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 and manager. He played for and managed the Japan national team. He is the founder and honorary chairman of the

J.League The , officially is Japan's professional football league including the first division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the Japanese association football league system. J1 League is one of the most successfu ...

. Between 2002 and 2008, he served as president of the

Japan Football Association The Japan Football Association (JFA, ) is the governing body responsible for the administration of football, futsal, beach soccer and efootball in Japan. It is responsible for the national team, as well as club competitions. History The organisat ...

Early life

Kawabuchi was born in Takaishi on December 3, 1936.Saburo Kawabuchi
sports-reference.com At first, when he was in Takaishi elementary school and Takaishi Junior high school, he played baseball. He was on to Mikunigaoka High School, Osaka and became a member of football team at the high school. He graduated from Mikunigaoka High School, Osaka in 1955. He went on to Waseda University School of commerce in 1957. He played for the Waseda University football team. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in commerce from Waseda University.

Club career

After graduating from Waseda University, Kawabuchi played for Furukawa Electric, in the early days of the

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 ...

. In the initial league season, he was the first player to score a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

, against Nagoya Mutual Bank. He retired in 1970. He played 68 games and scored 10 goals in the league.

National team career

On December 25, 1958, when Kawabuchi was a Waseda University student, he debuted and scored 2 goals for Japan national team against

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. In 1962, he played at

1962 Asian Games ) , Host city = Jakarta, Indonesia , Nations participating = 17 , Athletes participating = 1,460 , Events = 120 in 13 sports , Opening ceremony = 24 August 1962 , Closing ceremony = 4 September 1962 , ...

. In 1964, he was selected Japan for

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. At 1964 Summer Olympics, he scored a goal in first match 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 ...

. He also played at

. He played 26 games and scored 8 goals for Japan until 1965.Japan National Football Team Database
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Coaching career

After retirement, Kawabuchi became a coach for Furukawa Electric in 1970. In 1973, he became a manager and managed until 1975. Just before

1982 World Cup qualification __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab u ...

in December 1980, he was named manager for the Japan national team and replaced

Masashi Watanabe was a Japanese football player and manager. He played for Japan national team. He also managed Japan national team. Club career Watanabe was born in Hiroshima on January 11, 1936. After graduating from high school, he joined Yawata Steel (la ...

, who suffered a

subarachnoid hemorrhage Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is bleeding into the subarachnoid space—the area between the arachnoid membrane and the pia mater surrounding the brain. Symptoms may include a severe headache of rapid onset, vomiting, decreased level of consci ...

. Kawabuchi managed Japan at the 1982 World Cup qualification and managed until March 1981. In 1991, he was named the inaugural chairman of the

, as the first professional league in Japan. In 1991, he also became the first chairman of the J.League. In 2002, he resigned as chairman of the J.League and became the 10th president of the

Shunichiro Okano was a Japanese football player and manager. He played for Japan national team. He also managed Japan's national team. Biography Okano coached the Japan national team from 1961 to 1971, becoming the manager for the 1970-1971 season. From 1998 ...

's successor. Kawabuchi served until 2008. He also served as president of the

Japan Basketball Association The is the governing body of basketball in Japan. Formed in 1930, it is based in Tokyo. The JBA is a member of FIBA and FIBA Asia. The federation is responsible for the Japan national basketball team and the Japan women's national basketball te ...

from May 2015 to June 2016. In 2006, he received the FIFA Order of Merit. In 2008, he was also selected for the Japan Football Hall of Fame.

Later years

Kawabuchi serves as a councilor on the organizing committee for the 2020 Summer Olympic and

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

. He had been requested by former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Yoshirō Mori to succeed him as committee chairperson in February 2021, but Kawabuchi later said that he would not accept the request.

Club statistics

National team statistics

Awards

Silver Ball (Assist Leader):

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 ...

Books

* J's career – With Japan football, Nihon Keizai Shimbun Shuppan, 2009

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kawabuchi, Saburo 1936 births Living people Waseda University alumni Association football people from Osaka Prefecture Japanese footballers Japan international footballers Japan Soccer League players JEF United Chiba players Olympic footballers of Japan Footballers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1962 Asian Games Japanese football managers Japan national football team managers Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun Association football forwards People from Takaishi, Osaka Asian Games competitors for Japan Basketball executives