Kamamoto Kunishige, former vice president of the Japan Football Association, had been undergoing medical treatment for some time, but passed away at 4:04 a.m. on August 10th at a hospital in Osaka Prefecture due to pneumonia. Kamamoto was a former member of the Japanese national team (1964-1977), scoring seven goals and becoming the top scorer at the Mexico Olympics. In 1991, he became the manager of the Panasonic Soccer Club (now GAMBA OSAKA) in Head Coach for the team's entry into the J.League. At the time of the league's inception, he led GAMBA OSAKA as the only club in the Kansai region, laying the club's foundations. In 2005, he was inducted into the Japan Football Hall of Fame. He was 81 years old.

We would like to express our deepest condolences here.

We have heard that the wake and funeral will be held only among close relatives, so we will refrain from disclosing details. We will inform you at a later date about the farewell ceremony.


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Profile of Kunishige Kamamoto

Born in Kyoto Prefecture on April 15, 1944. After graduating from Kyoto Prefectural Yamashiro High School and Waseda University, he joined Yanmar.

While at Waseda University, he was the top scorer in the Kanto University League for four consecutive years. In the JSL (Yanmar), he played in 251 games and scored 202 goals. He received the Fighting Spirit Award in 1968. He was also the top scorer seven times, the top assist leader three times, the Outstanding XI of the Year award 14 times, and the Most Valuable Player of the Year award seven times. He achieved a variety of unprecedented results.

As a member of the Japanese youth team, he participated in the 4th and 5th Asian Youth Championships.

As a member of the Japanese national team, he played in the 18th Olympic Games (1964, Tokyo) and the 19th Olympic Games (1968, Mexico City, 3rd place), where he scored 7 goals and was the top scorer. He also played in the 5th Asian Games (1966, Bangkok, 3rd place), the 6th Asian Games (1970, Bangkok, 4th place), and the 7th Asian Games (1974, Tehran). He played in 76 A matches and scored 75 goals (the most in history).

In 1978, he became Head Coach of Yanmar, and continued as a player- Head Coach until his retirement in 1984. During that time, he won the JSL First Division League once and the JSL Cup twice.

In 1991, he became the Head Coach of Matsushita Electric ( GAMBA OSAKA ), which joined the J League, and retired in 1995.

In 1998, he became vice president of the Japan Football Association.

He served as a director of the Japan Organizing Committee for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and as head of the 2002 Strengthening Promotion Senior Manager, and worked hard to ensure the success of the tournament and to strengthen the Japanese national team.

He was first elected to the House of Councillors in 1995. In 2000, he served as Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Labor in the second Mori Cabinet.

In 2005, he was inducted into the Japan Football Association Hall of Fame.