Shinji Ono (小野 伸二, Ono Shinji^?, born on 27 September 1979) is a Japanese football player, who plays as a midfielder for Shimizu S-Pulse in Japan.

Known as Tensai, Japanese for "Genius", from his youth days^{[citation needed]}, Ono is one of the biggest stars in Asian football, known for his vision, technique and superb passing. Although his primary position is attacking midfielder, he can play anywhere in the midfield, including defensive midfield and either wing.

Ono grew up in the Japanese soccer hotbed^{[citation needed]} of Shizuoka Prefecture and began his professional career with Urawa Red Diamonds of the J. League in 1998. The same year, he became the youngest member of Japan's 1998 FIFA World Cup team at age 18 and made one appearance as a substitute.

He caught the attention of foreign clubs with his performance at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship in Nigeria, where he captained the Japanese Under-20 side that reached the final. But later that year, he suffered a severe knee injury in a qualification match for the 2000 Olympics with Japan's Under-23 side, forcing him to miss the rest of the season and olympic qualifying. He did not regain full fitness in time for the Olympics in Sydney and Urawa was relegated to Division 2 in his absence. But rather than move to another J-League club or abroad, Ono stayed with Urawa for the 2000 season and helped the club return to top flight.