is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder and currently plays for club, V-Varen Nagasaki. He was also a member of the Japan national team until 2019.
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 on the Cerezo side in 2012, combining with Takahiro Ogihara in central midfield for both club and country, and 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.
Vissel Kobe On 19 December 2018, Yamaguchi sympathized with the goal of seriously aiming for the J1 League and AFC Champions League and officially completed a transfer to Vissel Kobeセレッソ大阪よりMF山口蛍選手 完全移籍加入のお知らせ ヴィッセル神戸 2018年12月19日 (later, he achieved the league championship as his goal). According to the media, it was a three-year contract with an annual salary of over ¥100,000,000, totaling over ¥400,000,000.C大阪・山口蛍、神戸移籍決定的 3年総額4億円 中日スポーツ 2018年12月12日
V-Varen Nagasaki On 23 December 2024, Yamaguchi announcement officially transfer to J2 club, V-Varen Nagasaki from 2025.山口 蛍選手 完全移籍加入のお知らせ V・ファーレン長崎 2024年12月23日
International career Yamaguchi represented 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 .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, (p. 145 out of 289)
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational CupLeague CupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsCerezo Osaka2009J.League Div 23000———302010J.League Div 1200020——402011171400020—23120123024260——40420133460081——4272014191100080—2812015J2 League35100——20371201619110——202212017J1 League3225120——3932018330101040—390Total226141631911404027918Hannover 962015–16Bundesliga6000———60Vissel Kobe2019J1 League3435221——4162020346—1071—42720213253081——4362022332302060—44220233243020——37420242733000—303Total192231721521310023728V-Varen Nagasaki2025J2 League200000——20Total200000––20Career total426373353432714052446
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsJapan201380201470201591201661201780201870201931Total483
Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Yamaguchi goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Hotaru YamaguchiNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 5 August 2015 Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, Wuhan, China 1–1 1–1 2015 EAFF East Asian Cup2 6 October 2016 Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan 2–1 2–1 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification3 19 November 2019 Panasonic Stadium Suita, Suita, Japan 1–4 1–4 2019 Kirin Challenge Cup
Honours Cerezo Osaka Emperor's Cup: 2017 J.League Cup: 2017 Japanese Super Cup: 2018
Vissel Kobe J1 League: 2023, 2024 Emperor's Cup: 2019, 2024 Japanese Super Cup: 2020
Japan EAFF East Asian Cup: 2013
Japan U-23 Asian Games: 2010
Individual EAFF East Asian Cup Most Valuable Player: 2013 J.League Best XI: 2013, 2017, 2023
References
External links
Profile at Cerezo Osaka Profile at V-Varen Nagasaki