In the J1 League Round 8 match against Shimizu S-Pulse on April 2nd, Shusaku Nishikawa reached 632 J1 appearances, surpassing the 631 games held by Narasaki Masakatsu (currently Nagoya Grampus goalkeeper coach) to become the second-highest player of all time.

Nishikawa was promoted to the top team from Oita Trinita U-18 in 2005. That year, he made his J1 debut in the 13th round against Yokohama F･Marinos and kept the goal in 21 games. During his time with Oita, he was plagued by injuries and only played in 118 games over five seasons, but in 2009, his final year with Oita, he played the full 90 minutes in 34 games for the first time.
He played in 135 games for Sanfrecce Hiroshima, where he spent four seasons from 2010, missing just one game. He was a driving force behind the team's consecutive J1 League victories in 2012 and 2013.

There are certain conditions to meet in order to rank high in terms of number of games played.
"Make your debut at a young age" "Avoid serious injuries that would lead to long-term absence"
And, of course, the quality of a soccer player who is able to continue to perform well is essential.
Nishikawa appeared in 21 games as a 19-year-old rookie, and although he was sidelined for a period due to a knee injury he suffered in 2006, he has not had any major injuries since.
　
The question remains as to whether he can continue to outperform the other goalkeepers on the team.

Nishikawa joined Urawa Reds from Hiroshima in 2014 and only started one league game until 2020.
The biggest crisis of Nishikawa's career came in 2021.
After losing to Avispa Fukuoka away on May 1st in the 12th round, she was on the bench for the next 6 games from the 13th round to the 18th round. Zion Suzuki, who played in her place, conceded a total of 5 goals with 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss. She kept a clean sheet in all 4 games, so it would not have been surprising if she had been replaced by a new generation.
However, in the 19th round match Kashiwa Reysol, Nishikawa returned to the starting line-up and contributed to a 2-0 victory, once again earning a regular spot. His performance has clearly improved, from his punching decisions and the distance he can throw the ball to his one-on-one responses, and it was easy to imagine how much he has improved during his time away from the field.
He was 35 years old at the time. It is often said that Nishikawa is still evolving even at that age, and this season proved that.

Since then, Nishikawa has only missed two games in 2022 and two games in 2024 on his way to reaching 632 games.
The all-time leader is Yasuhito Endo (current Gamba Osaka coach) with 672 games. If Nishikawa continues to play at this rate, he will overtake him next season.
However, he will not be used just to achieve records. More than 30% of his 632 matches, 200 of them, were clean sheets (matches without conceding a goal), which is an amazing performance, and many players point out that his character, "He never loses his mentality and smiles no matter what," brings a sense of security and stability to the team. His motto is "When in a pinch, it's an opportunity," and by putting it into practice, he has continued to evolve to this point.

Of his 21-year career, he has been with Urawa Reds for 12 years, more than half of the time, and he has naturally been in goal for the Reds in 379 games, or about 60% of the 632 games he has played. He has also made a major contribution to the Reds' victory in the YBC Levain Cup, Emperor's Cup, and AFC Champions League (ACL).
As Nishikawa's participation in the game increases, maintaining his performance will directly affect the team's performance. And the team will naturally win the league championship.