| Kenji Arai 新井 健二 | |
| Fullname: | Kenji Arai |
| Birth Date: | 19 May 1978 |
| Birth Place: | Saitama, Japan |
| Position: | Defender |
| Youthyears1: | 1994–1996 |
| Youthclubs1: | Tokiwa High School |
| Youthyears2: | 1997–2000 |
| Youthclubs2: | Rissho University |
| Years1: | 2001–2003 |
| Clubs1: | Albirex Niigata |
| Caps1: | 26 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2004–2005 |
| Clubs2: | Albirex Niigata Singapore |
| Caps2: | 51 |
| Goals2: | 6 |
| Years3: | 2006–2009 |
| Clubs3: | Singapore Armed Forces |
| Caps3: | 119 |
| Goals3: | 15 |
| Years4: | 2009–2010 |
| Clubs4: | Sporting CG |
| Years5: | 2010 |
| Clubs5: | Sengkang Punggol |
| Caps5: | 17 |
| Goals5: | 3 |
| Years6: | 2011–2012 |
| Clubs6: | Home United |
| Caps6: | 37 |
| Goals6: | 1 |
| Totalcaps: | 250 |
| Totalgoals: | 25 |
is a former Japanese professional football player.
Arai entered professional football with Albirex Niigata after graduating from Rissho University in 2001 but was unable to hold on to the first team place although he played 20 league games for Albirex Niigata in his first season.[1] He was on loan to Albirex Niigata FC (Singapore) in 2004 and in 2006 he secured a permanent move to Singapore Armed Forces FC.
He is also the second Japanese player, after his Singapore Armed Forces FC teammate Masahiro Fukasawa, to play in the AFC Champions League for a non-Japanese club. In November 2009, Kenji joined SC Goa.[2] He returned to Singapore and joined Sengkang Punggol FC on 2010 and subsequently Home United FC in 2011.
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |
| Japan | League | Emperor's Cup | J.League Cup | Total | |||||||
| 2001 | Albirex Niigata | J2 League | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2" | - | 3 | 0 | |||
| 2003 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2" | - | 5 | 0 | |||
| Singapore | League | Singapore Cup | League Cup | Total | |||||||
| 2004 | Albirex Niigata Singapore | S. League | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2" | - | 27 | 3 | |
| 2005 | 25 | 3 | 3 | 0 | colspan="2" | - | 28 | 3 | |||
| 2006 | Singapore Armed Forces | S. League | 28 | 3 | 3 | 0 | colspan="2" | - | 31 | 3 | |
| 2007 | 30 | 4 | 6 | 1 | colspan="2" | - | 36 | 5 | |||
| 2008 | 31 | 4 | 5 | 1 | colspan="2" | - | 36 | 5 | |||
| 2009 | |||||||||||
| Country | Japan | 26 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 0 | ||
| Singapore | 140 | 20 | 18 | 2 | colspan="2" | - | 158 | 22 | |||
| Total | 166 | 20 | 22 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 190 | 22 | |||
Albirex Niigata
2003
Singapore Armed Forces
2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
2007, 2008