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. His younger brother

Kojiro Kaimoto is a former Japanese football player. His elder brother Keiji is also a former footballer. Early years Kaimoto was born in Suita on October 14, 1977. Club career He joined his local club, Gamba Osaka, in 1996. He played as a midfielder durin ...

is also a former footballer.

Club career

Kaimoto was born in

Suita is a city located in northern Osaka Prefecture, Japan. As of October 1, 2016, the city has an estimated population of 378,322 and a population density of 9,880 persons per km². The total area is 36.11 km². The city was founded on April 1, ...

on November 26, 1972. After graduating from

Tokai University is a private non-sectarian higher education institution located in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded by Dr. Shigeyoshi Matsumae. It was accredited under Japan's old educational system in 1946 and under the new system in 1950. In 2008, Tokai Un ...

, he joined the

Japan Football League The also known as simply the JFL is the 4th tier of the Japanese association football league system, positioned beneath the three divisions of the J.League. The league features fully professional teams that hold J.League associate membership am ...

club

Vissel Kobe is a Japanese professional football club based in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The team's home stadium is Noevir Stadium Kobe, in Hyōgo-ku, though some home match ...

in 1995. The club won second place in 1996 and was promoted to the

J1 League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...

. He played often in 1997. In 2001, he moved to

Nagoya Grampus Eight (formerly known as ) is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture and founded as the company team of the Toyota Motor Corp. in 1939, the c ...

. In 2003, his younger brother

also joined Grampus. However his playing time gradually decreased. He moved to

Albirex Niigata is a professional football club based in Niigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. From 2023, Albirex will be playing on the J1 League, coming back to the fir ...

with Kojiro in 2005. Although he played often, Kojiro left the club in May 2006. His did not play as much in 2007 and retired at the end of the 2008 season.

National team career

Kaimoto was selected once to play for the Japan national team. He played a

2000 Asian Cup The 2000 AFC Asian Cup was the 12th 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 Lebanon between 12 and 29 October 2000. Japan ...

match against

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

at the group stage in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

on October 20, 2000. He was relieved in the 39th minute of the match.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref> The team went on to win the tournament.

Club statistics

National team statistics

National team

(Champions)

Honors and awards

Team honors

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

Champions:

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
1972 births Living people Tokai University alumni Association football people from Osaka Prefecture People from Suita Japanese men's footballers Japan men's international footballers J1 League players Japan Football League (1992–1998) players Vissel Kobe players Nagoya Grampus players Albirex Niigata players 2000 AFC Asian Cup players AFC Asian Cup-winning players Men's association football defenders {{Japan-footy-defender-1970s-stub