is a Japanese former professional

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 and manager. He played for Japan national team. A defender, Ihara was captain of the Japan national team for more than a decade in the 1990s, together with striker

Kazuyoshi Miura , often known simply as Kazu (nicknamed "King Kazu"), is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Japan Football League club Suzuka Point Getters on loan from Yokohama FC. He played for the Japan national team from 1990 t ...

and Brazilian-born midfielder

Ruy Ramos is a former football player and manager, originally from Brazil, who spent his career in Japan and played for the Japan national team. Ramos is currently active as a television personality and ''tarento'', represented with Irving. Club car ...

. Ihara's long standing record of 122 national team appearances was bested by

Yasuhito Endo , was the second son of Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito) and Empress Teimei (Sadako), a younger brother of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) and a general in the Imperial Japanese Army. As a member of the Imperial House of Japan, he was the patron of several ...

on October 16, 2012

Club career

Ihara was rarely out of the spotlight in the emerging

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 ...

throughout the 1990s. He spent most of his career with

Yokohama F. Marinos is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club competes in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Having won the J-League title four times an ...

and formed a key defensive partnership with the flamboyant

Tsuyoshi Kitazawa is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. He is currently working on television as a football commentator. Club career When Kitazawa was a junior high student, he played for Yomiuri Junior Youth. After being re ...

at club level. After graduating from

University of Tsukuba is a public university, public research university located in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Ibaraki, Japan. It is a top 10 Designated National University, and was ranked Type A by the Japanese government as part of the Top Global University Pro ...

, he joined

Nissan Motors , trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun brands, ...

(later ''Yokohama Marinos'') and rapidly rose through the Marinos youth ranks to become a key player. The long-serving Ihara was so important to his club that he was nicknamed ''Mister Marinos'' by many Japanese fans. He formed the backbone of the club and also helped to bring on talented youngsters like

Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi , sometimes referred to as Yoshi Kawaguchi, is a former Japanese professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is a former captain of the Japan national team. Career Early career Born in Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture, Kawaguchi studied ...

and

Shunsuke Nakamura is a Japanese former professional footballer. He is the only person to have been named J.League Most Valuable Player more than once, receiving the award in 2000 and 2013. Steve Perryman once remarked that Nakamura "could open a tin of beans w ...

. After leaving Marinos, Ihara also spent a season with

Júbilo Iwata is a professional Japanese association football team that currently play in the J2 League. The team name ''Júbilo'' means 'joy' in Spanish and Portuguese. The team's hometown is Iwata, Shizuoka prefecture and they play at Yamaha Stadium. For ...

(2000) and his last two seasons with

Urawa Reds , colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, is a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the J ...

(2001–2002). He retired in 2002. He played 341 games and scored 7 goals in the league. He was selected Best Eleven for six years in a row ( 1991–92 to

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

)

International career

On January 27, 1988, when Ihara was a

student, he debuted for Japan national team against

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. After his debut, he became a regular player playing the

1990 FIFA World Cup qualification The qualification competition for the 1990 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Confederation of African Football (CAF), CONCACAF (North ...

and at the

1990 Asian Games The 1990 Asian Games also known as the XI Asiad and the 11th Asian Games ( zh, c=第十一届亚洲运动会, p=Dì shíyī jiè yàzhōu yùndònghuì), were held from September 22 to October 7, 1990, in Beijing, China. This was the first Asian Ga ...

. In 1992, Japan won the

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 ...

for the first time. However, at

1994 FIFA World Cup qualification The 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 1994 FIFA World Cup featured 24 teams with one place reserved for the host nation, United States, and one place for the defending champi ...

, Japan failed to won for qualify to

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

. After that, Ihara became a captain for Japan and played at

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 ...

and

1996 AFC 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 Decembe ...

. In 1997, at 1998 World Cup qualification, Japan achieved qualification for the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

for the first time. During the 1998 World Cup in France, the veteran sweeper's experience was crucial to Japan's survival in their very first World Cup appearance, forming a flat back three defence with strong centre-back

Yutaka Akita Yutaka is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yutaka can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *豊, "bountiful" *裕, "affluence" *穣, "fertile" *温, "warmth" The name can also be written in hiragana ゆた ...

as well as speedy fullbacks

Eisuke Nakanishi is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played for the Japan national team. Club career Nakanishi was born in Suzuka on June 23, 1973. Although he mainly played as a defender, he lso played as a amidfielder a ...

(or strong centre-back

Norio Omura is a Japanese former football player and manager. He played for the Japan national team from 1995 to 1998. Club career Omura was born in Matsue, Japan on September 6, 1969. After graduating from Juntendo University, he joined Yokohama Marinos ...

). Young Marinos

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

was Japan's first choice goalkeeper at the time. After 1998 World Cup, he played at

1999 Copa América The 1999 Copa América was a football tournament held in Paraguay, from 29 June to 18 July. It was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. There was no qualifying for the final tournament. Mexico and Japan were invited to ...

. This competition was his last game for Japan. He played 122 games and scored 5 goals for Japan until 1999.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref>

Coaching career

In 2006, Ihara became the assistant coach for the Japan U-23 national team and spent two years. He then became the assistant coach for club

Kashiwa Reysol is a Japanese professional football club based in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadiu ...

in 2009, being the caretaker on two occasions. After a horrible three years of being at the bottom half of the table in the

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yas ...

Avispa Fukuoka is a Japanese professional football club, currently competing in the J1 League. The team is located in Hakata, Fukuoka. "Avispa" means "wasp" in Spanish. They were originally called Fujieda Blux and based in Fujieda, Shizuoka before moving t ...

then hired Ihara as their coach, replacing the former

Marijan Pušnik Marijan Pušnik (born 1 November 1960) is a Slovenian football manager. Managerial career Pušnik started his managerial career with Dravograd in 1994 but landed his first serious job as Celje manager in 2000. During his four years at Celje, his ...

. Under Ihara, then club went on to win 24 games out of 42 and collected a total of 82 points, ending their regular season in third place. Avispa then went on to the playoffs, where they beat

V-Varen Nagasaki is a Japanese J2 League football club based in Nagasaki. The club was established in 1985 as Ariake SC till they merged with Kunimi FC in 2004 and adopted the present name in 2005. The club gained promotion into the J. League Division 2 in 20 ...

1–0, and then drew 1–1 against

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. ...

. Avispa eventually ended up getting promoted to the

as they were the higher-seeded team. Ihara's first match in charge of Avispa in the 2016 J1 League was a 2–1 away loss against

Sagan Tosu is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J1 League. The team is located in Tosu, Saga Prefecture. ''Sagan'' is a coined word with a couple of meanings behind it. One of its homophones is in Japanese. This symbolises ...

. The first win in the league was on their eighth match in a 1–0 away win in Tokyo against

FC Tokyo Football Club Tokyo, commonly known as , is a Japanese professional football club based in Chōfu, Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The team is one of only four in the J.League to be si ...

. He resigned end of 2018 season.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ihara goal.''

Managerial statistics

J.League Data Site
/ref>

Honours

Nissan Motors *

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 ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

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 ...

Asian Cup Winners' Cup The Asian Cup Winners' Cup was an association football competition run by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The competition was started in 1991 as a tournament for all the domestic cup winners from countries affiliated to the AFC. The winne ...

: 1991–92, 1992–93 Júbilo Iwata *

Japanese Super Cup The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is an annual one-match association football competition in Japan organised by J. League and the Japan Football Association (JFA). This competition serves as the season opener and is played between the r ...

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 ...

Japan *

Individual *

Asian Footballer of the Year The Asian Footballer of the Year is an annual prize awarded to the best Asian player in a calendar year, organized by International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) and Asian Football Confederation (AFC). History The origin of ...

: 1995 *

J.League Best XI The J.League Best XI is an acknowledgement of the best eleven players in J.League. J1 League (1993–present) Multiple appearances Appearances by club Appearances by country * Only in two occasions there was a full-Japanese Best XI (20 ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

* J.League 20th Anniversary Team

Notes

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
* * *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ihara, Masami 1967 births Living people University of Tsukuba alumni Association football people from Shiga Prefecture Japanese footballers Japan international footballers Japan Soccer League players J1 League players Yokohama F. Marinos players Júbilo Iwata players Urawa Red Diamonds players 1988 AFC Asian Cup players 1992 AFC Asian Cup players 1996 AFC Asian Cup players Footballers at the 1990 Asian Games 1995 King Fahd Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1999 Copa América players AFC Asian Cup-winning players FIFA Century Club Asian Footballer of the Year winners Japanese football managers J1 League managers J2 League managers Kashiwa Reysol managers Avispa Fukuoka managers Association football defenders Asian Games competitors for Japan Footballers at the 1994 Asian Games Biwako Seikei Sport College faculty Presidents of the Japan Pro-Footballers Association