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.

Youth career

Funamoto was born in

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

on August 12, 1942. He played for from 1958 to 1960. He and teammates

Aritatsu Ogi is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. Club career Ogi was born in Hiroshima on December 10, 1942. After graduating from Chuo University, he joined his local club Toyo Industries in 1965. The club won the ch ...

Yasuyuki Kuwahara was a Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. Club career Kuwahara was born in Hiroshima on December 22, 1942. After graduating from Chuo University, he joined his local club Toyo Industries in 1965. The club won league ch ...

Takayuki Kuwata is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. Club career Kuwata was born in Hiroshima on June 26, 1941. After graduating from Waseda University, he joined his local club Toyo Industries in 1965. The club won Japa ...

Kensei Mizote is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature). Overview A native of Hiroshima, Hiroshima and graduate of the University of Tokyo, he became mayor of Mihara, H ...

, and Sonkyo Nomura became locally famous together by leading their school to a second place finish in the

All Japan High School Soccer Tournament The All Japan High School Soccer Tournament (全国高等学校サッカー選手権大会, Zenkoku kōtō gakkō sakkā senshuken taikai, 全国高校サッカー選手権大会, Zenkoku kō kō sakkā senshuken taikai) of Japan, commonly known a ...

in 1959. Ogi, Kuwahara, Funamoto, and Mizote carried the team to the quarterfinals of this tournament in 1960. Funamoto moved on to club football immediately after high school, while Ogi, Kuwahara, and Kuwata would play four years at

Chuo University , commonly referred to as or , is a private flagship research university in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1885 as Igirisu Hōritsu Gakkō (the English Law School), Chuo is one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions in the country. The univer ...

before joining Funamoto in club play with Toyo Industries.

Club career

Funamoto joined the Toyo Industries in 1961. Toyo then won the National Sports Festival football tournament in 1962 and were

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or also Japan FA Cup is a Japanese football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football match in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formation of the J.League, Japan Football League and their predecessor, J ...

semifinalists (

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

) and quarterfinalists (

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

) with Funamoto at goalkeeper. In 1965, the club became an inaugural member of the newly formed

Japan Soccer League , or JSL, was the top flight association football league in Japan between 1965 and 1992, and was the precursor to the current professional league, the J.League. JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professional ...

(JSL), the first national league of soccer clubs in Japan. He remained with the club for 11 seasons in the JSL until his retirement in 1975. In 11 seasons, he played all matches, 166 matches in the league. With Funamoto and his former high school teammates, Toyo dominated the JSL for the first six years, winning the championship five times (

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

) and placing second once (

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

). The club won the

three times (

) during this period and finished third in the

Asian Club Championship The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

. As goalkeeper, Funamoto played a critical role on Toyo's early success in the JSL when they won 75 of their first 112 matches (67%), allowing opponents just 87 goals. He was named goalkeeper of the year in the JSL in 1970. The golden era of Hiroshima football then came to an end over the next three years when the club won 15 of 54 matches (28%), while allowing 82 goals.

National team career

In September 1967, Funamoto was selected Japan national team for 1968 Summer Olympics qualification. At this qualification, on September 27, 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 ...

. He shared goalkeeping duties with two-time Olympian,

Kenzo Yokoyama is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for, and then managed, the Japanese national team. Club career Yokoyama was born in Saitama on January 21, 1943. After graduating from Kawaguchi High School and Rikkyo University, he ...

, on the Japan national team from 1967 to 1975. Funamoto appeared in 19 matches, 17 as a starter and 2 as a substitute, shutting out opponents 5 times. He allowed 25 goals, while the Japan team went 9-8-2 (W-L-D). He played in the

Pestabola Merdeka Merdeka Tournament or Pestabola Merdeka is a friendly football tournament held in Malaysia to commemorate the Independence Day. The competition bears the Malay word for independence. As of 2022, it has been held 40 times, and decreasingly in r ...

(1970, 1972, 1975),

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

(

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 ...

qualifiers (

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

qualifiers (

), and

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

qualifiers (

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

) during his International career.

After retirement

Funamoto retired after the 1975 season after 15 years with Toyo Industries and 11 years in the JSL. He served as goalkeeper coach from 1975 to 1980 for Toyo Industries and for the Japan national team from 1979 to 1980. He lectured at the Mazda soccer school from 1981 to 2007. His proteges included

Kenichi Uemura is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for the Japan national team. Club career Uemura was born in Yatsushiro on April 22, 1974. After graduating from Matsunaga High School, he joined J1 League side Sanfrecce Hiroshima in 1 ...

, Kenji Wakai, and

Masaaki Toma , born , is a professional Japanese football referee. He has been refereeing in the J-League since 2008 and has officiated a number of international club and country matches. Career Toma's first J-League game was in 2008, when he officiated the ...

. He worked in the

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 ...

business office until his retirement. After he retired, he served as a match commissioner of the J.League until 2007 and that of

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 ...

since 2008. He currently enjoys retirement in Hiroshima City, playing golf with friends, gardening, and watching football with his family.

Club statistics

National team statistics

Awards

Best Eleven:

References

External links

*
Japan National Football Team Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Funamoto, Koji 1942 births Living people Japanese men's footballers Japan men's international footballers Japan Soccer League players Sanfrecce Hiroshima players Footballers at the 1970 Asian Games Men's association football goalkeepers Asian Games competitors for Japan Association football people from Hiroshima