There is a player from Kurashiki who is active as a professional soccer player in Africa, far away from Kurashiki.
The name of that soccer player is Morishita Jindo.
After signing professional contracts in Zambia and Ghana, he is currently a member of a professional soccer team in Morocco. He was also selected as the MVP of the matches in the Moroccan league held from 2024 to 2025.
We interviewed Morishita-san, who continues to challenge himself in a foreign land.
About Morishita Jindo
Morishita Jindo is a professional soccer player from Kurashiki City who is active in the African soccer league.
He is currently a member of the traditional soccer team "Stade Marocain," and is gaining attention as the first Japanese player in Morocco.
In addition to soccer, Morishita-san is also actively involved in activities and businesses that lead to international support.
▼ For more details, please see the following article.
New stage, challenges in Morocco
Here are Morishita-san's activities and achievements in Morocco.
MVP at Morocco's oldest club
Morocco is a country with the strength to rank 4th in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
In such a strong soccer nation, Morishita-san signed a contract with "Stade Marocain," a club that belongs to the second division of the Moroccan league.
Stade Marocain is the oldest club in Morocco, established in 1919, and its home base is in the capital, Rabat.
In the 2024-25 season, they achieved 8th place in the Moroccan Botola 2 League and reached the quarter-finals of the King's Cup. The opening match of the league was Morishita-san's first match after recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, and he contributed to the team's victory by scoring as a starting member. He was selected as the MVP of that match.
When asked, "How is your relationship with your teammates?" Morishita-san replied, "Even if we don't speak the same language, there are many nice guys who try to reach out to me as I try to reach out to them."
It seems that Japanese anime is popular in Morocco, and conversations often become lively through discussions about anime.
Conveying Japanese culture to Morocco through soccer
Since his time in Zambia, Morishita-san has been hosting soccer tournaments for local children.
In Morocco, he organized another soccer tournament, co-hosted with JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency). It seems that a friend of Morishita-san's father-in-law works at JICA, which led to this collaboration.
Not only did they play soccer, but they also conveyed Japanese culture in between. With the cooperation of JICA's volunteer staff, events that combined soccer and Japanese culture were realized, including quizzes about Japan and traditional dances like Bon Odori.
The soccer tournament had 300 to 400 children participating and ended in great success.
In the future, he aims to participate as a representative of Morocco in the African Champions League and to open an okonomiyaki restaurant in Morocco to promote the charm of Japan through Japanese cuisine, continuing his activities in Morocco.
Strong support from local businesses
Here are two stories about local businesses in Kurashiki.
The sports shop in Kurashiki "Play Sports" is a personal sponsor of Morishita-san. They are working together to donate soccer equipment collected at the store to Africa.
The soccer club of Okayama Prefectural Kurashiki Seiryo High School, Morishita-san's alma mater, is also cooperating, and the soccer equipment is being cleaned by the club members before being sent to Africa.
As this donation activity continued, they decided to open a second-hand soccer equipment store locally. One donation activity has developed into a business that creates local employment.
Additionally, the construction company "Airu Engineering Co., Ltd." (hereinafter referred to as "Airu Engineering") based in Kurashiki has been supporting Morishita-san for a long time.
Airu Engineering has an overseas branch in Ghana, where Morishita-san met them while he was with a club in Ghana. Due to their common point of being from Kurashiki, they became a personal sponsor and even supported the team as the first Japanese corporate sponsor in Ghana.
Airu Engineering continues to sponsor him. They provided a comment about their expectations for Morishita-san's future.
Shiraga (no honorifics)
Airu Engineering continues to challenge even those endeavors that are deemed to have a low probability of success, which might be better off not attempted. Morishita-san's attitude of challenging himself in a country far from Kurashiki resembles our company's philosophy of "not letting the impossible end as impossible."
We believe that surpassing one's limits is where personal growth and fulfillment lie. We would like to continue supporting Morishita-san's activities in the future.
Support from local businesses is a very strong support for Morishita-san.
Receiving encouragement from many people, Morishita-san continues to challenge himself in soccer amidst a different culture. We asked him about his thoughts after finishing the season in Morocco.
