The Japan Football Association made the squad announcement for January’s AFC U23 Championship on 29 December, and it included Europe-based Ryotaro Meshino.
Japan U23 will face Saudi Arabia (9 Jan), Syria (12 Jan) and Qatar (15 Jan) in Group B of the competition, with the top two teams progressing to the knockout stage.
The 23-men squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers
Ryosuke Kojima (Albirex Niigata)
Keisuke Osako (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
Kosei Tani (Gamba Osaka)
Defenders
Tsuyoshi Watanabe (FC Tokyo)
Koki Machida (Kashima Antlers)
Yugo Tatsuta (Shimizu S-Pulse)
Makoto Okazaki (FC Tokyo)
Taiyo Koga (Kashiwa Reysol)
Daiki Hashioka (Urawa Reds)
Midfielders
Yuki Soma (Kashima Antlers)
Tsukasa Morishima (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
Shunta Tanaka(Consadole Sapporo)
Keita Endo (Yokohama F.Marinos)
Reo Hatate (Kawasaki Frontale)
Ryotaro Meshino (Hearts, Scotland)
Taishi Matsumoto (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
Daiki Sugioka (Shonan Bellmare)
Ao Tanaka (Kawasaki Frontale)
Daiki Suga (Consadole Sapporo)
Mitsuki Saito (Shonan Bellmare)
Kyosuke Tagawa (FC Tokyo)
Forwards
Koki Ogawa(Mito Hollyhock)
Ayase Ueda (Kashima Antlers)
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