‘Japan’s Way’ as a National Football Philosophy

In July 2022, the Japan Football Association (hereinafter JFA) formulated ‘Japan’s Way’ as a National Football Philosophy and presented it as a vision to be shared with football stakeholders nationwide.

We believe that ‘Japan’s Way’ is the path that bridges the gap between the present and the ‘ideal state’—a state envisioned by working backwards from the question of what the state of Japanese football will be when we realise the pledge set out in the JFA Declaration, 2005: ‘to have a football family of 10 million strong by 2050 and to win the FIFA World Cup’.
We have now produced the second version in December 2025.

To further develop Japanese football, we have been promoting the “4 factors integrated development ” approach, comprising “national teams”, “youth development”, “coach education” and “grassroots”. Whilst this revision does not involve any major changes in direction, we have refined the content and wording in light of the progress made in various initiatives.

We wish to share this once again with the entire football family. With the aim of ‘Japan lifting the World Cup trophy’—and to ensure that everyone involved in football can enjoy the sport and lead happy lives—we intend to build a system that brings together the strength of the whole country to tackle every challenge.

Please download the digital book here.