Grief for legendary strikers
Japan’s striker monument is dead
10.08.2025 – 4:51 p.m.Reading time: 1 min.
For many years he was the face of Japanese football, scored gate around goal. Now Kunishige Kamamoto has died.
Kunishige Kamamoto, probably the largest striker in the history of Japanese football, died. As the Japanese Football Association (JFA) announced, he succumbed to pneumonia on Sunday at the age of 81.
Kamamoto, born in Kyoto, played for many years for Yanmar Diesel, the later club Cerezo Osaka. According to the association, he scored 202 goals in 251 league games – a record in Japan to this day. In 1968 he won the bronze medal with the national team at the Olympic Games in Mexico City. For Japan he played 76 caps and scored 75 times.
As the Kyodo news agency reported, there were considerations to switch to the Bundesliga during its active time. However, this never happened. After the end of his player career, Kamamoto worked as a coach in Osaka from 1978, initially at Cerezo, later at Gamba Osaka. In 1998 he took over the office of deputy chairman in the Japanese football association.