Exclusive Yutaro Oda interview: Hearts ambitions, Celtic help and hoping he can't walk Edinburgh's streets

“What’s your name?” queries Yutaro Oda. He seems keen to connect during his first Scottish newspaper interview despite minimal command of English. The communication barrier does not mask his warm and friendly facade.

It is just over a month since this Japanese forward joined Hearts from Vissel Kobe. At 21, he is coping with a new country, culture and language whilst trying to develop his career and adapt to the chaos that is Scottish football. It makes sense to speak through an interpreter. Life is challenging enough just now, best let him stick to his native tongue.

Hearts paid Vissel a six-figure fee to acquire a player with definite potential. He has shown fleeting glimpses of it so far but talks openly about some fairly lofty longer-term ambitions. Coaching staff at Riccarton have already reinforced the need for attackers to score and create goals, and he is eager to service their demands.

Also featuring high on the priority list is endearing himself to supporters at Tynecastle Park. Only when it reaches the point where he can’t walk the streets of Edinburgh without being swarmed will Oda consider that objective to be ‘mission accomplished’. Yes, those ambitions are pretty high.

“I usually play as one of the two strikers so I am required to run in behind and break the [opposition’s defensive] line,” he says. “Most of all, the manager requires me to score goals or get assists. I think this is very important because to score or assist is required more here in Scotland than in Japan. So I want to be scoring and assisting for Hearts.

“Sometimes fans come up to me in the street in Edinburgh, but I want more. I want more success on the pitch so that I can’t walk through the street. I want so many fans around me.

“I think Hearts is a team that can help me improve and develop my ability more. What I am thinking now is just to get results here, to get goals and assists. If I can do this, I hope to be called up for the Olympic international team, and then maybe the senior Japan team. This is what I want and I am looking forward to it. It is not decided yet that Hearts will qualify, but playing in European competitions is very exciting for me. I am also waiting for this.

“Of course I knew Hearts before I signed because [Ryotaro] Meshino was here. That’s why I knew about the club. There are so many Japanese players playing in Scotland, especially in Glasgow, so I knew about the club and the league.”

Hearts forward Yutaro Oda is settling into life in Edinburgh.

The East Asian influx in the east end of Glasgow captured attention throughout the city since the Australian coach Ange Postecoglou left Japan to manage Celtic. From Yoker to Yokohama, the Scottish league now enjoys a higher profile with six Japanese players on the Celtic Park payroll.

Three of them extended an arm of friendship to young Oda after he arrived in Scotland. Yuki Kobayashi, his former Vissel team-mate, plus Reo Hatate and Tomoki Iwata headed east to help Hearts’ new signing adapt to the Scottish culture. Four young foreign lads on a night out in Edinburgh, they thankfully avoided the favoured pub crawl down the Grassmarket.

“Kobayashi played with me since we were in junior high school so I know him,” smiles Oda. “They all came to Edinburgh and we went to a Japanese restaurant. They are senior to me so they taught me a lot of things about Scotland. I feel people are speaking English so fast. I can’t understand. The Scottish accent is so strong but first of all I have to understand what English is.”

He describes the football itself as “tense”. So far, Oda has faced Aberdeen and Rangers at Tynecastle, plus Livingston and Hamilton on their own astroturf surfaces. Livingston was the only time Hearts granted him a place in the starting line-up and, given their competitive squad, there is literally a daily battle to convince manager Robbie Neilson he is worth a slot.

Physically he is fine, almost 6ft tall and carrying an athletic frame which lends itself to useful bursts of speed out on the pitch. Technically there is no issue, either. Like most Japanese players, top-class technique is a prerequisite to reach professional level. Oda must apply those attributes and more to make an impact in maroon.

“It is very tense and people are strong here. In training, I feel I have to be very strong and resilient against anybody. It’s not completely different to football in Japan but there is a difference with the tension.”

He already feels inspired by the noise and atmosphere generated at Tynecastle. Hearts fans adore anyone who gives 100 per cent for the cause. If they create and score goals into the bargain, they are guaranteed to hit the mark. That might come later in the season, or potentially even next term, once the new lad is fully up to speed.

“In Japan, we don’t experience stadiums like this,” says Oda. “I like how passionate the fans are at Tynecastle. You hear their voices and the noise they make when we score. I am looking forward to playing more there.

“I have to take care of my condition because I had a long off-season since the Japanese league ended [last November]. I will look after my condition but I am now fitting into Scottish football and to what Hearts are doing. I am in the process of fitting in here. My condition is getting better and better because it has been one month since I joined Hearts. I am looking forward to being more successful here.”