In 2019, JEF United Chiba forward Ami Otaki launched Nadecare, an organization intended to support women’s soccer players in achieving their career goals and raise the sport’s profile in a country that just eight years previously was No. 1 in the world.
Now the group has a potentially strong ally in the WE League, which has put “women’s empowerment” right in its name and set out an ambitious vision for professional women’s soccer in Japan.
WE League Chair Kikuko Okajima has emphasized a need to facilitate a greater range of career opportunities for players — a vision shared by Otaki, who since her professional debut in 2012 has hopped between top-division clubs in France and Japan.