Known for stamina, recovery pace and relentless overlapping on the left; biggest achievements: Inter Milan regular, over 140 Japan caps, four World Cups.
One rank above: Yasuhito Endo at #9.
One rank below: Atsuto Uchida at #11.
Japan's editorial top five: Hidetoshi Nakata · Shinji Kagawa · Keisuke Honda · Makoto Hasebe · Shunsuke Nakamura.