While more and more young players look to Europe for a soccer education, Urawa Reds midfielder Genki Haraguchi is enjoying the benefits of home schooling.
This summer has seen a further exodus of promising talent from the J. League, with 19-year-old Takashi Usami moving from Gamba Osaka to Bayern Munich and Kashiwa Reysol's 21-year-old Yuki Otsu on the brink of signing for Borussia Monchengladbach without either having appeared for the full national team.
At 20 and with a reputation as one of Japan's best prospects, Haraguchi would seem the obvious candidate to join them. When the offer of a contract extension until 2014 with Urawa came his way last month, however, the Saitama native had no hesitation in putting pen to paper.