Kazuyoshi Miura, set to turn 59 next month and is recognized globally as football's most senior pro, has signed a temporary transfer until June with J3 League club Fukushima United.
The transfer means Miura could play in the Japanese professional league - encompassing the highest tiers of football in Japan - for the first time in half a decade.
The ex-international forward, who started his career with Brazilian side Santos in 1986, did not find the net in just over an hour across seven outings last season while on loan at fourth-tier club Atletico Suzuka.
"My love for the game remains undimmed, regardless of my age," he said as he prepares for a forty-first campaign as a pro footballer.
"I am truly thankful to be given this opportunity. I vow I will play with everything I have to make a contribution. Let's make history together!"
Known as 'King Kazu' in Japan, this will be Miura's fourth temporary move since 2022 from J2 League side Yokohama FC.
The veteran, who has also played club football in Australia, Italy, and Croatia, joined the club in 2005 but has not played a minute for them since 2020.
He scored 55 goals in 89 games in an international career that ended in 2000, two years after his surprising exclusion from the squad for Japan's maiden FIFA World Cup campaign.
The footballer, who has expressed a desire for playing until he is 60, said he was ready to "take on a new challenge" after being relegated last season to the country's lower regional divisions.
Fukushima ended the season in tenth place in the 20-team J3 League last season.
