In the northern most reaches of Honshu, the largest of Japan’s three main islands, sits Aomori, a city with a population of little more than 260,000 people that is home to one of the country’s most remarkable success stories.

 

Over the last decade, in a world far removed from the glitz and glamour of the J League, the football programme at Aomori Yamada High School has steadily moved from relative obscurity to national prominence.

 

A record four wins in the Prince Takamodo Cup at under 18 level and another four in the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament since 2016 have marked Aomori Yamada out as one of the country’s elite set-ups.

A solitary win in either competition is a major achievement for most schools, securing eight titles across both events in as many years is rare, with success in the All Japan High School tournament carrying considerable prestige in particular.

 

Founded in 1917 and played at the National Stadium in Tokyo with a country-wide television audience, the competition is a highlight of the sporting calendar where future stars of the J League and the Samurai Blue can first come to public prominence.

 

Go Kuroda was the architect of Aomori Yamada’s success, the 55-year-old Sapporo-born coach leading the school on a steady upward trajectory to national prominence over a 29-year career before trading it all in for a shot at the professional game.

“I was a high school teacher,” Kuroda, who took over as Machida coach in 2023, says. “And the point of high school, while growing up, it is also to help with the development of the players.

 

“This is the first time for me to work with a professional team and I wanted to bring this kind of feeling when I came here. A hybrid of professionalism and amateur, to work together and make something good.”

Charged by president Takehisa Otomo to invigorate Machida as he did the Aomori Yamada High School programme, Kuroda has overseen an entire overhaul of a club that had previously bounced around the mid-to-lower reaches of J2.

 

By the end of his first season, Machida had won the second division title to earn promotion to the top flight. Once there, the club finished third in the 2024 J1 standings to secure a first-ever appearance in the AFC Champions League Elite.

“There were two things I tried to change,” says Kuroda. “I was a teacher before and I wanted to organise everything, not only the coaching staff but also the upper management because the club president asked me to change the organisation of the team.

 

“Secondly, the players are different. Professional players have a career, they have a family that supports them so the approach is completely different. We have to respect the players.

 

“When I was a teacher, I worked to persuade the staff of my ideas and it’s been similar here. I want to use words to convince everyone to build a great team. This was the main change I wanted to try."

“Of course professional football and high school football are completely different. The target is different in professional life; it’s to win, earn money, get paid and protect your family. But the process is the same.

“I have experience of winning. I was seven times a champion at Aomori Yamada High School, so the process is the same when you are trying to make the team stronger and you’re trying to win. To be a winning team it is the same.

“Two years ago Machida were in J2 and we worked hard and the players understood my style of football. And now we are going to the top level. Now we’re stepping up to international competition and we want to spread the name of Machida Zelvia to the world.”

Machida’s success has not solely been built on the efforts of Kuroda, with several astute signings influencing the club’s climb towards the summit of Japanese football over the last three seasons.

 

Central defender Gen Shoji, who won the AFC Champions League™ in 2018 with Kashima Antlers, captains a team that also features Japan internationals Kosei Tani, Yuki Soma and Yuta Nakayama as well as Australian FIFA World Cup striker Mitch Duke.

Machida have proved the success of their debut J1 campaign was not based on fortune by backing it up in 2025 with another strong showing with the club in contention in both the league and the Emperor’s Cup as the season’s climax approaches.

 

Their qualification for the AFC Champions League Elite, however, presents a new test for Kuroda and the club, who drew their opener with FC Seoul on Matchday One and next face Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim on Tuesday.

“We are a challenger, so we have nothing to lose,” he says. “We have been through the J League and other competitions. We have our own championship, the Emperor’s Cup and the AFC Champions League Elite so we have lots of chances to get a title.

 

“Maintaining the players’ conditioning is difficult but we will face the challenge and we’ll go game-by-game. We’re one team and we are united.

 

“Other J League teams haven’t been able to qualify for the AFC Champions League Elite but we have qualified so, as a challenger, we want to try do the best we possibly can."

“Luckily we have players who have participated in the AFC Champions League Elite, so we are trying to get data or information from them about the atmosphere in the competition, the skills, the tactics, everything.

 

“We want to focus on going game-by-game. After two or three games we will know more about the competition. If we want to achieve something higher it might be difficult, we don’t have much experience so we’re focusing on each game in front of us.”