ORIGINAL DATA RESEARCH
Patterns in Japan shirt-number data
We analyse archive records from 1998-02-15 to 2026-06-30. These are our own cross-record calculations across matches, players and shirt numbers.
- 426
- Matches
- 9,436
- Player-match records
- 584
- Records with match-specific sources
- 6.2%
- Specific-source coverage
FREQUENCY
Most frequently recorded numbers
| # | Number | Records | Wearers | Leading wearer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | 409 | 50 | ITO Junya (87) |
| 2 | 3 | 394 | 40 | KOMANO Yuichi (88) |
| 3 | 1 | 391 | 19 | KAWASHIMA Eiji (138) |
| 4 | 9 | 391 | 43 | OKAZAKI Shinji (115) |
| 5 | 8 | 390 | 49 | HARAGUCHI Genki (80) |
| 6 | 11 | 389 | 52 | SUZUKI Takayuki (50) |
| 7 | 15 | 387 | 54 | KONNO Yasuyuki (73) |
| 8 | 4 | 386 | 39 | HONDA Keisuke (75) |
| 9 | 5 | 386 | 40 | NAGATOMO Yuto (157) |
| 10 | 12 | 384 | 45 | NISHIKAWA Shusaku (81) |
CONTINUITY
Most persistent player-number pairs
- 015NAGATOMO Yuto157 matches
- 021KAWASHIMA Eiji138 matches
- 0322YOSHIDA Maya128 matches
- 0417HASEBE Makoto117 matches
- 057ENDO Yasuhito116 matches
- 069OKAZAKI Shinji115 matches
- 0722NAKAZAWA Yuji104 matches
- 0810KAGAWA Shinji92 matches
- 091NARAZAKI Seigo91 matches
- 106ENDO Wataru91 matches
BY DECADE
Archive coverage by decade
| Decade | Matches | Players | Records | Leading no. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 20 | 48 | 402 | 2 (14) |
| 2000s | 171 | 138 | 3,446 | 14 (162) |
| 2010s | 154 | 183 | 3,571 | 1 (154) |
| 2020s | 81 | 126 | 2,017 | 1 (81) |
Method and limitations
- One record is one player’s shirt number in one match; each match counts once.
- Rankings compare only this archive’s coverage and are not official all-time national-team statistics.
- Records without a match-specific primary source are marked confidence D; indexing and ads are restricted on weak pages.