Kento Hashimoto was born on 16 August 1993 in Tokyo. He came through FC Tokyo's youth ranks and won the Emperor's Cup in 2011–12 with the senior side. After establishing himself as one of the J1 League's senior central midfielders, he moved abroad to Russian side FC Rostov in July 2020.
His career has wandered across multiple leagues. After Rostov, brief spells at Vissel Kobe in 2022, and SD Huesca in Spain (Segunda División, 31 matches with 2 goals in 2023), he loaned to Eibar in summer 2024 (7 league matches in Segunda).
In summer 2025 Hashimoto returned to FC Tokyo. The 2025 season has produced 28 J1 League matches with 2 assists.
For Japan, Hashimoto was a senior call-up across multiple major qualifying campaigns. He scored a goal in 5 World Cup 2022 qualifying matches, played 2 EAFF E-1 matches, and was a member of the squad that won the EAFF E-1 Football Championship in 2022.
A 182cm two-footed defensive midfielder with experience across Russian, Spanish and Japanese top flights, Hashimoto is one of Japan's most-travelled midfielders. He is a senior J1 option for the wider 2026 FIFA World Cup squad picture.