MAEBASHI, Japan (Kyodo) -- Former Japan midfielder Hajime Hosogai, who played 102 matches in the German Bundesliga's top tier, will retire at the end of the season, his current J-League second-division club Thespa Gunma said Wednesday.

The 38-year-old began his career at Urawa Reds in 2005 and moved to the Bundesliga in early 2011 with Bayer Leverkusen. He initially spent time on loan at Augsburg, whom he helped win promotion, before playing for Leverkusen and Hertha Berlin through 2015.

Hosogai played for Japan at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and helped his country win the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar, but missed out on the 2014 World Cup in Brazil under Alberto Zaccheroni.

Following spells at Bursaspor, then second-tier Stuttgart and Kashiwa Reysol, Hosogai moved to Thailand and played for Buriram United and Bangkok United between 2019 and 2021 before joining his home prefecture club Gunma.