‘King Kazu’ Discusses His Connection to Fukushima

By Haruki Hayashida / Yomiuri Shimbun Sportswriter

21:00 JST, March 12, 2026

Kazuyoshi Miura, a former Japan national soccer team member currently on loan at J3 division team Fukushima United FC, spoke on his connection to places affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake during an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun and other media outlets.

On March 29, 2011, shortly after the March 11 earthquake, Miura scored a late goal in a charity match in Osaka held in support of quake-affected areas. He celebrated the goal with his signature “Kazu dance.”

“I think some people thought it was inappropriate,” Miura, 59, said.

He admitted that he had felt conflicted about it himself, but his dance that day is still praised as a symbol of hope.

Miura was 44 at the time of the match. “I was determined to keep taking on challenges and never give up. I was wishing to bring even a little more light into the world,” he said.

When he was on the roster for Yokohama FC, he often visited Fukushima Prefecture to take part in the club’s activities supporting reconstruction efforts. In 2019, he played with children at J-Village, a soccer stadium that had been used as a front-line base of operations for handling the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant accident caused by tsunami after the quake.

“I’ve been asked to do the Kazu dance everywhere. Often, I was the one being encouraged by looking at the children who were full of energy,” he said with a smile.

Following the quake, the future of Fukushima United FC was in a precarious position. Hayato Suzuki, the president of the club, recently told Miura that his goal in the charity match encouraged him to fight for the club’s survival.

“I felt the deep connection between the goal and Fukushima through what he [Suzuki] told me about it being a big encouragement,” Miura said.

Since moving to the prefecture, Miura has often heard that reconstruction efforts are still far from complete. In such an environment, he understands that entertainment is not high in the order of priority, but he believes in the power of sports.

“[Sports] has an outsized influence,” he said. “I’d like to show the importance of playing here on the pitch.”

With the quake-hit prefecture being his current home, he is determined to again deliver the Kazu dance of hope.