Hikaru Kitagawa

Hikaru Kitagawa
北川ひかる
Personal information
Full name	Hikaru Kitagawa
Date of birth	May 10, 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth	Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
Height	1.64 m (5 ft 4+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	BK Häcken
Number	8
Youth career
2010–2015	JFA Academy Fukushima
Senior career*
Years	Team
2015–2018	Urawa Reds
2018–2023	Albirex Niigata
2023–2024	INAC Kobe Leonessa
2024–	BK Häcken
International career‡
2014	Japan U-17
2016	Japan U-20
2017–	Japan
Medal record
Representing Japan
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup
AFC U-19 Women's Championship
FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup
AFC U-16 Women's Championship
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11:34, 26 October 2024 (UTC); ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11:34, 26 October 2024 (UTC)

Hikaru Kitagawa (北川ひかる, Kitagawa Hikaru, born May 10, 1997) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a defender for Damallsvenskan club BK Häcken and the Japan national team.

Club career

Kitagawa was born in Kanazawa on May 10, 1997. After graduating from JFA Academy Fukushima, she joined Urawa Reds in 2015. She played as regular right side back from first season. However her opportunity to play decreased from 2017. In September 2018, she moved to Albirex Niigata.^[1]

International career

Kitagawa played for Japan U-17 national team at 2014 U-17 World Cup and Japan U-20 national team at 2016 U-20 World Cup. Japan won the championship in 2014 and took third place in 2016.^[2] In 2017, she was selected by the Japan national team for the 2017 Algarve Cup. On March 1, she played against Spain. She played five games for Japan in 2017.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 21 October 2024^[3]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National cup^[a]		League cup^[b]		Continental		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Urawa Reds	2015	Nadeshiko League	12	0	0	0	0	0	—		12	0
	2016	Nadeshiko League	17	3	1	0	8	2	—		26	5
	2017	Nadeshiko League	6	1	4	0	6	0	—		16	1
	2018	Nadeshiko League	8	0	0	0	3	0	—		11	0
	Total		43	4	5	0	17	2	—		65	6
Albirex Niigata	2018	Nadeshiko League	7	1	0	0	0	0	—		7	1
	2019	Nadeshiko League	13	0	2	1	5	0	—		20	1
	2020	Nadeshiko League	18	1	0	0	0	0	—		18	1
	2021–22	WE League	20	1	—		2	0	—		22	1
	2022–23	WE League	18	0	3	0	5	0	—		26	0
	Total		76	3	5	1	12	0	—		93	4
INAC Kobe Leonessa	2023–24	WE League	22	6	4	2	5	0	—		31	8
BK Häcken	2024	Damallsvenskan	5	0	1	1	—		2^[c]	0	8	1
Career total			146	13	15	4	34	2	2	0	197	19

^ Includes Empress's Cup, Svenska Cupen
^ Includes Nadeshiko League Cup, WE League Cup
^ Appearance(s) in UEFA Women's Champions League

International

As of match played 26 October 2024^[4]

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Japan	2017	5	0
	2022	1	0
	2024	8	2
Total		14	2

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kitagawa goal.

List of international goals scored by Hikaru Kitagawa
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	31 July 2024	Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes, France	Nigeria	3–1	3–1	2024 Summer Olympics
2	26 October 2024	Japan National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan	South Korea	1–0	4–0	Friendly