Yū Hirakawa
Japanese footballer (born 2001)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yū Hirakawa (平河 悠, Hirakawa Yū; born 3 January 2001) is a Japanese footballer who plays as a forward for Hull City, on loan from fellow EFL Championship club Bristol City and the Japan national team.
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Yū Hirakawa in 2024. | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Yū Hirakawa | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 3 January 2001 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Kashima, Saga, Japan | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Forward | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team |
Hull City (on loan from Bristol City) | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 13 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| Meirin JSC | |||||||||||||||||
| –2015 | FC Revona | ||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2018 | Saga Higashi High School | ||||||||||||||||
| College career | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2022 | Yamanashi Gakuin University | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2025 | Machida Zelvia | 70 | (10) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | → Bristol City (loan) | 36 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Bristol City | 22 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2026– | → Hull City (loan) | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Japan U22 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023– | Japan U23 | 9 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Japan | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:32, 21 April 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:14, 5 June 2025 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Early life
Hirakawa was born in Kashima, Saga. He played youth football for Meirin JSC, FC Revona and Saga Higashi High School. He played university football for Yamanashi Gakuin University.[1]
Career
In September 2021, it was announced that Hirakawa would join J2 League club Machida Zelvia as a designated special player, whilst playing for the football team of Yamanashi Gakuin University.[2] He made his debut for Machida on 5 December 2021 against Albirex Niigata.[3] He scored his first goal for the club on 13 March 2022, scoring in the 20th minute against Fagiano Okayama.[4] He was part of the Machida team that won the 2023 J2 League.
In April 2024, Hirakawa won his first Monthly MVP award for his performances at the start of the 2024 J1 League season.[5]
On 9 July 2024, Hirakawa joined EFL Championship club Bristol City on a season-long loan.[6][7]
On 24 February 2025, Hirakawa joined City on a permanent deal until June 2028.[8] On 9 August, he made his debut for the club in a 4–1 win against Sheffield United in the league.[9]
On 19 January 2026, Hirakawa joined fellow Championship club Hull City on loan until the end of the season.[10] He made his debut the following day, in the 3–0 win away to Preston North End.[11]
International career
On 4 April 2024, Hirakawa was called up to the Japan U23 squad for the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup.[12]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 21 April 2026[13]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Machida Zelvia | 2021 | J2 League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | J2 League | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 2 | |||
| 2023 | J2 League | 35 | 6 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 37 | 8 | |||
| 2024 | J1 League | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 19 | 2 | ||
| Total | 70 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 73 | 12 | |||
| Bristol City (loan) | 2024–25[14] | EFL Championship | 36 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 39 | 2 |
| Bristol City | 2025–26[15] | EFL Championship | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 27 | 2 | |
| Hull City (loan) | 2025–26[15] | EFL Championship | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| Career total | 137 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 147 | 16 | ||
- Includes Emperor's Cup, FA Cup
- Includes J.League Cup, EFL Cup
- Appearances in EFL Championship play-offs
