0	1	0	1	0	4	0	–		39	0
	Total		226	14	16	3	19	1	14	0	4	0	279	18
Hannover 96	2015–16	Bundesliga	6	0	0	0	–		–		–		6	0
Vissel Kobe	2019	J1 League	34	3	5	2	2	1	–		–		41	6
	2020		34	6	–		1	0	7	1	–		42	7
	2021		5	0	0	0	1	0	–		–		6	0
	Total		73	9	5	2	4	1	7	1	0	0	89	13
Career total			305	21	21	5	23	2	21	1	4	0	374	31

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Japan	2013	8	0
	2014	7	0
	2015	9	1
	2016	6	1
	2017	8	0
	2018	7	0
	2019	3	1
Total		48	3

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

List of international goals scored by Hotaru Yamaguchi
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	5 August 2015	Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, Wuhan, China	South Korea	1–1	1–1	2015 EAFF East Asian Cup
2	6 October 2016	Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan	Iraq	2–1	2–1	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	19 November 2019	Panasonic Stadium Suita, Suita, Japan	Venezuela	1–4	1–4	2019 Kirin Challenge Cup