Kento Shiogai

Kento Shiogai (塩貝 健人) is a Japanese footballer who plays as a forward for Keio University. He is also registered as a specially-designated player for Yokohama F. Marinos. He is scheduled to fully join Yokohama F. Marinos on 2027, after his graduation from university.

High school
He played on Buddy SC Koto (U-12), and on Yokohama FC U-15s. On Yokohama FC, he barely played, and failed to win promotion to its U-18s. It was on high school football, though, that he gained prominence and national relevance. Playing for Kokugakuin University Kugayama High School, he was its captain on his third year of high school. He started to be highlighted by media during the end of 2023, when his team won the Tokyo preliminaries for the 2023 All Japan High School Soccer Tournament. His performances on the preliminaries included decisive goals for Kokugakuin Kugayama, finished off with a brace against Teikyo High School in the match that qualified them to the national tournament. He stated that he wanted to win the national tournament, and being its top scorer, prior to the start of the tournament.

Participating for the first and last time on the national tournament on 2023, the then-third grader scored a goal on its first match, against Kindai Wakayama, qualifying them to the third round. In a difficult match against the eventual champions Okayama Gakugeikan, he failed to score on the 0–0 draw and missed a penalty in the 5–3 shoot-out loss.

Despite the loss, Shiogai was noted as one of the nation's best prospects, and selected as one of the 36 best players of the tournament. As expected, he was selected for the Japan High School squad of the year. Representing them, he played the "FUJIFILM Super Cup Next Generation Match" against the U-18s of Yokohama F. Marinos, scoring a brace, and participated in both the Denso Cup Challenge and the U-19 Youth Soccer Tournament in Düsseldorf.

University and Yokohama F. Marinos
Shiogai joined Keio University on 2023, studying on the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law, and playing for its football team. He was gifted the number 10 on his first-year, before changing to the number 9 on his second. Scoring 15 goals in his first league season, Shiogai helped Keio to win promotion for the 2nd division of the Kanto University League.

On 25 January 2024, he was announced by Yokohama F. Marinos as their first signing of the 2027 season, and was immediately registered as a specially-designated player program, which allowed him to play for Marinos in J.League-approved competitions. On 10 April 2024, he made his debut for Marinos against Gamba Osaka in a 2–0 win, in which he was subbed on at the 67th minute. He started a match for Marinos in their following match, played against Shonan Bellmare. Making a lasting impression, he played 57 minutes, scoring his first professional goal on the 21th minute.

International career
He represented Japan U-18s on their 2023 activities, which happened in the second part of the year. He was featured on all three call-ups, and scored four goals in nine matches across the 2023 SBS Cup, in friendlies played in November and in the Ibaraki Next Generation Cup.

He was called up for the U-19 for three friendlies in March 2024, scoring a goal in its first. Continuing to represent the 2005 generation on the Japan youth set-ups with consecutive call-ups, he was called up for the 2024 Maurice Revello Tournament. He scored five goals in five matches, including a hat-trick against Italy, helping Japan to place 5th out of 12 teams, and winning the tournament's top scorer award.