was a Japanese

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

Saito was born in

Osaka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture ...

on September 24, 1908. He played for Kwangaku Club was consisted of his alma mater Kwansei Gakuin University players and graduates. At the club, he won

1929 Emperor's Cup Statistics of Emperor's Cup in the 1929 season. Overview It was contested by 8 teams, and Kwangaku Club won the cup. Results Quarter-finals * Ho-sho Club – (retired) Hiroshima Bunri University * Kwangaku Club 6–1 Toyama Teachers College ...

with

Yukio Goto was a Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. Club career Goto was born in Kobe. He played for Kwangaku Club was consisted of his alma mater Kwansei Gakuin University players and graduates. He won 1929 and 1930 Emperor's ...

Hideo Sakai was a Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. Club career Sakai was born in Osaka Prefecture on June 10, 1909. He played for Kwangaku Club was consisted of his alma mater Kwansei Gakuin University players and graduates. He ...

and so on.

National team career

In May 1930, when Saito was a Kwansei Gakuin University student, he was selected Japan national team for

1930 Far Eastern Championship Games The 1930 Far Eastern Championship Games was the ninth edition of the regional multi-sport event and was held from 24 to 27 May 1930 in Tokyo, Empire of Japan. A total of eight sports were contested over the course of the five-day event.Bell, Dani ...

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 ...

and Japan won the championship. At this competition, on May 25, 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 ...

. On May 29, he also played against

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

. He played 2 games for Japan in 1930.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref>

After retirement

After graduating from Kwansei Gakuin University, Saito retired playing career and want to England and studied football at

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

. In 1933, he joined

Osaka Mainichi Shimbun The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day in several local editions, Mainichi also operates an English language news website called ''The Mainichi'' (previ ...

and he was engaged in the management and reporting of All Japan High School Soccer Tournament until 1940. After that, he worked at

Hino Motors Hino Motors, Ltd., commonly known as Hino, is a Japanese manufacturer of commercial vehicles and diesel engines (including those for trucks, buses and other vehicles) headquartered in Hino, Tokyo. The company was established in 1942 as a corpora ...

and some affiliates until 1989. He also served as the president at some Hino Motors affiliates. Saito died in 2004.Kagawa Soccer Library
/ref>

National team statistics

References

External links

*

1908 births 2004 deaths Kwansei Gakuin University alumni Association football people from Osaka Prefecture Japanese men's footballers Japan men's international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers {{Japan-footy-goalkeeper-stub