TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Former Japan and Basel forward Yoichiro Kakitani has decided to retire at 35, his current J-League second-division club Tokushima Vortis said Saturday.

The technically gifted Cerezo Osaka youth product scored 21 goals for the club in the 2013 J-League season and played for Japan at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He scored five goals in 18 appearances for the Samurai Blue overall.

Kakitani spent a season and a half at Basel following the tournament before returning to Cerezo, and helped them claim the Emperor's Cup and League Cup double during the 2017 season.

After spending two years with Nagoya Grampus from 2021, winning the League Cup in his first season, Kakitani rejoined Tokushima, having previously spent two years and a half on loan to them as a youngster in the J2 before establishing himself at Cerezo.

Kakitani scored 52 goals in 238 J1 games in his career.