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Football Club Japan, based in New York, is the largest Japanese American soccer club in the United States. The team has 70 players registered, most of whom are Japanese, and has a first team and a reserve team. F.C. Japan currently plays in the Cosmopolitan Soccer League Second Division. The level of play, backgrounds, and ages vary. There are players who almost made it to the professional level, all the way to beginners. The oldest player is 53 years old, and the youngest is 16 years old (as of 2010). There are students, business men, artists, chefs, business owners, freelancers, and many more. The club serves more as a Japanese society in NY, rather than a soccer club. Football Club Japan was originally formed in 1992 by Kenichi Yatsuhashi who had just retired from playing in the Brazilian Second Division. Joined the Cosmopolitan Soccer League as the first Japanese team in 1993. In 2000 it acquired another Japanese team named JAMS. In 2000, finished 2nd in the Third division and was promoted to the Second division. So far, the best record for the club was the 2007-08 season, where they finished in the 4th place in the league, and advanced to the final 4 in the State Cup tournament, but not as good enough to be promoted to the First division yet. In 2009, for the first time in its club history, Football Club Japan entered a sponsorship deal with WIST TV, Inc., which is a New York based Japanese IT company. BEAMS a renowned Japanese select shop became the club's second sponsor in 2010. 2011, Team Japan NYC, a NY-Japanese select team was formed for the first time to participate in Cosmos Copa NYC. 7 players from FC Japan were selected, and was the team that provided the most within the NYC Japanese teams. FC Japan also won the inaugural Japan CUP which was a tournament among all major Japanese soccer clubs based in NY. Managers 1992: Kenichi Yatsuhashi 1993: Kenichi Yatsuhashi 1994/95: Etsu Taniguchi/Giampiero Ambrosi 1995/96: Hiroshi Ishiguro 1996/97: Akihiro Inoue 1997/98: Ken Suzuki 1998/99: Ken Suzuki 1999/00: Takeshi Kawaguchi 2000/01: Takeshi Kawaguchi 2001/02: Takeshi Kawaguchi 2002/03: Takeshi Kawaguchi 2003/04: Tosh Tatezawa 2004/05: Tosh Tatezawa 2005/06: Tosh Tatezawa 2006/07: Tosh Tatezawa 2007/08: Takehiko Nakamura 2008/09: Kimihiro Obata (Asst. Takehiko Nakamura) 2009/10: Kimihiro Obata 2010/11: Kimihiro Obata 2011/12: Kimihiro Obata Ranking 1994/95: 3rd Division - State Cup Final 8 1999/00: 3rd Division - 2nd Place - Promotion 2003/04: 2nd Division - 6th Place 2004/05: 2nd Division - 5th Place 2005/06: 2nd Division - 5th Place 2006/07: 2nd Division - 10th Place 2007/08: 2nd Division - 4th Place (State Cup Final 4) 2008/09: 2nd Division - 9th Place 2009/10: 2nd Division - 12th Place 2010/11: 2nd Division - 13th Place 2011/12: 2nd Division - (Champion Japan Cup 2011) Captains 2000/01: Tosh Tatezawa 2001/02: Tosh Tatezawa 2002/03: Tosh Tatezawa 2003/04: Takeshi Hirai 2004/05: Takeshi Hirai 2005/06: Tomohiro Tsuchiya 2006/07: Tomohiro Tsuchiya 2007/08: Shinobu Ninomiya 2008/09: Shinobu Ninomiya 2009/10: Shigeru Aoe 2010/11: Shigeru Aoe 2011/12: Keita Hanyuda Awards 2011: Most Valuable Player: Shigeru Aoe Most Improved Player: Hiromi Yamamoto New Comer of the Year: Kazuhide Kosugi A-Team: Golden Boot: Shigeru Aoe Most Valuable GK: Lyle Slander Most Valuable DF: Keita Hanyuda Most Valuable MF: Takehiko Nakamura Most Valuable FW: Koji Tsurumi B-Team: Golden Boot: Noriyuki Shimizu Most Valuable GK: Lyle Slander Most Valuable DF: Masaki Ohnuma Most Valuable MF: Naoki Akazawa Most Valuable FW: Noriyuki Shimizu Japan Cup 2011: Most Valuable Player: Takehiko Nakamura
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