Known for consistency, positioning and longevity with Nagoya Grampus and Japan; biggest achievements: over 70 caps, 2010 J.League MVP, multiple World Cup squads.
One rank above: Masami Ihara at #21.
One rank below: Takashi Inui at #23.
Japan's editorial top five: Hidetoshi Nakata · Shinji Kagawa · Keisuke Honda · Makoto Hasebe · Shunsuke Nakamura.