Keisuke Honda

Honestly, Keisuke Honda is one of those guys you can't help but root for even when he's being insufferable, and I mean that as a compliment. The man wore the number 10 at AC Milan, scored at three straight World Cups, and bossed Japan's midfield with this swagger that always read as ten percent talent, ninety percent sheer belief. I love that he refuses to fade quietly: retiring from the national team just meant picking up a wild side gig managing Cambodia, pouring money into hundreds of startups, and somehow still lacing up for a club in Bhutan. The "big mouth" reputation could be obnoxious, but he keeps backing it up, and there's something genuinely inspiring about a guy who wrote "be the best in the world" as a kid and then actually went and chased it. Pure restless ambition.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

Keisuke Honda is a Japanese professional soccer player born on June 13, 1986, in Settsu, Osaka. He built his career at clubs including Nagoya Grampus, VVV-Venlo, CSKA Moscow, and AC Milan, where he wore the iconic No. 10 shirt. As a Japan national team midfielder, he scored in three consecutive FIFA World Cups — a first for a Japanese player — and was named MVP as Japan won the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. After retiring from the national team in 2018, he expanded into entrepreneurship, investing in over 200 companies through KSK Angel Fund.

Name (English)

Keisuke Honda

Name (Japanese)

本田圭佑

Reading

ほんだけいすけ

Born

June 13, 1986 (age 40)

Origin

Settsu, Osaka, Japan

Height

182 cm

Occupation

Soccer player / Entrepreneur / Soccer coach / Sports commentator

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Gemini / Tiger

Blood type

AB

Agency

Independent (KSK Group)

Agency history

Nagoya Grampus (2004–2008)
VVV-Venlo (2008–2009)
CSKA Moscow (2010–2013)
AC Milan (2014–2017)
CF Pachuca (2017–2018)
Melbourne Victory (2018–2019)
SBV Vitesse (2019–2020)
Botafogo (2020)
Neftchi Baku (2021)
Paro FC (2024)

Active years

2004–present

Elementary school

Settsu Municipal Torikai Kita Elementary School

Junior high

Settsu Municipal Fourth Junior High School

High school

Seiryo High School, Ishikawa Prefecture

University

Did not attend university

Debut

2004 — Turned professional with Nagoya Grampus; official debut in the Nabisco Cup on July 24, 2004

Awards & achievements

• 2005 Prince Takamado Trophy All Japan Youth Championship Runner-up (Seiryo High School)
• 2011 AFC Asian Cup Most Valuable Player
• 2011 Japanese Footballer of the Year (2010 season)
• 2011 AFC Asian Cup Champion (Japan national team)
• 2013 Russian Premier League Champion (CSKA Moscow)
• 2015 AFC Asian Cup Group Stage Best Eleven

Timeline

1. 2004Turned professional with Nagoya Grampus; made official debut in the Nabisco Cup
2. 2008Transferred to VVV-Venlo in the Netherlands
3. 2010Transferred to CSKA Moscow in Russia; scored two goals at the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, helping Japan reach the Round of 16
4. 2011Led Japan to the AFC Asian Cup title and was awarded the tournament MVP
5. 2014Joined AC Milan in Italy, wearing the No. 10 shirt; scored the opening goal against Côte d'Ivoire at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil
6. 2017Transferred to CF Pachuca in Mexico
7. 2017Invested in startups through KSK Angel Fund (including HRBrain in December 2017)
8. 2018Appeared at the FIFA World Cup in Russia; became the first Japanese player to score in three consecutive World Cups; announced retirement from the national team
9. 2018Appointed General Manager (de facto head coach) of the Cambodia national football team
10. 2024Signed a one-match contract with Paro FC of the Bhutan Premier League

Spouse

A nursery teacher (married July 2008)

Children

Eldest son (born autumn 2012) and others

Hobbies

• Investment and startup support
• Soccer coaching

Specialties

• Free kicks
• Long-range shots
• Two-footed play

Motto

Learn as though you will live forever. Live as though you will die tomorrow.

Filmography / notable works

• Official sitehttps://keisuke-honda.com
• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/keisukehonda/
• Xhttps://twitter.com/kskgroup2017
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9C%AC%E7%94%B0%E5%9C%AD%E4%BD%91
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q202054

Tags

• Soccer player
• Japan national team
• AC Milan
• Entrepreneur
• Venture capital
• Settsu, Osaka
• World Cup goals in three consecutive tournaments
• Seiryo High School

Last updated

October 18, 2026

Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.