Japan defender Atsuto Uchida has extended his Schalke 04 contract until 2018, his Bundesliga club announced Thursday, and revealed some of the cultural differences he has encountered in Germany.

The 26-year-old, who played for Japan at the 2010 and 2014 World Cup finals, has penned a new contract to keep him in Gelsenkirchen until June 2018.

"It's good news for us and all our fans in Japan will be especially pleased," said sporting director Horst Heldt with the number of Schalke fans having swollen in the Far East since Uchida's arrival in 2010.

"We have achieved our goal of binding another player to the club who is extremely reliable and has played consistently at a high level."

The right-back joined Schalke from J-League side Kashima Antlers and has played 132 matches, making 90 Bundesliga appearances.

"Schalke 04 is a special club with wonderful fans and I want to thank them for their confidence in me with good performances," he told Schalke04.de.

Uchida says German cuisine, the fan culture and his nickname here took some getting used to.

"The first time I went to be tested for doping, there was a bottle of beer waiting for me, that's when I knew I was in Germany," he told football magazine 11Freunde.

"Nutrition is a big thing for me and I have learnt that curry wurst, chips and beer all go together when watching football in Germany.

"I like schnitzel, but I have to say I find German food quite fatty.

"Luckily there is a Japanese community in Duesseldorf and the restaurants aren't so far from Gelsenkirchen.

"I go there once a week and at the end of the day, I mostly eat only Japanese food when I am not with the team."

Uchida has said the passion of German football fans won him over.

"At my old club in Japan, there are fans who sing behind the goals and fire up the team, but in Schalke the whole stadium joins in," he said.

The Japanese also revealed his German nickname 'Uschi' caused him a few problems when he first arrived.

"What most Germans perhaps don't realise is that there is a funny double-meaning for my nickname 'Uschi' - it sounds almost like the Japanese word for 'cattle'," he explained.

"It doesn't matter to me when Germans use it, but I'm not such a fan when I hear it from Japanese supporters."