There is one thing you can say about Japanese football fans and their love of their countrymen making it overseas is that they are probably the most enthusiastic of all football fans in that regard.
We have seen in the past how they have reacted to legends such as Shusuke Nakamura whenever they head back home during pre-season.
And we have also witnessed it with the return of Celtic trio Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate who are all on international duty with Japan at the moment.
But what about those not-so-high-profile players? In fact, are there any overseas Japanese players that are not high profile? It seems not when you look at the reception Celtic midfielder, Tomoki Iwata got when he returned home this summer.
Iwata went on a visit to his old club, Oita Trinita as the J2 League club entertained Faziano Okayama in the Meiji Yasuda Seimei Stadium. You can watch the video here on the Japanese club’s official Twitter account.
Iwata said to the crowd, ‘Hello everyone, I’m Tomoki Iwata. I’m very happy to be here at the Dome today after a long time, and I’m happy to be able to cheer with you all. Let’s cheer together for three wins in a row today. Thank you.” [Ultra-Soccer] [translated by Deep L]
Iwata is still clearly held in high regard at his old club. He spent four seasons at Oita making 121 appearances. He also helped guide them to promotion from the J3 League in 2016.
He spent a further three seasons at the club before moving on to Yokohama F Marinos where he won the J League in the season he was Japan’s MVP before coming to Celtic.
Iwata spent the second half of this season on loan at Celtic and whilst there has been no official confirmation yet, he is widely expected to become a permanent member of the Celtic squad this summer.
In other news, What Jurgen Klinsmann said to Hyeongyu Oh after Korea loss; Celtic striker needed to hear it
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