Kento Tachibanada

Tachibanada's path to Kawasaki Frontale ran through a classroom rather than a youth academy. He started out at Kokubu Nishi SSS before moving through Maizuru Junior High and Kamimura Gakuen High School, then enrolled at Toin University of Yokohama, where he was named to the Best Eleven of the Kanto University Soccer League. It was from there, still a student, that he joined Frontale on loan in June 2020 — turning that into a permanent free transfer the following February after a brief return to university football.

The transition from student football to the J1 League went smoothly. He was named the J.League's Best Rookie in 2021, the same year he won the J1 League title with Frontale, and followed it up by winning the Outstanding Player Award in both 2021 and 2022. The club retained the league title again in 2021, and Tachibanada was later handed the captaincy for the 2023 season — the same year Frontale lifted the Emperor's Cup, with Tachibanada scoring in the semi-final. He has also won the Japanese Super Cup twice, in 2021 and 2024.

Now past 170 appearances for the club, with eight J1 League goals to his name, he has built his career entirely around Kawasaki Frontale since turning professional — there has been no loan spell elsewhere and no move to another club since his university days. He has not been capped by Japan at senior or youth level.