Koji Iwamoto

Koji Iwamoto was born in Manchuria, China in 1942 and had a very successful career in Japan. Iwamoto made his début with Iwakura Tomakomai in the 1961–62 season, remaining at the club until the mid-1970s. He was consistent throughout his career, being named the Japanese league All-Star on six occasions (1967–68, 1970–71, 1973–74) and the league’s MVP three times (1968, 1971, 1973).

In 1964 Iwamoto made his first of three appearances for Japan at the Olympics, playing in eight matches and scoring six goals at the Innsbruck Games. Four years later he played in five more matches and scored two goals at the 1964 Grenoble Games. His final Olympics came at his home Games in 1972 in Sapporo. Iwamoto was still in good form and finished as the team’s leading scorer in the tournament with four goals in five matches.