on to make nineteen appearances in all competitions. Return to Kashima Antlers On 8 December 2022, Shōji return to former club, Kashima Antlers for upcoming 2023 season. International career It was announced on 1 October 2014 that Shoji was called up for the Japan's squad for the first time by Manager Javier Aguirre. However, he withdrew from the squad, due to an injury. Two months later, it was announced that Shoji was called up for the national team ahead of the AFC Asian Cup in Australia. However, he appeared as an unused substitute throughout the tournament. It wasn't until on 31 March 2015 when Shoji made his Japan debut against Uzbekistan in a friendly match, starting the whole game, as he helped the side beat Uzbekistan 5–1. A year later on 3 June 2016, Shoji made another appearance for Japan, coming on as the 84th-minute substitute, in a 7–2 win against Bulgaria. In December 2017, he was called up to the national team squad for the EAFF E-1 Football Championship as a host. Shoji captained Japan for the first time in his career and led the side to beat North Korea 1–0. In a follow–up match against China, he scored his first Japan goal, which turns out to be a winning goal, in a 2–1 win. However, Japan lost 4–1 to South Korea in a deciding match, which resulted in the opposition team becoming champions in the tournament. After the match, Shoji reflected on the loss, saying: "Today, Korea was amazing. There were a lot of things we had to follow. Of course, duels and balls, but it was quick to make blocks. It was ambiguous about today. I think it was a sad game." In May 2018, Shoji was named in Japan's preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Eventually, he made it to the final cut of the 23 men squad. Shoji made his World Cup debut against Colombia in Matchday 1 of the Group Stage, where he played the whole game, in a 2-1 win. Shoji later made two more starts in the tournament, as they were eliminated by Belgium in the knockout stage. Shortly after, Fox Sports named Shoji in the Asian's Best Eleven of the tournament. Following the tournament, Shoji didn't receive a call up from the national team until March 2019 for a match against Colombia, which he played against and