Shoji Jo

He was born on the island of Hokkaido and began his footballing career with JEF United Ichihara in 1994. He quickly established himself, scoring twelve goals in his first season; he scored his first goal on his debut against Gamba Osaka on 12 March.

After three seasons with JEF United Ichihara, Jo moved to the Yokohama Marinos (later Yokohama F. Marinos) in 1997. His performances in the 1998–99 season led to a loan move to the Spanish Primera División team Real Valladolid. He failed to make an impact with the club, making just 15 appearances and scoring two goals before sustaining a knee injury. After his return to Japan, Jo struggled to reestablish himself as a regular goal scorer with the Marinos and Vissel Kobe, with whom he joined in 2002. He joined Yokohama FC in 2003, where he scored 12 goals in his first season with them. He helped his club to become J2 Champions in 2006 gained and promotion to J1, but he retired from playing after that season.

On 20 September 1995, Jo debuted for the Japan national team against Paraguay.

He made his first appearance in an international competition with the Japan U-23 national team in the 1996 Summer Olympics.[1]

In October 1996, he played for the Japan senior team for the first time in a year. He also played at the 1996 Asian Cup in December. After the 1998 World Cup qualification in 1997 Japan qualified for the 1998 World Cup for the first time in their history. He played at the 1998 World Cup and the 1999 Copa América. He played all matches in both competitions. He played 35 games and scored 7 goals for Japan until 2001.[2]

[2]

International goals
#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	9 February 1997	Bangkok, Thailand	Thailand	1–0	1–1	1997 King's Cup
2	27 March 1997	Muscat, Oman	Nepal	1–0	6–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC first round)
3	7 September 1997	Tokyo, Japan	Uzbekistan	4–0	6–3	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC final round)
4	16 November 1997	Johor Bahru, Malaysia	Iran	2–2	3–2	1998 FIFA World Cup Qualification (AFC play-off)
5	1 March 1998	Yokohama, Japan	South Korea	2–1	2–1	1998 Dynasty Cup
6	6 June 2000	Casablanca, Morocco	Jamaica	1–0	4–0	2000 King Hassan II International Cup Tournament
7				2–0

• 1996 Asian Cup
• 1998 FIFA World Cup

• Shoji Jo at Olympedia
• Shoji Jo at the International Olympic Committee
• Shoji Jo at the Olympic Channel
• Shoji Jo – FIFA competition record
• Shoji Jo at National-Football-Teams.com
• Japan National Football Team Database
• Shoji Jo at J.League (in Japanese)
• Soccer in Japan, Retrieved 11 October 2005
• FootballDatabase, Retrieved 11 October 2005