NEC Nijmegen forward Koki Ogawa received his first Japan call-up since 2019, while veteran fullback Yuto Nagatomo was also recalled Thursday ahead of the Samurai Blue's two upcoming World Cup qualifiers against North Korea.
Winger Junya Ito was overlooked by manager Hajime Moriyasu, however, after leaving the Japan squad during the Asian Cup amid a reported sexual assault allegation, although he has been back in action and performing strongly at his French club Reims.
Defender Takehiro Tomiyasu, who returned to the bench at Arsenal this week, was not named in the 26-man squad, nor were the injured Kaoru Mitoma, Reo Hatate or Yuta Nakayama for the Asian second-round qualifiers in Tokyo on March 21 and in Pyongyang five days later.
Japan have beaten Myanmar and Syria to sit atop Group B and will qualify for the final round if they win both their games against North Korea. They have never won in Pyongyang, however, having drawn twice and lost twice including a 1-0 defeat in their most recent visit in 2011.
Ogawa's selection comes during a strong debut Dutch Eredivisie campaign in which he has scored eight league goals for NEC.
Japan's dearth of left-sided defenders, meanwhile, has led Moriyasu to call upon 37-year-old former Inter Milan standout Nagatomo for the first time since the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
"I hope he makes his presence felt, both on and off the pitch," Moriyasu said of Nagatomo.
The veteran defender, who also played for Galatasaray and Marseille, vowed to "give his all" upon hearing the news.
"There's joy in getting to play for the Japan national team again, something that is always my aspiration and pride, and also a sense of urgency thinking of tough battles ahead," Nagatomo said.
Moriyasu said his decision to omit Ito was, "In one word, to protect him."
"He's playing in the French league and I wanted to call him up. But I'm imagining there wouldn't be an environment under which he can live or play at ease (in Japan at the moment)."
National Team Director Masakuni Yamamoto said the Japan Football Association wanted to help Ito resume national duties "as soon as possible." Ito, who has denied the sexual assault allegations, filed a damages suit of 200 million yen ($1.35 million) against two women on Feb. 19.
Keisuke Osako, Ao Tanaka, Yuki Soma, Takumu Kawamura and new Luton signing Daiki Hashioka all return to the fold after missing the Asian Cup.
There remains no place for forward Kyogo Furuhashi or midfielder Daichi Kamada, who will be hoping his fortunes at struggling Lazio turn around following the resignation of manager Maurizio Sarri on Wednesday.
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Japan squad:
Goalkeepers: Daiya Maekawa (Vissel Kobe), Keisuke Osako (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Zion Suzuki (Sint-Truiden)
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Shogo Taniguchi (Al-Rayyan), Ko Itakura (Borussia Monchengladbach), Tsuyoshi Watanabe (Gent), Koki Machida (Royale Union Saint-Gilloise), Seiya Maikuma (Cerezo Osaka), Hiroki Ito (Stuttgart), Daiki Hashioka (Luton), Yukinari Sugawara (AZ Alkmaar)
Midfielders/Forwards: Wataru Endo (Liverpool), Takuma Asano (Bochum), Takumi Minamino (Monaco), Hidemasa Morita (Sporting Lisbon), Yuki Soma (Casa Pia), Koki Ogawa (NEC Nijmegen), Daizen Maeda (Celtic), Ritsu Doan (Freiburg), Ayase Ueda (Feyenoord), Ao Tanaka (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Takumu Kawamura (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Keito Nakamura (Reims), Kaishu Sano (Kashima Antlers), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad)
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