H. Harada

Hiroki Harada took an unusual route to Kazakhstan: from Japanese university football to the Balkans, and from there to the Kazakh club Ulytau in February 2026.

His football began in Japan, in the youth setup of Nagoya Grampus. He then went to Chukyo University, where he played from 2017 until February 2021. Instead of staying in the Japanese game after graduating, he left for Europe. In August 2021 he joined Mladost Donja Gorica in Montenegro.

The longest run of that period came at Otrant-Olympic. Harada played for the club in the 2022/23 season, when it was in the Second League, and stayed on through 2023/24 and 2024/25. A left-footed midfielder of 172 cm, he was part of the squad for three seasons in a row.

In July 2025 he moved on to Jezero Plav. He made 15 appearances for the club in the 2025/26 season before the next change came in February 2026, when he signed for Ulytau.

For Ulytau he is the latest stop on a path that began in a Japanese university team and now runs through three countries.