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

Imai was born in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

on November 19, 1950. After graduating from

Doshisha University , mottoeng = Truth shall make you free , tagline = , established = Founded 1875,Chartered 1920 , vision = , type = Private , affiliation = , calendar = , endowment = €1 ...

, he joined Towa Real Estate (later ''Fujita Industries'') in 1973. The club won the league champions in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

and

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. The club also won

and

1979 Emperor's Cup Statistics of Emperor's Cup in the 1979 season. Overview It was contested by 28 teams, and Fujita Industries won the championship. Results 1st Round * Gonohe Town Hall 0–3 Toho Titanium *Nissan Motors 2–1 Kyushu Sangyo University * Yanmar ...

. He retired in 1980. He played 139 games and scored 3 goals in the league. He was selected Japanese Footballer of the Year awards in 1980 and Best Eleven for 4 years in a row (

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

National team career

In September 1974, Imai was selected Japan national team for

1974 Asian Games The 7th Asian Games ( fa, بازی‌های آسیایی ۱۹۷۴) were held from 1 to 16 September 1974 in Tehran, Imperial State of Iran. The Aryamehr Sports Complex was built for the Games. The Asian Games were hosted in the Middle East for th ...

. At this competition, on September 3, he debuted against

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. In March 1977, he played for Japan for the first time in 3 years at 1978 World Cup qualification. In 1978, he was also selected Japan for

1978 Asian Games The 8th Asian Games () were held from 9 to 20 December 1978, in Bangkok, Thailand. Originally, the host city was Singapore but Singapore dropped its plan to host the Games due to financial problems. Then Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, was de ...

. In 1980, he played at 1980 Summer Olympics qualification. This qualification was his last game for Japan. He played 29 games for Japan until 1980.Japan National Football Team Database
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National team statistics

References

External links

*

1950 births Living people Doshisha University alumni Japanese men's footballers Japan men's international footballers Japan Soccer League players Shonan Bellmare players Footballers at the 1974 Asian Games Footballers at the 1978 Asian Games Men's association football defenders Asian Games competitors for Japan Association football people from Kyoto {{Japan-footy-defender-1950s-stub