Masato Morishige

Masato Morishige
森重真人
	Morishige with FC Tokyo in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Masato Morishige
Date of birth	21 May 1987 (age 39)
Place of birth	Asakita-ku, Hiroshima, Japan
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	FC Tokyo
Number	3
Youth career
2000–2002	Sanfrecce Hiroshima
2003–2005	Hiroshima Minami High School
Senior career*
Years	Team
2006–2009	Oita Trinita
2010–	FC Tokyo
International career‡
2007	Japan U-20
2008	Japan U-23
2013–2017	Japan
Medal record
Oita Trinita
FC Tokyo
Representing Japan
AFC U-19 Championship
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 September 2025; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13 December 2018, 15:20 (UTC)

Masato Morishige (森重真人, Morishige Masato; born May 21, 1987) is a Japanese football player. He played for the Japan national team.

Biography

Morishige was born in Hiroshima on May 21, 1987. After graduating from Hiroshima Minami High School, he joined J1 League club Oita Trinita in 2006. Although he original position was defensive midfielder, he played many matches as center back from 2007. Oita won the champions in the 2008 J.League Cup with young players, Shusaku Nishikawa, Hiroshi Kiyotake and Mu Kanazaki. However Oita was relegated to J2 League end of the 2009 season and Oita released their main players including Morishige due to their financial problems. In 2010, Morishige moved to FC Tokyo. Although he played many matches as center back, Tokyo was relegated to J2 end of the 2010 season. In 2011, Tokyo won the champions and was returned to J1 in a year. Tokyo also won the champions in the 2011 Emperor's Cup.

In 2007, Morishige was selected the Japan U-20 national team for 2007 U-20 World Cup and played 3 matches as midfielder. In 2008, also played at 2008 Summer Olympics. At this tournament, he played 3 matches as defender. In July 2013, he was selected the Japan national team for 2013 East Asian Cup. At this tournament, he debuted against China on July 21. After the debut, he played many matches as center back with Maya Yoshida. He played at 2014 World Cup and 2015 Asian Cup. He played 41 games and scored 2 goals for Japan until 2017.

Career statistics

Club

As of the start for 2025 season.

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			Emperor's Cup		J. League Cup		ACL		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Oita Trinita	2006	J.League Div 1	2	0	0	0	0	0	–		–		2	0
	2007		20	1	2	1	3	0					25	2
	2008		28	3	0	0	7	1					35	4
	2009		23	1	0	0	2	0			1	0	26	1
	Total		73	5	2	1	12	1	–		1	0	88	7
FC Tokyo	2010	J.League Div 1	30	3	5	0	8	1	–		1	0	44	4
	2011	J.League Div 2	37	6	6	3	–						43	9
	2012	J.League Div 1	33	2	1	0	4	0	7	0	1	0	46	2
	2013		33	1	2	0	5	0	–				43	1
	2014		33	1	2	1	3	0					39	1
	2015	J1 League	32	7	1	0	4	0					41	7
	2016		32	4	1	0	0	0	8	2	0	0	41	6
	2017		17	1	0	0	4	1	–		–		21	2
	2018		30	2	3	0	0	0					33	2
	2019		34	2	0	0	4	0					38	2
	2020		28	1	–		3	0	7	0			38	1
	2021		35	4	–		6	0	–				41	4
	2022		28	2	2	0	3	0					33	2
	2023		29	0	–		5	1					34	1
	2024		23	0	2	1	3	1					28	2
	2025		0	0	0	0	0	0					0	0
	Total		454	36	25	5	52	2	22	2	2	0	555	45
Career total			572	41	27	6	64	3	22	2	3	0	643	52

↑ Includes Pan-Pacific Championship, Suruga Bank Championship and Japanese Super Cup.

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Japan	2013	6	0
	2014	11	1
	2015	12	1
	2016	10	0
	2017	2	0
Total		41	2

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

List of international goals scored by Masato Morishige
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	5 April 2014	Tokyo, Japan	New Zealand	3–0	4–2	Friendly
2	8 September 2015	Tehran, Iran	Afghanistan	2–0	6–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Oita Trinita

J.League Cup: 2008

FC Tokyo

Japan

EAFF East Asian Cup: 2013, 2015

Individual

J. League Best Eleven: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019

References

↑ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 5 July 2007. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 December 2013.
↑ Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "J1&J2&J3選手名鑑ハンディ版 2018 (NSK MOOK)", 7 February 2018, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411529 (p. 104 out of 289)
↑ Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK)", 8 February 2017, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411420 (p. 72 out of 289)
↑ [ Japan National Football Team Database] ^{[be specific]}

Other websites

Masato Morishige at Soccerway.com

Masato Morishige at WorldFootball.net

Masato Morishige at Soccerbase.com

Masato Morishige at National-Football-Teams.com

Masato Morishige at kicker (in German)

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[4] Includes Pan-Pacific Championship, Suruga Bank Championship and Japanese Super Cup.

[FIFA-1] "FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 5 July 2007. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 December 2013.

[2] Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "J1&J2&J3選手名鑑ハンディ版 2018 (NSK MOOK)", 7 February 2018, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411529 (p. 104 out of 289)

[3] Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK)", 8 February 2017, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411420 (p. 72 out of 289)

[JNFTD-5] [ Japan National Football Team Database] ^{[be specific]}