Taizo Kawamoto

Taizo Kawamoto moved to Osaka in 1921, when he was attending elementary school, and started playing football in Ichioka Junior High School. In 1931 he entered Waseda High School and, later, Waseda University. From his time as a high school student he played for the University’s team, contributing to four consecutive Kanto University League titles. As a college student he was sent to the 1934 Far Eastern Games and played against the Philippines and the Dutch East-Indies, also scoring his first goal internationally. He participated in the 1936 Berlin Olympics as a representative of Japan and played center forward for the team that accomplished the “miracle of Berlin” by coming back to win in the second half from two goals down against Sweden. In many sources, he is falsely credited for having scored Japan’s first goal in that match against Sweden. After graduating from university in 1937, he joined Domei News Agency (now Kyodo News) and, beginning in 1941, served in World War II. Kawamoto was captured by Soviet troops towards the end of the war and was interned for four years in Siberia.

Kawamoto resumed his active career in 1949, despite already being 35-years-old. With Japan he participated in the Asia group of the qualifying tournament for the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, losing to South Korea. He also played two games at the 1954 Asian Games in Manila. In the match against, he set a record being the oldest representative for Japan in soccer, at 40 years and 106 days. With the Osaka Soccer Club, which his father founded in 1951, Kawamoto advanced to the final of the Emperor’s Cup three times from 1951 to 1953, losing each time. In 1956, he coached the Japanese squad for the Melbourne Olympics. For the Asian Games, which were held in Tokyo in 1958, he was appointed team manager. Kawamoto served as executive director of the Japan Football Association (FA) and president of the Kansai FA and the Osaka FA. In his active career, he was capped nine times between 1934-54, scoring three goals. He later became president of the River Sou Electric Industry Co. and the River Sou Material Industry Co. In 2005, 20 years after his death from gastric cancer, he was inducted into the newly established Japan Football Hall of Fame.