is a Japanese football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is currently the president of Japan Football League club Okinawa SV.
Club career Takahara was born in Mishima on 4 June 1979. After graduating from high school, he joined Júbilo Iwata in 1998. In 1998, the club won J.League Cup and he was selected New Hero awards. In 1999, the club won J1 League and Asian Club Championship. The club also reached second place at the 1999–2000 and 2000–01 Asian Club Championships. In August 2001, he moved to Boca Juniors on loan. He became the first Japanese player to play in the Argentine Primera División."Spreading Their Wings: Japanese Soccer Stars Seek Success Overseas", web-japan.org, accessed 20 October 2011.
In 2002, he returned to Júbilo Iwata. The club went on to win the 2002 J.League Division 1, while Takahara became the top scorer and was elected Most Valuable Player of the year.
After the 2002 season, Takahara moved to Hamburger SV. He made his Bundesliga debut on in January 2003 in a 2–2 draw against Hannover 96, thereby becoming the third Japanese footballer to play in Bundesliga after Yasuhiko Okudera and Kazuo Ozaki. On 3 December 2006, he scored his first hat-trick in the Bundesliga in a match against Alemannia Aachen.
In January 2008 he moved to Urawa Reds for a transfer fee of around ¥180 million (around $1.7 million). "Takahara leaves Eintracht" , eintracht.de, accessed 4 January 2008. Due to a disagreement with the style of coach Volker Finke, who had taken over as coach of Urawa in 2009, Takahara was leased to Suwon Samsung Bluewings of the South Korean K League 1 in July of the following year. On 31 July 2010, he made his debut as a substitute for the 39th minute of the match against Gwangju FC. On 29 August, he scored a goal in the 39th minute of the second half of the game against FC Seoul. He helped victorious game 4-2 and won the MVP in this game.
In 2011, he returned to Japan and signed with Shimizu S-Pulse. After that, he played for J2 League club Tokyo Verdy (2013–14) and J3 League club SC Sagamihara (2014–15).
In December 2015, along with Japanese judoka Tadahiro Nomura, Takahara founded Okinawa SV. "沖縄SV立ち上げの高原は「代表兼監督兼選手」…県3部スタートも将来的なJリーグ入り視野" He served not only as club's president, but also played and captained the club. On 27 November 2022, he brought his club a first-time promotion for the Japan Football League, after a 4–0 over FC Kariya led them to finish as runners-up at the 2022 Regional Champions League. He featured in the match as a late substitution. On 31 August 2023, Takahara announced his retirement at the end of this season.
International career In August 1995, Takahara was selected by the Japan U17 national team for 1995 U-17 World Championship. He played all three matches and scored one goal. In April 1999, he was also selected Japan U-20 national team for 1999 World Youth Championship. He played all seven matches and scored three goals. Japan achieved second place. In February 2000, he was selected by the Japan national team for 2000 Asian Cup qualification. At this qualification, on 13 February, he debuted against Singapore. He played all three matches and three goals and Japan won the qualify for 2000 Asian Cup.
In September, he was selected Japan U23 national team for 2000 Summer Olympics. He played all four matches and scored three goals in first match and quarterfinal. In October, he played at 2000 Asian Cup. He played five matches and scored five goals. Japan won the champions. However he missed the 2002 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by his home country and South Korea, because of lung disease (venous thrombosis).
After 2002 World Cup, Takahara played at 2003 Confederations Cup. Although his convocation for Japan decreased due to the schedule, he played as regular player when he was elected Japan. In 2006, he was elected Japan for 2006 World Cup and he played all three matches. After 2006 World Cup, he played at 2007 Asian Cup. He played six matches and scored four goals, and became a top scorer. He played 57 games and scored 23 goals for Japan until 2008.Japan National Football Team Database
2007 Asian Cup Takahara finished top scorer after an impressive performance at the 2007 Asian Cup. He scored against Qatar in the first match, who Japan tied 1–1. Japan won the next match, against United Arab Emirates and Takahara impressed coach Ivica Osim with two goals. In the quarterfinal match against rivals Australia, Takahara scored the tying goal and sent the game to penalty kicks. Although Takahara missed his spot-kick, saves from goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi sent Japan through into the semifinals, where they lost to Saudi Arabia 3–2.
Career statistics
Club
.Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 2015 (NSK MOOK)", 14 February 2015, Japan, (p. 269 out of 298)
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubseasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupContinentalTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsJúbilo Iwata1998J.League / J. League Division 12052064–28919992193110–2510200024100020–261020011380022–1510200227263000–3026Total1055881116–12465Boca Juniors2001–02Argentine Primera División61––1071Hamburger SV2002–03Bundesliga163–––1632003–042923131203742004–0531710–*103372005–0621121–*100332Total9713623113011916Eintracht Frankfurt2006–07Bundesliga301144–5239172007–088120––101Total381264–524918Urawa Reds2008J.League Division 127610314135820093240082–4062010400011–51Total631010124418015Suwon Samsung Bluewings2010K-League12410–10144Shimizu S-Pulse2011J.League Division 12881041–25920121810020–201Total4691061–5310Tokyo Verdy2013J. League Division 2411100––411120140000––00Total411100––4111SC Sagamihara2014J3 League21500––215201533600––336Total541100––5411Okinawa SV2018Kyushu Soccer League1711–1711201911721–19820204510–55202115510–165202213210–1422023Japan Football League2000–20Total683051–7331Career total5301592883212243614182
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsJapan2000118200140200241200382200451200572200653200796200840Total5723
Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Takahara goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Naohiro TakaharaNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 16 February 2000 Macau, China 9–0 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification2 3 20 February 2000 Macau, China 3–0 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification4 14 October 2000 Sidon, Lebanon 4–1 2000 AFC Asian Cup5 17 October 2000 Sidon, Lebanon 8–1 2000 AFC Asian Cup6 7 8 24 October 2000 Beirut, Lebanon 4–1 2000 AFC Asian Cup9 27 March 2002 Łódź, Poland 2–0 Friendly10 20 August 2003 Tokyo, Japan 3–0 Friendly11 12 31 March 2004 Jalan Besar, Singapore 2–1 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification13 7 September 2005 Rifu, Japan 5–4 Friendly14 8 October 2005 Riga, Latvia 2–2 Friendly15 28 February 2006 Dortmund, Germany 2–2 Friendly16 30 May 2006 Leverkusen, Germany 2–2 Friendly17 18 24 March 2007 Yokohama, Japan 2–0 Friendly19 1 June 2007 Fukuroi, Japan 2–0 Friendly20 9 July 2007 Hanoi, Vietnam 1–1 2007 AFC Asian Cup21 13 July 2007 Hanoi, Vietnam 3–1 2007 AFC Asian Cup22 23 21 July 2007 Hanoi, Vietnam 1–1 2007 AFC Asian Cup
Managerial statistics . + Managerial record by club and tenureTeamFromToRecordGWDLWin %Okinawa SV 1 February 2016 31 January 2020 29 July 2021 presentTotal
Honours Júbilo Iwata AFC Champions League: 1998–99 Asian Super Cup: 1999 J.League Division 1: 1999, 2002 J.League Cup: 1998 Japanese Super Cup: 2000
Hamburger SV DFB-Ligapokal: 2003 UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2005
Okinawa SV (player-manager) Kyushu Soccer League: 2019, 2021, 2022 Japanese Regional Football Champions League : 2022 (Runner-up)
Japan U17 AFC U-17 Championship: 1994
Japan U20 FIFA World Youth Championship runner-up: 1999
Japan AFC Asian Cup: 2000
Individual AFC U-19 Championship top scorer: 1998 AFC Asian Cup Best Eleven: 2000 Selected to AFC All Star Team: 2000 J.League Most Valuable Player: 2002 J.League Top Scorer: 2002 J.League Best XI: 2002 AFC Asian Cup top scorer: 2007 (shared)
References
External links
Japan National Football Team Database
footballdatabase.com Yahoo! Sports UK