With twelve rounds of matches to play in the Japanese J-League there is an intriguing four way battle for title honours. Last season's champions Nagoya Grampus Eight are, along with Yokohama Marinos, just one point behind the top two of Gamba Osaka and Kashiwa Reysol (22 games, 43 points).

Gamba Osaka were involved in the tie of the weekend getting the better of Kawasaki Frontale by six goals to three with Brazilian Rafinha scoring a hat-trick and helping stretch Gamba's unbeaten run to seven matches.

Former Yokohama Marinos & Japan defender Naoki Matsuda passed away this morning, after suffering a cardiac arrest during training on Tuesday. He was thirty-four. The player, who represented his country at the 2002 World Cup, was described by former team-mate Shunsuke Nakamura as '.

Photo by wonker

The Daily Mirror reports this morning that Arsenal is seriously considering accepting a £15 million offer to visit Japan this summer as part of their pre-season tour. Arsenal has also received an offer from organizers in the United States for a similar tour.

From Nakata to Nagatomo: Japanese footballers in Serie A, Part.II is a post from: Just Football

With Asian Cup winner Yuto Nagatomo moving to European champions Inter in January we're taking a special look back at the history of Japanese footballers in Serie A on Just Football in a two-part special feature.