Masashi Nakayama

Born in Shizuoka, Nakayama attended Fujieda Higashi High School and University of Tsukuba before he joined Yamaha Motors (currently; Júbilo Iwata) of the Japan Soccer League, a precursor to the J1 League, which consisted of company sponsored teams. Playing as a forward, Nakayama made his J1 League debut on 11 March 1994. From then until 2009, he was an ever-present part of the Júbilo Iwata line-up as they were consistently one of the top teams in the J1 League since its inception. With a strike-rate of more than a goal every two games throughout his career, Nakayama was the inspirational and talismanic leader for both Júbilo Iwata and the Japan national team. He holds a record by scoring four hat-tricks in four successive J1 League games, from 15 to 29 April in 1998. He scored 16 times in these games. The record is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records. He also holds the record for top scorer in a single season, scoring 36 goals in 1998. On 4 December 2012, he announced his retirement at the age of 45, citing injuries to his both knees, after being J1 League's all-time leading scorer with 157 goals. At the time of his retirement, he had played three seasons for Consadole Sapporo. In September 2015, he began to train with Azul Claro Numazu, later signing for the team as a player. Two years later, having still not made his début for Azul Claro in league or cup competition, his contract was renewed for 2017 season, a first for a professional football club.

At the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Nakayama scored the only goal of the tournament and the first goal for the Japan national team in the history of the World Cup against Jamaica on 26 June 1998. He has scored 21 goals in 53 appearances for the Japan national team. Nakayama also holds the world record fastest hat-trick at international level. He managed three goals in a 2000 Asian Cup qualification match against Brunei on 16 February 2000 in only three minutes and three seconds, beating the previous record of Englishman Willie Hall set in 1938 (against Northern Ireland) by 27 seconds.

On 13 January 2020, Nakayama announced his retirement as a player at the age of 53. Having been the U-18 coach for Azul Claro Numazu for the prior two years, Nakayama revealed he was appointed the assistant manager of J2 League club Júbilo Iwata. On 13 November 2022, Nakayama returned to J3 League club Azul Claro, where he was appointed manager.

Nakayama married actress Tomoko Ikuta in 1996, and together they have a daughter. Ikuta did the voice-over for lead actress Lee Young-ae in the Japanese version of the popular South Korean TV series Jewel in the Palace. Nakayama portrayed himself on television, performing voice work for a guest role on the anime Hungry Heart: Wild Striker; a fictionalized version of himself also appeared in the manga version of its sister series, Captain Tsubasa. He also portrayed himself in episode 19 of HappinessCharge PreCure!. This episode corresponded with the opening of the World Cup. He appeared on the front cover of the Japanese releases of Konami's Winning Eleven video game series (World Soccer: Winning Eleven 6 and World Soccer: Winning Eleven 6 - Final Evolution) in 2002 and 2003.