Tokutaro Ukon

Tokutaro Ukon was a technically skilled versatile player who was able to play any position from fullback to forward. His first success came in 1930 when he won the National Secondary School Football Championship for his hometown Kobe. He enrolled at Keio University in 1931 and became a leading player of the University’s soccer team. He gave strong performances in many intercollegiate competitions in the Kanto University League under Keio’s coach famous coach Teiichi Matsumaru. Therefore, Ukon was selected to represent Japan in the 10th Far Eastern Championship Games football competition in 1934 playing against the Philippines and China. He was called again to join the team for the 1936 Berlin Olympics and played in both games.

Ukon graduated from Keio in 1937 and joined Meiji Mining. He continued to play football and made his last international appearance in 1940 against the Philippines in the East Asia Games. In 1942 he was called to the service fighting in World War II. He died in 1944 in a battle on the island of Bougainville, now part of Papua-New Guinea. He was mentioned in the autobiography of Kazuko Komori, a popular Japanese female film critic, describing her various romances.