Best Defensive defenders by Season Rating in J3 League 2026

The best defensive defenders in J3 League in 2026, ranked on Field Insider.

Best defensive goalkeepers in J3 League Best defensive midfielders in J3 League Best defensive attackers in J3 League Best defenders in J3 League Most in-form defenders in J3 League Top-scoring defenders in J3 League

At a glance

Ri Thae-Ha of Roasso Kumamoto is the standout for raw talent across defenders in J3 League, with a Field Insider Rating of 35.4, and K. Minoda has been the form player this season, grading 58.2, and G. Egawa leads the scoring with 6 goals.

The numbers a scout watches are the year-on-year jumps: Y. Hasegawa has improved his Season rating most, up +22.1 on last season. Those are the players whose trajectory is bending upward fastest.

By our market-value index, H. Iwasaki of Tochigi SC is the most valuable name in this group at 4.4.

Matsumoto Yamaga · 22/23→25/26

Most improved

Y. Hasegawa+22.1SsN

Parceiro Nagano · 21/22→25/26

50 players · ranked by best defendersCustomise →

	Player	Team
1	K. Minoda Centre-back	Matsumoto Yamaga	27	58.2	58	2832.6%
2	R. Kawakami Centre-back	Kanazawa	32	41	41	14
3	T. Akiyama Centre-back	Osaka	32	40.8	41	14
4	Yoshitaka Aoki Full-back	Kagoshima United	28	36	36	24
5	H. Iwasaki Centre-back	Tochigi SC	24	35.3	35	29
6	W. Hiramatsu Full-back	Tochigi SC	26	33.2	33	24
7	S. Tachino Full-back	Osaka	33	32.8	33	9
8	K. Sugiyama Centre-back	Kitakyushu	28	30.3	30	20
9	Y. Tsujioka Centre-back	Kitakyushu	24	30.1	3068.2%	28±0%
10	M. Tokida Centre-back	Sagamihara	28	29.4	29	19
11	Y. Hasegawa Full-back	Parceiro Nagano	29	29.4	29302.7%	1760.8%
12	Y. Takahashi Centre-back	Thespakusatsu Gunma	27	28.7	29	22
13	T. Nonomura Centre-back	Matsumoto Yamaga	28	28.4	28	18
14	S. Nikaido Centre-back	Gainare Tottori	25	28.3	28	26
15	K. Yamawaki Full-back	Kitakyushu	25	28.1	2856.1%	29±0%
16	H. Sugii Full-back	Kagoshima United	26	27.7	28	27
17	K. Chibu Centre-back	Kagoshima United	31	25.9	26	13
18	K. Tomita Centre-back	Parceiro Nagano	30	25.2	25	15
19	H. Sugita Centre-back	Matsumoto Yamaga	22	24	24	26
20	G. Egawa Centre-back	Kagoshima United	26	23.2	23	26
21	M. Kaneura Centre-back	Gainare Tottori	26	23.2	23	23
22	K. Kitazume Full-back	Matsumoto Yamaga	34	22.4	22220%	1627.4%
23	R. Ohata Centre-back	Thespakusatsu Gunma	29	22.3	22	19
24	H. Nukui Centre-back	Gainare Tottori	29	21.6	22	18
25	D. Matsumoto Centre-back	Kanazawa	28	20.9	21553.1%	2349.8%
26	S. Kozuki Full-back	Kochi United	26	20.5	21	25
27	S. Maruyama Centre-back	Kitakyushu	27	20.2	20	22
28	N. Yamamoto Centre-back	Kanazawa	31	19.7	2015.9%	1464%
29	D. Fukagawa Centre-back	Kochi United	27	19.6	20	20
30	K. Ikoma Full-back	Nara Club	28	19.4	19	20
31	S. Sagou Full-back	Kamatamare Sanuki	24	19	19	26
32	R. Yamamoto Full-back	Renofa Yamaguchi	26	18.8	19	23
33	S. Nose Centre-back	Thespakusatsu Gunma	23	18.6	19	25
34	Daiki Higuchi Full-back	Matsumoto Yamaga	25	18.6	19	25
35	Y. Ono Centre-back	Parceiro Nagano	30	18.5	19	13
36	H. Oshima Full-back	Gainare Tottori	26	18.2	18	24
37	S. Kikuchi Centre-back	Renofa Yamaguchi	23	17.8	18	27
38	N. Suzu Centre-back	Fukushima United	26	17.6	18	24
39	K. Kai Centre-back	FC Gifu	31	17.2	17	14
40	J. Ninomiya Centre-back	Matsumoto Yamaga	22	17.2	17	26
41	G. Matsumura Centre-back	Matsumoto Yamaga	24	17	17	24
42	J. Suzuki Centre-back	FC Ryukyu	30	16.8	17	15
43	Y. Tsukegi Centre-back	Kamatamare Sanuki	31	16.7	17	14
44	M. Yamada Centre-back	Fukushima United	32	16.3	16	13
45	G. Sehata Full-back	Thespakusatsu Gunma	25	15.4	15	24
46	Y. Okuda Centre-back	Nara Club	29	15.4	15	16
47	K. Sunamori Centre-back	Parceiro Nagano	36	15.2	15	6
48	R. Araki Full-back	FC Ryukyu	25	15	15	28
49	Hayate Nagakura Full-back	Kanazawa	30	14.9	15	15
50	Y. Fujii Centre-back	Kamatamare Sanuki	20	14.6	15	27