Kashima Junior Youth Heading Toward the Prince Takamichi Cup
Manager Yoshitaka Shinohara
The “Prince Takamichi Cup JFA 36th All Japan U-15 Football Championship,” which determines the best team in Japan’s junior youth age group, will be held from Saturday, December 14 to Friday, December 27 in Osaka Prefecture, Tokyo, and other locations. Kashima Junior Youth won the tournament last time and will be fighting to defend their title. Ahead of the tournament, we spoke with the team’s manager, Yoshitaka Shinohara, about his thoughts on the competition and the team’s current status.
One Game at a Time
On Saturday, December 14, the “Prince Takamichi Cup JFA 36th All Japan U-15 Football Championship” will kick off across the country. Kashima Junior Youth will play from the first round through the quarterfinals at J-GREEN Sakai in Osaka Prefecture. In their opening match (first round), they will face Sapporo U-15 (kickoff at 1:30 p.m.). If they advance, they will face the winner of the match between G Osaka Monzen JY and Matsumoto U-15 in the second round on Sunday, December 15, at 1:30 p.m. They will then play in the quarterfinals on Sunday, December 22 (kickoff at 1:30 p.m.), while the semifinals on Wednesday, December 25 (kickoff at 1:30 p.m.) and the final on Friday, December 27 (kickoff at 2:00 p.m.) will be held at Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka in Tokyo.
“Just like last year’s tournament in 2023, this is a competition featuring extremely strong teams. Rather than playing with the final in mind, I’m currently focused solely on how to get the team in the best possible condition for the matches in the coming week. The first week will be a two-day stretch of matches, with the first and second rounds. For now, we’re putting everything into the opening match. We’re building the team with that mindset.”
Kashima Junior Youth Manager Yoshitaka Shinohara shares his thoughts ahead of the tournament. As defending champions, they are also expected to become the fourth team in the tournament’s history to win back-to-back titles (previous winners include Verdy Junior Youth in 2003 and 2004, G Osaka Junior Youth in 2006 and 2007, and Tosu U-15 in 2020 and 2021), but Manager Shinohara flatly states, “I’m not thinking about winning back-to-back titles at all.” As mentioned above, his focus remains entirely on the match at hand.
“I don’t think being in the spotlight is a bad thing. However, if the players get overly conscious of it and get carried away, they might enter the match without keeping their feet on the ground. That could lead to the game unfolding strangely and make it difficult to recover. We lost in the round of 16 at the national tournament in the summer (the 39th Japan Club Youth Football Championship U-15 Tournament), and I feel that every match is a battle. Rather than focusing on winning back-to-back titles, we’re going to put everything into the match at hand. Even with the attention, I want everyone to stay grounded and be able to perform not just at 100%, but a little more—105% or 110%. That’s what we want to focus on as we enter the tournament.”
In the final of last year’s tournament in 2023 (against Omiya Junior Youth), second-year students at the time made up half of the starting lineup. Five players—DF Takumi Kurahashi, MF Hiroki Okusawa, MF Sora Iwato, FW Shusei Takizawa, and FW Kaito Takagi—had not only been selected for the Japan national team in their respective age groups but had also gained experience in Brazil and in official matches with Kashima Youth, growing even further as they became the oldest players on the team. Manager Shinohara understands that these third-year students, centered around this group, are heading into this winter as the culmination of their development, still carrying the disappointment of this past summer’s 39th Japan Club Youth Football Championship U-15 Tournament.
“In the summer tournament, we took the lead in the final, but we got flustered when they caught up, and we were beaten when our unity faltered slightly. Since then, while keeping in mind the development of individual abilities, we’ve been training so that each player doesn’t fight alone to win matches, but instead works together as a team with clear objectives. The Prince Takamichi Cup will be the final tournament for these third-year students, so it’s an opportunity for them to show the results of everything they’ve worked on at Kashima Junior Youth. This year’s third-year students have strong individual personalities, so they tend to try to break through, defend, or turn the game around on their own. However, no matter how the game unfolds, they all have a very strong desire to win. So everyone has the same goal. What matters is how we can combine those strengths together.”
Last year, younger players also stood out. DF Kurahashi, MF Iwato, FW Takizawa, FW Takagi (the four from left to right), and MF Okusawa (far right), all of whom have been selected for the Japan national team, are key players to watch in this tournament.
We want to choose the method that develops individuals while fighting through to the end
The tournament format requires teams to play up to five matches in two weeks, from the first round through the final. Although it is a team centered around third-year students, just as it was when they won last year, the development of younger players will likely be key to strengthening the team and advancing in this tournament as well.
“To win each match, we need the strength of the younger players as well as the third-year students. Some players might make a major breakthrough during the tournament. As a manager, I want to help each player make the most of their strengths while also encouraging them to play boldly. I would be delighted if the contributions of younger players become a key factor in this tournament.”
And the support of the “Antlers Family” will also be there to encourage the players. At last year’s final, in addition to the younger players and parents of Kashima Junior Youth players, as well as Antlers supporters, club staff including President Fumihito Koizumi and Football Advisor Mitsuru Suzuki gathered at Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka to witness the moment they won the title.
“The atmosphere of the final at Nishigaoka last year (2023) was truly wonderful. In addition to parents and younger players, many people associated with Antlers came out to support us, and that gave us a tremendous boost. Playing in that environment will also help the players grow, and giving their all there and having their abilities recognized by so many people will be a very important part of their journey toward becoming professional players. We want to see what kind of players will carry the future of Antlers. We hope that everyone will come to the matches again this year, see the games, enjoy them, and support the players.”
Manager Shinohara sends the players, burning with an unyielding determination to win, out onto the pitch. However, for these junior high school students in the midst of their youth development, this tournament is not the climax of their football careers. They are, above all, “the future stars of Antlers,” and they must aim not only for victories in the matches ahead but also for individual growth.
“We are a junior youth team in the junior high school age group, but we are Kashima Antlers. I want people to pay attention to our attitude of fighting to win until the very end and our commitment to victory. However, as a manager, while aiming for victories in matches, I also want to make sure we develop the players’ abilities. Of course, I want to win matches and win the championship, but it would be completely backward to focus so much on winning that the players don’t develop. Throughout the tournament, I want us to choose the method that helps individuals grow, win the championship as a result, and develop players who will carry that winning mentality with them as they move up to the top team in the future. Of course, we will always give our all to win, but we want to choose the method that develops individuals until the very end and fight through to the end.”
The Antlers spirit of fighting to win at all costs and the Antlers Academy philosophy of prioritizing individual development. To put both of these on the path to glory, Kashima Junior Youth, led by Manager Shinohara, will take on the national stage again this winter.
At the Antlers Academy Field and other facilities, under the guidance of Manager Shinohara and the coaching staff, the elite players of Kashima Junior Youth are working hard every day to win titles and develop themselves.