Hiroto Taniguchi

After coming up through Tokyo Verdy's youth ranks — the Junior, Junior Youth and U18 teams — he did not turn professional straight away, instead enrolling at Kokushikan University in 2018. It was during his university years that Verdy brought him back on loan, from June 2021 to January 2022, to play in the J3 League, and the club liked what it saw: in February 2022 they signed him permanently as a free agent.

From there Taniguchi became a fixture at the back for Tokyo Verdy, making 118 league appearances and scoring 10 goals for the club across all competitions. The high point came in 2023, when Verdy won the J2 League promotion play-offs, sending the club up to the J1 League for the 2024 season.

In January 2026, Taniguchi completed a permanent transfer to Kawasaki Frontale, a paid move rather than a free transfer, though the fee itself was not made public.

Internationally, Taniguchi has represented Japan only at youth level so far, featuring for the U18s in 2017 and earning a single cap for the U19 side the following year without scoring. He is not to be confused with Shogo Taniguchi, the senior Japan international defender of the same surname.