is a former

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. He played for Japan national team.

Club career

Yanagimoto was born in Higashiosaka on October 15, 1972. After graduating from high school, he joined

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

(later ''Sanfrecce Hiroshima'') in 1991. He played as regular player at right side-back. The club won the 2nd place at 1994 J1 League,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

and

1996 Emperor's Cup Statistics of Emperor's Cup in the 1996 season. Overview It was contested by 80 teams, and Verdy Kawasaki won the championship. Results 1st Round * Denso 3–1 Juntendo University *Blaze Kumamoto 2–1 Kwansei Gakuin University *World Blitz K ...

. In 1999, he moved to his local club

Gamba Osaka is a Japanese professional football club based in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name ''Gamba'' comes from the Japanese , meaning "to do your best" or "to st ...

. He moved to rival team,

Cerezo Osaka is a Japanese professional football club based in Osaka. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name ''Cerezo'' (Spanish for cherry blossom) is also the flower of the city of Osaka. ...

in 2003. The club won the 2nd place at

2003 Emperor's Cup The 83rd Emperor's Cup Statistics of Emperor's Cup in the 2003 season. Overview It was contested by 80 teams, and Júbilo Iwata won the cup for the first time. Results 1st Round *Hannan University 2–0 Wakayama Kihoku Shukyudan *Funabashi Munic ...

. He retired end of 2006 season.

International career

In January 1995, Yanagimoto was selected for the Japan national team for the

1995 King Fahd Cup The 1995 King Fahd Cup ( ar, كأس الملك فهد) was the second and last tournament held under the King Fahd Cup name before the competition was retroactively sanctioned by FIFA and recognized as FIFA Confederations Cup. Disputed as the King ...

. At this competition, on January 8, he debuted against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. After debut, he became a regular player at right side-back. In 1996, he played in all matches included

1996 Asian Cup The 1996 AFC Asian Cup was the 11th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in the United Arab Emirates between 4 and 21 Decem ...

. However at 1998 World Cup qualification in March 1997, he got hurt and subsequently dropped from the national team. He had played 30 games for Japan until 1997.Japan National Football Team Database
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Career statistics

Club

International

Personal life

Yanagimoto married Japanese actress, Atsuko Okamoto, in July 2005, but divorced in July 2017.

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
* 1972 births Living people Association football people from Osaka Prefecture Japanese men's footballers Japan men's international footballers Japan Soccer League players J1 League players Sanfrecce Hiroshima players Gamba Osaka players Cerezo Osaka players 1995 King Fahd Cup players 1996 AFC Asian Cup players People from Higashiōsaka Men's association football defenders {{Japan-footy-defender-1970s-stub