J. League first-division side Vissel Kobe has acquired the services of striker Shoji Jo from the Yokohama F. Marinos on a one-year loan contract, club officials said Tuesday.
The 26-year-old Jo, a member of Japan's World Cup squad in 1998, joins former Japan teammates Kazuyoshi Miura and Masayuki Okano at Vissel on a deal running from Feb. 1 through Jan. 31, 2002.
Jo joined JEF United Ichihara from Kagoshima Jitsugyo high school in 1994 and moved to Yokohama in 1997 before playing for Spanish club Valladolid, where he had a disappointing six-month spell.
The first Japanese to play in the Spanish First Division, Jo scored just two goals in 15 league appearances for Valladolid and was unable to earn a contract extension after his loan deal expired in the summer of 2000.
Jo has been out of form since rejoining Yokohama and scored two goals in 25 games in the 2001 season for a team that narrowly avoided relegation to the second division.