Avispa Fukuoka U-18

Avispa Fukuoka U-18 is the under-18 team of Avispa Fukuoka, and the academy that produced TOMIYASU Takehiro, who played for Japan at the 2026 World Cup. Fukuoka is one of the hardest places in Japan to run a club academy. Kyushu's school teams — Higashi Fukuoka in the same city, Kamimura Gakuen, Ohzu — have won national titles for decades, and for a long time the best local boys chose them. Avispa has answered with what only a professional club can offer: a direct route to the first team. In 2026 three of the under-18s already have professional contracts. The team is in its eighth season in the Premier League WEST.

Fukuoka · head coach HISANAGA Tatsunori

2026 season

Currently 6th in the Premier League WEST with 20 points from 14 matches (6W 2D 6L, 17-19). Updated daily.

Playing style

Under HISANAGA Tatsunori the team tries to take the initiative with the ball. Build-up starts with the goalkeeper and centre-backs, and the attacking movement is organised around the ideas of five vertical lanes and the half-spaces between the full-back and centre-back. HISANAGA is a former Avispa player himself — he came through the Kagoshima school system, played for Avispa, Yokohama F. Marinos and Omiya Ardija, and coached Tokyo Verdy's first team before returning to the academy.

Honours

Competition	Year	Notes
Premier League WEST	8 seasons	2011–2013, 2017–2019, 2025–2026
Japan Club Youth (U-18) Championship	3rd, 2018 and 2024

The club has not yet won a national title at under-18 level. Its measure of success has been the players it sends on: a Japan World Cup defender, a steady supply to its own first team, and in 2025 and 2026 three professional contracts signed by players who were still in the youth team.

History

1996 — The club, which began as a company team in Shizuoka, moves to Fukuoka and joins the J.League. An academy starts at the same time.
Early years — The club's youth teams compete with Kyushu's strongest school programmes for the same players, and build on the facilities and the path to the first team that a school cannot offer.
2016 — TOMIYASU Takehiro, who came through the under-15 and under-18 teams, reaches the first team; he goes on to Sint-Truiden, Bologna, Arsenal and Ajax.
2025 — TAKEMOTO Shohei signs a professional contract in April, at the time the youngest in club history. In May, MAEDA Hikaru, still a second-year, becomes the youngest player to appear for the first team in a competitive match (16 years 6 months), and a month later its youngest scorer. He signs a professional contract in September. The under-18s return to the Premier League.
2026 — FUJIKAWA Takezo, the captain, signs a professional contract in June.

Development pathway

Promotion by ability, not by age. The club moves players up to the first team as soon as they are ready, whatever their school year. MAEDA and TAKEMOTO are the examples; both still play for the under-18s when they are not needed upstairs.
One pathway from under-12. Most of the squad comes through the club's own under-15 team. The rest come from across Kyushu — Kagoshima, Miyazaki — and from further afield, including Kanagawa, Tokyo and Hiroshima.
Home games in the first team's stadium. Important Premier League matches are played at the club's J.League stadium, in front of real crowds.
Supporters who pay for it. The club runs a fan-token community that funds academy projects directly, so supporters are, in a practical sense, part-owners of the players' development.

Former players

TOMIYASU Takehiro (defender) — through the club's under-15 and under-18 teams, then Sint-Truiden, Bologna, Arsenal and Ajax, and a member of Japan's 2026 World Cup squad.
KITAJIMA Yuji (midfielder, Avispa Fukuoka) — from the under-15s to the first team.
SANI BROWN Hanan (forward, Avispa Fukuoka) — a 187cm striker who joined the under-18s from a club in Chiba.
MAEDA Ichika (forward, Avispa Fukuoka) — promoted from the under-18s, and back in Fukuoka in 2026 after a loan at Kataller Toyama.

Players to watch in 2026

Players worth knowing in the 2026 season:

MAEDA Hikaru (midfielder, third year, no. 7) — professional since September 2025 (first-team no. 53), in Japan's under-18 squad at the J-Village Cup in March 2026, and the team's top scorer in the league with five goals.
FUJIKAWA Takezo (defender, third year, no. 5) — the captain, professional since June 2026 (no. 58), and a Japan under-18 and under-19 international.
TAKEMOTO Shohei (midfielder, third year, no. 10) — professional since April 2025 (no. 52).
TANAKA Toshihisa (goalkeeper, third year, no. 1) and IWAMOTO Rui (defender, third year, no. 2) — both have played every minute of the league season. IWAMOTO came from Yokohama FC's Tsurumi junior-youth team.
MATSUURA Takumu (midfielder, third year, no. 6) — from a junior-youth club in Miyazaki; scored the winner against Sagan Tosu.
KITAZONO Taikai (forward, third year, no. 9) — from Kagoshima, three league goals.
MIZUTAKE Akinori (midfielder, second year, no. 17) — from Kamimura Gakuen's junior-high team; the centre of the midfield.
NAGATA Yudai (defender, second year, no. 3) — known for his long throw.
TAKENOBU Eiji (midfielder, first year, no. 19) — a first-year who has started almost every match.

Notes

Full profile in Japanese, with the current squad list and every result: アビスパ福岡U-18.

Where a player has no official English spelling published by the JFA or the J.League, the name is shown in Japanese.