Civil Servant Takes Center Stage at World Cup: Junpei Mihara, One of Only Two Japanese Referees Selected

2026 FIFA World Cup Key News

Central News Agency, Tokyo, December 13 — Comprehensive international news report

Junpei Mihara, a city hall employee from Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, is a local civil servant by weekday and a football referee on weekends. After years of training and rigorous evaluation, he has finally been selected to officiate at this year’s FIFA World Cup, becoming one of only two Japanese referees—and the sole Japanese assistant referee—on the tournament’s officiating team.

According to the "Nikkei" newspaper, Mihara is currently 44 years old. In high school, he was not particularly athletic and did not participate in any sports clubs or school teams. However, during his second year of high school, he watched Japan’s first-ever appearance at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, which sparked his interest in football. While preparing for university entrance exams, he began playing football casually with friends.

After leaving his hometown of Matsue to attend Kyoto University, his passion for football remained strong. However, realizing he lacked the talent to become a player, he turned his attention to refereeing. He began studying football rules in depth and started officiating practice matches. Gradually, he discovered that refereeing suited him better than playing.

At the time, he felt uncertain about his future, unable to envision himself working in a corporation or pursuing academic research. He considered the possibility of contributing to his hometown while pursuing his passion for football, and ultimately decided to take a leave of absence during his third year of university to pass the civil service exam for Matsue City Hall.

While working as a civil servant, he obtained referee qualifications for municipal-level (equivalent to towns and cities) matches and grew increasingly passionate, striving for higher-level certifications. He meticulously analyzed referee and player movements through video footage and rigorously trained his physical fitness and strength to meet the demands of assistant refereeing—covering approximately 6 kilometers per match and keeping pace with elite athletes.

In 2011, Mihara earned professional referee status and became an assistant referee in Japan’s professional football league (J.League). Participating in football this way brought him great motivation and joy.

In 2017, a rare opportunity elevated his refereeing career: he was recommended by the Japan Football Association and registered as an international referee by FIFA.

This sparked curiosity among Japanese media about how he balanced his civil service duties with a refereeing career that often required multiple overseas trips annually. At the time, he worked in the city hall’s information systems department, a role that typically required on-site presence.

He candidly approached the personnel department, stating, "Refereeing is the meaning of my life. I want to stand on the world stage. Does the city hall have a position where I can contribute while pursuing this?" A year later, in 2018, he was transferred to the Sports Promotion Division, a department known for its flexible work structure that allows colleagues to cover for each other when absent.

With this support, Mihara served as an assistant referee in international tournaments such as the AFC Asian Cup. He expressed deep gratitude to his colleagues: "I wouldn’t be here without the tremendous support I’ve received at work."

Last season, he received the J.League Best Assistant Referee Award and officiated 20 international matches.

According to Fuji News Network (FNN), after years of strict evaluation, he has now advanced to football’s highest stage—the FIFA World Cup—overcoming the disappointment of missing selection for the previous Qatar World Cup.

This marks the first time a Matsue City employee has served as a World Cup referee, making him a source of local pride.

Mihara’s appointment as an assistant referee for the World Cup has drawn enthusiastic support from Matsue citizens and people across Japan. Before departure, he said, "I will go there determined not to disappoint everyone’s expectations. A single match might be watched by hundreds of millions or even billions of people. If viewers feel the game was exciting, that would be enough for me."

Kyodo News reports that FIFA announced the list of referees in April, including Japan’s head referee Yusuke Araki and assistant referee Junpei Mihara. They are the only two Japanese officials selected for this year’s World Cup referee team. (Translation: Yang Weijing) 1150613