‘It changed me a lot’: how Japan’s academy system supercharged women’s team

Japan have constantly pushed the boundaries in women’s football, whether it be with regular success in Asia or their ability to beat the biggest nations in the world.

Nadeshiko won the Women’s World Cup in 2011 and reached another final in 2015, while more established countries fell by the wayside. Japan have not replicated that success but did win the Women’s Asian Cup this year under the guidance of Nils Nielsen, who has since been succeeded by Michihisa Kano, and most of the biggest stars play outside the country, with 24 contracted to Women’s Super League clubs alone.

Japan are typically discreet about the secrets behind their success, particularly the easy-on-the-eye style which has become a trademark of the men’s and women’s teams, but one of those secrets lies in the Japanese Football Association (JFA) creating the JFA Academy.

There are three which take girls across the country of 123 million people: Fukushima, Sakai and Imabari. A fourth, Kumamoto Uki, is a boys’ academy only. Fukushima was the first to open, in 2006, with Sakai following in 2012 and Imabari in 2015.

Shota Mishio, an analyst for the national team when they conquered the world in 2011, recently coached in the Fukushima academy, which since the nuclear disaster that preceded their World Cup success by months has moved to Susono City. He offers an insight into how they are able not only to develop world-class individuals but to mould them into a successful unit for the national team.

The girls enter the academies at 13 and, other than in Fukushima, leave at 15. “The players are here until the age of 18,” Mishio says of Fukushima, which has five technical coaches dedicated to the girls. “We belong to the JFA, we are a coaching school with accommodation for players … the most important information I can give you is 25% of our original players have become senior national team players – that is a very high percentage.”

At the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, five of Japan’s 23 players had come through the Fukushima academy. At the Paris Olympics a year later, it was seven, Mishio pointing to a “progression every tournament”.

One of them, Manaka Hayashi, is one of the more recent success stories. She graduated in 2022 and, after playing domestically for INAC Kobe, earned a move to the NWSL side Chicago Stars at the start of 2025. “We all had to apply for it, then the coaches come and watch us try out,” she says. “There could be 100 to 200 players who could apply, but only half a dozen get selected, so it’s not easy to get selected, it’s quite special.”

It is not just about football, with the girls getting an education. “The government helps,” Mishio says. “For example, the education department helps us. We here specifically work only on football as coaches, but we have our own original programme for things like English, languages in general, and even football-specific language for football players.”

Hayashi says: “We would go to school from morning to evening and then come back to train around 4pm to 6pm. At high school age, we would go to school only 9am to 12pm and train more, so there is much more time for football as you get older.”

Hayashi left the NWSL, where there is strong Japanese representation, for Juventus last month. The group of Japan internationals in England includes Manchester City’s Yui Hasegawa and Chelsea’s summer acquisition Manaka Matsukubo.

“More and more players want to go abroad,” Mishio says. “For example, one player recently went to Feyenoord and before that one went to Bayern Munich. Some others want to become professional in Japan first.”

Hayashi recalls stepping into the world of the JFA Academy, and how it provided more than a football upbringing. “When we entered the dorm at 13, the oldest players are 18. It’s a big life experience and you definitely learned how to communicate with other people, from different backgrounds and different ages.

“Football-wise it changed me a lot. The JFA scouts are always paying attention, but you live it every day, so there is so much opportunity to talk about and learn about football. We would watch it just to help each other become better, analyse everything. That’s the difference between the JFA Academy and being at other clubs.”

The way of playing is drilled into them from a young age, and is a big reason why Japan have enjoyed such success. “I’d say yes,” says Hayashi, adding: “The coaches emphasised a lot we had to be better technically. When you play against foreign teams, they are faster and stronger than us, so we had to be smarter to compete against them with quality on the ball. We had to be skilful on the ball to become better than other countries.”

Mishio says: “The important thing is the technique and endurance. These are the main points of the training here, because it was the trademark of the Japanese style of play.”

Players are not only expected to be visible, but are obligated to be visible because of the low income to subsidise the lack of solid income they receive” – Alex Culvin, head of women’s football at Fifpro, discussing the latest global survey of more than 800 footballers by the players’ union, which found that almost half of female players are considering leaving the sport because of financial concerns or psychological stress.

Mixed bag for UK nations England and Scotland look comfortable for progression to the final round of World Cup playoffs after 3-1 and 2-0 first-leg wins over Greece and Czechia respectively, and Wales won 1-0 in Albania, but Northern Ireland’s chances are all but over after a 4-0 loss to Portugal in Larne. Elsewhere, Carla Ward’s Republic of Ireland are in cruise control after an 8-0 win against Kazakhstan in Astana. The second legs take place on Tuesday.

Russo takes home England silverware Arsenal’s Alessia Russo has been named England women’s player of the year for a second time in three seasons. The 27-year-old scored five goals in 10 games for her country across the season, most recently on Friday against Greece. Russo pipped Lucy Bronze and Hannah Hampton to the fan-voted award and said it was “really special” to win.

A clash of the titans occurred over the weekend as the US hosted the world champions, Spain, who inflicted a rare defeat on Emma Hayes’s side. Patri Guijarro’s early strike and Eva Navarro’s clean half-volley in the 2-0 win are well worth a watch.

Six questions facing England as they target next year’s World Cup, via Tom Garry, as they take a 3-1 lead against Greece into Tuesday’s second leg.

Russo’s return to form is vital but Sarina Wiegman’s side still lack bite against low blocks, writes Suzanne Wrack.

And Ella Brockway was on hand to watch world champions Spain expose the USWNT in their heavyweight friendly.