Report: Celtic set to join European giants on Japanese summer tour

By Lewis Laird

February 15, 2023

Celtic are reportedly set to take a trip to Japan to participate in a summer tour alongside some of Europe’s biggest club sides.

According to a report from Japanese outlet Sponichi, French Ligue 1 side PSG are set to make a return to the country, after a successful trip last year.

And after seeing the success of the French giant’s visit, other clubs have also been targeted to take part in a tour in the first two weeks in July.

English Premier League and Bundesliga champions Manchester City, and Bayern Munich are two of the other clubs mentioned in the report.

Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side are the final European team, and the report states there is a ‘growing possibility’ of the Hoops involvement.

Of course, the Bhoys have plenty of links to the country, given Postecoglou’s arrival from Yokohama F Marinos in the summer of 2021.

In four transfer windows, the Celtic manager has also signed six players from the J-League – Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda, Yuki Kobayashi, Tomoki Iwata and Yosuke Ideguchi (who has since departed on loan).

So, it arguably comes as no surprise to see suggestions of a trip to Japan for Celtic on the horizon this year, especially given the success of Ange’s homecoming tour to Australia in 2022.

J-League journalist Dan Orlowitz has responded to these reports by stating that his understanding goes as far as saying Celtic’s visit to Japan is a ‘done deal’.

So it looks like we will be seeing Ange Postecoglou’s side in action in Japan later this year.

Summer tour of Japan ideal step to continue building Celtic engagement.

The relationship between Celtic and Japanese football supporters has been reignited over the past 18 months, thanks to the arrival of Ange Postecoglou and his signings from the J-League.

We have seen the club attempt to build engagement by creating an official Japanese Celtic Twitter account, which appears to have been a great success.

After seeing the Hoops take part in a trip to Australia towards the back end of last year, it felt almost inevitable we would see the Bhoys make a similar visit to Japan.

And now, Postecoglou and his players look set to make the trip in the first few weeks of July if reports are to be believed.

At this stage, it hasn’t been revealed how this will tie in with potential pre-season preparations, with the tour set to take place a month after the 2022/23 campaign comes to a close.

It also hasn’t been revealed which Japanese teams could be involved. So it will be interesting to see if the likes of Daizen Maeda or Kyogo are reunited with Yokohama F Marinos or Vissel Kobe.

We will have to wait for official confirmation from the club in the coming weeks and months. But it should prove to be an exciting trip if it comes to fruition!

In other news, Hyeongyu Oh left buzzing with new Celtic fan chant.