Football | Goalkeeper Svend Brodersen is a star in Japan

The transfer market is currently the same as every year: until the "deadline day" on September 1st at 6 p.m., footballers are being traded frantically. And quite a few of these transfers are, once again, being arranged by agents without the involvement of the players in question. But for the chance of playing time , increased market value, and top salaries, many players simply nod their approval.

If you ask Svend Brodersen about these excesses in professional football , he can't help but grin. The Hamburg native has just returned from the morning training session of his employer, Fagiano Okayama, a Japanese first division club, and takes a seat in a locker room. "You can play football anywhere ," says the 28-year-old goalkeeper with a clean shaven head, adding: "There are also transfers where you forgo a Bundesliga career, but can gain so much more in other ways." That's what happened to him.

Brodersen has been playing in Japan for four years and quickly became a star. This is partly due to his spectacular saves for Yokohama FC and, since the beginning of 2024, in Okayama. On the other hand, "Bro," as he is often called, also stands out off the pitch. Brodersen is known as a fan of Japanese pop culture—one of the reasons why he came to Japan in the first place. "They call me otaku here," he says with a laugh after training. In Japan, otaku refers to people who consume as much anime and manga as possible, day and night—and sometimes live in diverse fantasy worlds. For example, Brodersen loves "One Punch Man," a story about a guy with a supernaturally powerful punch. Or "Slam Dunk," a story about a basketball team. The list of anime that Brodersen has already "browsed" is, of course, much longer.

Why is this worth mentioning? Because Brodersen's love for Japanese pop culture was a key reason why he left FC St. Pauli in the summer of 2021. "I didn't move primarily because of football ," he explains. In a statement from Yokohama FC, where Brodersen signed at the time, it read: "My childhood was strongly influenced by Japanese culture through Nintendo, Godzilla, Samurai, and 'Fast & Furious'. Since then, it has been my dream to come to Japan one day."

A move by an anti-professional? In any case, the deal wasn't made through an agent who saw market value potential, but rather through discussions in the dressing room of Brodersen's club, the then second-division St. Pauli. "My contract was running out, I could have probably extended it, but more as a reserve." He asked his dressing room neighbor, the Japanese Ryo Miyaichi, "Ryo gave me a few tips." And by a stroke of luck, the 2021 Tokyo Olympics were approaching – during which Brodersen had already revealed his adventure-oriented approach to football. The German Football Association (DFB) was having trouble finding a reserve goalkeeper for the Olympic tournament, which doesn't hold a high status in professional football ; many were only willing to accept if they would actually play. When former youth national team goalkeeper Brodersen was asked, it was a quick response: "Even without playing, I was immediately keen!"

At the end of a tournament that proved unsuccessful for the DFB, Brodersen didn't even bother to return home. "When I arrived in the country in 2021, I didn't speak a word of Japanese. But I learned it by watching all kinds of anime in Japanese and soon reading manga in Japanese too. It was fun, it worked!" This knowledge is one of the reasons why Brodersen stands out in Japanese football today. Other foreign stars like Lukas Podolski, Andrés Iniesta, and David Villa failed to learn Japanese during their time there. But Brodersen has even mastered the many delicate forms of politeness. And when he arrives at media events wearing T-shirts of popular manga stories, the country rejoices.

When he explained the move to his German teammates, many shook their heads. "'Then you're out of the running,' they said." He himself saw things differently even back then. Alongside his football, Brodersen studied psychology and learned characteristics of Japanese culture. "Today, I'm a calmer guy than I used to be. I focus less on myself and more on my surroundings." This helps, he says, within the team, but also in his private life.

Brodersen has also developed athletically. When the trade magazine "kicker" analyzed German players playing abroad in June, only Svend Brodersen, along with Nicolas Kühn of Celtic Glasgow, was rated "outstanding." And so Otaku says with a grin: "I've found happiness in Japan."