Majutsu-shi, The Magician: The legacy of Andrés Iniesta in Japan
It’s one of the most iconic images of modern footballing history. Andres Iniesta, in the centre circle of an empty Camp Nou, taking in the atmosphere of his eternal home, one last time.
As he announces his retirement, viewing this picture becomes that little more bittersweet.
Six years ago, Iniesta drew to a close an almost 25-year association between man and club in a relationship that, alongside Messi, Xavi, Busquets and others, defined an era at FC Barcelona of arguably the greatest club side ever seen.
In 2018, despite signing a lifetime contract earlier in the season, he decided to leave the club and the city he called his home. Having been a La Masia graduate, and club captain since Xavi’s departure three years prior, it was a day many Barca fans never wanted to come.
Barcelona in that moment were in the middle of a 5-year front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with Japanese technology giant Rakuten, who also own Vissel Kobe. This connection was instrumental in Iniesta choosing to move to the J1 League as he sought a move away from Europe.
Landing in Kobe, in front of over 8,000 fans, Iniesta greeted a new continent, a new culture, and one of the best top flights outside of Europe.
His arrival was reminiscent of other big names such as the legendary Brazilian attacking midfielder Zico, who in Japan is now so synonymous with Kashima Antlers.
While El Illusionista’s influence over Japanese may not have been as significant as Zico’s, its undeniable that there has been ever-increasing growth in the quality of football in the country since his arrival.
At Vissel Kobe, Iniesta wasn’t the only player Rakuten used their sponsorship with Barcelona to sign. They bolstered their lineup with the likes of Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen and La Masia graduate Sergi Samper joined soon after in 2019.
Other big names they brought over included former Bayern Munich and Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski whose arrival preceded Iniesta. As well as him, Spanish compatriots such as David Villa in 2019, Bojan Krkic in 2021 and Juan Mata in 2023 also donned the Ushi kit.
With a star-studded squad to back him up, Iniesta guided Vissel Kobe to their first ever major silverware by winning the 2019 Emperor’s Cup, beating Zico’s beloved Kashima Antlers in the final. In the following season, Iniesta’s leadership followed through as Vissel Kobe won the Japanese Super Cup.
And finally in 2023, despite being injured for much of the season, there was a winning mentality instilled in the team by Iniesta from those initial successes as Vissel Kobe won their first ever J-1 League title.
This was the cherry on top to Iniesta’s time in Japan as he departed the club halfway through the 2023 season for Emirates FC in the UAE.
Iniesta’s arrival in Japan, at such a crucial time in the country’s footballing development, provides a lens at which we can look at Japanese football as a whole, both domestically and internationally.
Successes from Vissel Kobe include Iniesta’s former manager Juan Manuel Lillo becoming Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City. As well as this, former teammate Kyogo Furuhashi has become a fan favourite with Scottish giants Celtic, winning multiple titles and individual awards with the club.
Elsewhere and more further afield, Japanese players such as Crystal Palace’s Daichi Kamada, Brighton star Kaoru Mitoma and, the “Japanese Messi” Takefusa Kubo, formerly of both Real Madrid and Barcelona, have been making a mark in Europe for several years now and more and more are making the intercontinental move.
In the time between Iniesta’s arrival and departure from Japan, the Sakkā Nippon Daihyō rose from 61st in May 2018 to 20th in August 2023 in the FIFA men’s rankings, and as of September 2024, are the second highest ranked national team outside of Europe and South America at 16th.
They have masterminded victories over Iniesta’s Spain, and more particularly Germany, that too twice, including a 4-1 thrashing in Wolfsburg as well as draws against Uruguay and Croatia at the 2022 World Cup in regulation time, only losing on penalties to the latter.
With three fully professional tiers, similar to the German league system, the J-League is a vastly modernised pyramid with the majority of teams in the top flight averaging over 20,000 fans per game.
There is a massive fan culture in Japan, illustrated by the repeated travels of European teams for pre-season fixtures there. Iniesta helped to harness that and, despite the sun setting on his career, his influence in the Land of the Rising Sun is far from done.
