“Very helpful to the team”
©IMAGO
FC St. Pauli has announced the signing of striker Taichi Hara (26) and confirmed that the Japanese will be moving to Millerntor on a free transfer. Like compatriot and new colleague Joel Fujita (23) from St. Pauli’s midfield, Hara also once played for the Belgian first division club VV St. Truiden. Most recently he was active in his home country with Kyoto Sanga.
“With his skills, Taichi embodies a type of player that we haven’t had in our squad before,” explained sports director Andreas Bornemann. “He can be used as a classic target player, but also has the technical requirements to be involved in combination play. This gives our game additional flexibility. We are confident that his experience in Europe will help him to quickly acclimatize with us.”
Hara’s club in Kyoto announced on Wednesday that the 1.91 meter tall attacker would not stay and instead wanted to move abroad. There was recently some uncertainty about the length of the attacker’s contract in Japan. The Hamburgers have now confirmed that no transfer fee will be due.
Blessin on Hara: Dangerous in front of goal but also with an eye for teammates
St. Pauli’s head coach Alexander Blessin said about the new addition: “In his previous positions, Taichi has already proven that he can be a goal threat himself as well as having a good eye for his teammates. He is well trained in football and, thanks to his size, is also a factor in offensive and defensive standards. In addition, he acts in a very team-friendly manner and doesn’t shy away from any effort when working against the ball.”
In the past, Hara played twice for VV St. Truiden – a total of one and a half seasons – each time on loan from Spanish first division club Deportivo Alavés. The Tokyo native returned to Japan in 2023. Kyoto tried to stay, but instead the two-time national player is now going to the Elbe. In addition to Fujita, he will also meet St. Pauli’s new defensive signing Tomoya Ando (27). He is the third Japanese in the team in the neighborhood – plus young player Nick Schmidt (18) – and the sixth overall in the history of the brown-whites.
In the past season, Hara was mostly used on the wings and led the statistics of won aerial duels in the Japanese league. His scoring record in 2025: five goals, eleven assists. The player’s market value increased over the course of the year by 650,000 euros to 1.5 million euros.
