A native of Okayama Prefecture, Sano joined then J2 Machida Zelvia out of high school in 2019 and scored one goal for Kashima in 47 appearances in J1. He has won four caps for Japan.

“Mainz studied me thoroughly as a player and not only saw my strengths but also my potential to develop," said Sano. “It's always been my dream to play abroad and the Bundesliga is very well-known in Japan.

"I'm looking forward to getting the Mainz fans off their seats just as much as my Japanese countrymen who played here before," added Sano, who wants to follow in the footsteps of Shinji Okazaki and Yoshinori Muto.