25 Facts About Gen Shoji

Gen Shoji is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for J1 League club, Machida Zelvia.

Gen Shoji joined Gamba Osaka Junior Youth during middle school and then Yonago Kita High School.

Ahead of the 2011 season, Gen Shoji was registered to the Kashima Antlers' first team in January.

From that moment on, Gen Shoji spent months on the substitute bench, due to Daiki Iwamasa, Takeshi Aoki and Masahiko Inoha.

Gen Shoji continued to help the side remain at the top of the table for the next eleven matches.

Gen Shoji then helped the side keep three clean sheets in three matches between 4 March 2017 and 14 March 2017.

Gen Shoji further captained the side on numerous occasions throughout the 2017 season.

Gen Shoji later helped Kashima Antlers keep three clean sheets in the last three remaining matches but the club finished second place behind Kawasaki Frontale.

Gen Shoji then captained the side for the next three matches between 13 March 2018 and 31 March 2018.

However, Gen Shoji suffered a calf injury that saw him miss two matches.

Gen Shoji later appeared twice during the FIFA Club World Cup, as they finished fourth place in the tournament.

In November 2018, Gen Shoji continued to be linked a move away from Kashima Antlers, as it was reported that Toulouse interested in signing him.

Gen Shoji was able to help to help the club avoid relegation despite bad results.

However, Gen Shoji played 45 minutes, as he sprained his ankle and was substituted.

Gen Shoji later helped Gamba Osaka finish second place in the league.

On 8 December 2022, Gen Shoji returned to his former club, Kashima Antlers for the 2023 season.

Gen Shoji was named in the starting XI for the first five games of the season, but with the team drawing one and losing four of these, Shoji was dropped to the bench.

Gen Shoji did not make the starting line-up in a league game for the remainder of the season and only played 644 minutes in his 21 league appearances.

Two months later, it was announced that Gen Shoji was called up for the national team ahead of the AFC Asian Cup in Australia.

In May 2018, Gen Shoji was named in Japan's preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Gen Shoji later made two more starts in the tournament, as they were eliminated by Belgium in the knockout stage.

Three months later in June, Gen Shoji started two more matches back to back for the national side, including being a captain against El Salvador on 9 June 2019 and helping them keep two clean sheets.

When Gen Shoji was two years old, Great Hanshin earthquake struck in his hometown.

Gen Shoji has an older sister, Kaede, who is an actress.

In January 2017, Shoji announced his marriage to a general woman, which took place in the previous October.