Adidas - Japan 2012 Home Football Shirt 'HONDA'

This Japan 2012 home shirt was made by adidas and features Keisuke Honda’s #4 nameset together with FIFA sleeve patches. Worn during Japan’s qualification campaign for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the shirt comes from a period in which Honda was firmly established as one of the leading figures of the Samurai Blue.

The design features Japan’s traditional deep navy base with contrasting royal blue shoulder panels and white adidas Three Stripes. Its defining feature is the bold red stripe running vertically down the centre, introduced as a symbol of unity between the national team and its supporters. The Japanese flag and JFA crest sit prominently on the chest, creating one of the most distinctive Japan designs of the early 2010s.

Japan entered this period under Alberto Zaccheroni with an exciting generation featuring Honda alongside Shinji Kagawa, Yuto Nagatomo, Makoto Hasebe and Shinji Okazaki. Having won the AFC Asian Cup in 2011, Japan continued their momentum through World Cup qualification and ultimately became the first nation, outside hosts Brazil, to secure their place at the 2014 World Cup.

Honda was at the heart of the team throughout the era. Wearing his distinctive #4 shirt, the attacking midfielder was one of Japan’s main creative and goalscoring threats and played a major role in their qualification campaign. Most memorably, it was Honda who converted the late penalty against Australia in June 2013 that officially secured Japan’s qualification for Brazil 2014.

For collectors, the combination of Honda #4, the bold central-stripe design and Japan’s strong early-2010s generation makes this an especially appealing Samurai Blue shirt. It represents Honda during one of the defining periods of his international career and remains one of the more recognisable Japan designs of the adidas era.

Shirt condition: 7.5/10