is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a right-back.
Uchida started his career with Kashima Antlers, making his debut in 2006 at the age of 17. After four years and three J1 League Titles, Uchida moved to Germany with Schalke 04 in 2010 for €1.3 million. With Schalke, Uchida won the 2010–11 DFB-Pokal, and was named in the Bundesliga team of the season twice from 2012 to 2014. He later played in the 2. Bundesliga with Union Berlin before returning to Japan with his first club Kashima Antlers, where he retired in 2020.
Uchida made his first appearance for the Japan national team in January 2008, and went on to make 74 appearances and score two goals for his country, representing them in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Club career Kashima Antlers Born in Kannami, Shizuoka, Japan, Uchida was educated at and played for Shimizu Higashi High School. During his time there, he played mainly in the wing position, partly because of his speed. The school's director Kazuo Umeda switched Uchida's position to the right–back position, in which he played for the remainder of his career. In 2006, Uchida moved to Kashima Antlers with a high school diploma.
On 5 March 2006, Uchida made his professional football career for Kashima Antlers at the age of 17 in the season-opener against Sanfrecce Hiroshima, since which he has remained a fixture in the starting eleven as a right–back. Uchida's first goal as a professional footballer came on 21 March 2006 when he scored against Ventforet Kofu. He then scored his second goal for the club, in a 4–2 win against FC Tokyo on 21 July 2006. However, Uchida was out on two separate occasions due to suspension and injury that saw him miss the J.League Cup final. At the end of the 2006 season, he went on to make forty–one appearances and scoring two times in all competitions. For his performance, Uchida was selected by popular vote to play in the 2006 J. League All-Star Soccer game.
In the 2007 season, Uchida continued to regain his first team place for the side, playing in the right–back position and helped Kashima Antlers go on a nine-match winning streak between 2 May 2007 and 23 June 2007. After missing one match due to his commitment in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, he made his return to the starting line–up, in a 1–0 win against Ventforet Kofu on 11 August 2007. Uchida later helped the club win the league for the first time since after beating Shimizu S-Pulse 3–0 in the last game of the season to regain their nine consecutive wins. While helping Kashima Antlers go on their nine consecutive wins, he was out on two separate occasions due to suspension and minor injury. In the final of the Emperor Cup, Uchida scored the opener in a 2–0 win over Sanfrecce Hiroshima to win the cup; resulting the club winning a double. For his performance, Uchida was selected by popular vote to play in the 2007 J. League All-Star Soccer game. At the end of the 2007 season, he went on to make forty–four appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
Uchida started the 2008 season when he started the whole game against Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the Japanese Super Cup, as Kashima Antlers lost 4–3 on penalties after the game finished 2–2 throughout extra time. Uchida also made his AFC Champions League debut, starting a match and played 76 minutes, in a 9–1 win against Krung Thai Bank on 12 March 2008. Seven days later on 19 March 2008, he set up two goals In his second AFC Champions League's appearance, in a 6–0 win against CLB Nam Định. Uchida helped the club kept two clean sheets in the first two league matches. However, during a 1–0 win against Beijing Guoan in the AFC Champions League, Uchida suffered a hip injury and was out for between two and three weeks. On 11 May 2008, he made his return to the starting line-up, playing 82 minutes, as Kashima Antlers loss 1–0 against Shimizu S-Pulse. Since returning from injury, Uchida quickly began playing in the receiver role later in the season. After missing four matches, due to his international commitment for the Summer Olympics, he returned to the starting line–up, in a 2–1 win against Vissel Kobe on 27 August 2008. Uchida then helped the club keep three consecutive clean sheets between 28 September 2008 and 4 October 2008. He scored his first goal of the season, scoring the winning and only goal of the game, in a 1–0 win against Oita Trinita on 23 November 2008. In the last four games of the season, Uchida helped Kashima Antlers kept four clean sheets in a row, including winning the league on the last game of the season. At the end of the 2008 season, he made 34 appearances and scoring once in all competitions. For his performance, Uchida was named J. League Best Eleven for the first time. He also signed a contract extension with the club, keeping him until 2012.
Ahead of the 2009 season, Uchida was linked a move away from Kashima Antlers, as several clubs from Europe were interested in signing him. In the Japanese Super Cup, he started the match and helped the club beat Gamba Osaka 2–0 to win match. Uchida set up a goal for Marquinhos, in a 2–0 win over Urawa Red Diamonds in the opening game of the season. He scored his first goal of the season, in a 4–1 win over Warriors in the AFC Champions League campaign on 8 April 2009. Since the start of the 2009 season, Uchida started every match in the right–back position until he was dropped from the squad for one match against JEF United Chiba on 2 May 2009, due to suffering from chronic fatigue. It came after when Uchida suffered fatigue and had to be substituted during a 5–0 win against Armed Forces on 22 April 2009. He returned to the starting line-up and played 69 minutes, in a 2–1 win against Shimizu S-Pulse on 10 May 2009. A month later against FC Seoul in the round of 16 AFC Champions League, Uchida missed the decisive in the penalty shootout, resulting in the opposition team going through to the next round after the game finished 2–2 throughout 120 minutes. Things went worst for him a week later on 5 July 2009 when he gave away a penalty for handball, resulting in him receiving a red card and was successfully converted by Juninho to give Kawasaki Frontale a lead, in an eventual 1–1 draw. After the match, manager Oswaldo de Oliveira defended Uchida. He returned to the starting line-up from a one match suspension, against Kawasaki Frontale in the first leg of the J. League Cup and set up the winning goal, in a 1–0 win. In a follow–up match, Uchida made his 100th appearance for Kashima Antlers, in a 2–2 draw against Shimizu S-Pulse. His performance halfway through the season attracted interests from an unknown Serie A clubs, who made a 3 million euros bid. Despite this, he continued to regain his first team place in the right–back position for the rest of the season. On the last game of the season, Uchida set up a goal for Shinzo Koroki to score the only goal in the game, in a 1–0 win over Urawa Red Diamonds, resulting in the club winning the league for the third time running. At the end of the 2009 season, he went on to make the total of 43 appearances and scoring once for the side. For his performance, Uchida was named J. League Best Eleven for the second time.
Ahead of the 2010 season, Uchida's performance continued to attract interests from European clubs. Amid the transfer move, he started the whole game and helped Kashima Antlers win the Japanese Super Cup after beating Gamba Osaka 5–3 on penalty shootout following the match being played throughout 120 minutes. At the start of the 2010 season, Uchida continued to feature in the first team in the right–back position for the club and helped Kashima Antlers continued to remain in a good form. On 30 March 2010, he scored his first goal of the season, in a 3–1 win over Persipura Jayapura. After missing one match due to a knee injury, Uchida returned to the starting line–up, in a 2–1 loss against Cerezo Osaka on 5 May 2010, in what turned out to be his last league appearance for Kashima Antlers. His last appearance for the club came on 12 May 2010, in a 1–0 loss against Pohang Steelers in the last 16 of the AFC Champions League. By the time he departed from Kashima Antlers, Uchida went on to make seventeen appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
Schalke 04 On 13 June 2010, German club Schalke 04 announced that they had signed the Japanese international to a three-year contract for €1.3 million. It came after when the club sold Rafinha to Genoa.
Uchida made his Schalke 04 debut, starting the whole game, in a 2–0 loss against Bayern Munich in the DFL-Supercup. He made his league debut for the club in the opening game of the season, coming on as a second–half substitute for Joël Matip, in a 2–1 loss against Hamburger SV. However, he missed three match in early–September, due to an injury. But Uchida made his return from injury, coming on as a second–half substitute, in a 2–2 draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 25 September 2010. After returning to the first team, Manager Felix Magath commented on his performance, saying: "Uchida still lacks physical robustness, but he sets the best accents forward." Four days later, on 29 September 2010, Uchida made his Champions League debut for Schalke 04, starting the whole game, in a 2–0 win over Benfica. After missing one match, he made his first league start in the right–back position for the club, in a 2–2 draw against Stuttgart on 16 October 2010. Uchida helped Schalke 04's defence by keeping three consecutive clean sheets between 4 December 2010 and 18 December 2010. After missing out throughout January, due to international commitment for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, he made his return to the starting line-up and helped the club's defence kept a clean sheet, in a 0–0 draw against Borussia Dortmund on 4 February 2011. This was followed up by helping Schalke 04 kept another clean sheet, in a 1–0 win against SC Freiburg. Following a 2–1 win against Eintracht Frankfurt on 12 March 2011, Uchida wore a shirt which in response to the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, saying: "Dear friends in Japan. Hoping that many lives will be saved. Let's stand together. This misfortune is very, very close to me. I keep in touch with Japan." Since returning to the first team, he managed to regain his first team place in the right–back position for the rest of the season. On 13 April 2011, Uchida made history by becoming the first Japanese footballer to play for a team that reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champion's League by helping the club beat Inter Milan 7–4 on aggregate. Despite Schalke 04 failing to reach the UEFA Champions League final, he came on as a late second–half substitute for Peer Kluge to help Schalke 04 beat MSV Duisburg 5–0 in the DFB-Pokal Final. In his first season at the club, Uchida went on to make the total of 43 appearances in all competitions.