Masaya Okugawa returns to Japan after nine years in German and Austrian football | OneFootball

After representing Holstein Kiel, DSC Arminia Bielefeld, FC Augsburg, and Hamburger SV, 28-year-old Japanese attacking midfielder Masaya Okugawa is finally departing German football. Augsburg confirmed the sale of the former Samurai youth international to J-League side Kyoto Sanga on Thursday afternoon.

Okugawa ended up making just two Bundesliga appearances for the Fuggerstädter over the course of the last 18 months.

Injuries and form issues precluded him from living up to the expectations accompanying his July 2023 move from relegated Bielefeld on a free. Okugawa only featured for the Augsburg reserves this season.

For a time, Okugawa did thrive in the German top flight. During the 2020/21 campaign with Bielefeld, he famously gelled with countryman Ritsu Doan (currently enjoying success with SC Freiburg) and scored his first Bundesliga goal. In the subsequent season with the Teutoburgs, he netted eight Bundesliga goals without Doan’s company.

Last season’s HSV loan stint saw him fail to get his name on the scoresheet in eight 2. Bundesliga appearances. He scored a total of ten second division goals during his time with Bielefeld and Kiel.

Okugawa returns to the Japanese club that initially introduced him to Europe via loans to Kiel as well as Austrian sides FC Lieferling and SV Mattersburg. He spent nine years in German speaking countries.