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 managed Japan women's national team.

Coaching career

In June 1981, 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 ...

formed the first Japan women's national team for the

1981 AFC Women's Championship The Asian Football Confederation's 1981 AFC Women's Championship was the fourth AFC Women's Championship. It was held from 7 to 17 June 1981 in Hong Kong. The tournament was won by for the third consecutive time by Chinese Taipei in the final aga ...

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 ...

. The Japan Football Association appointed Ichihara as the first Japan national team manager. The first match of this tournament was on June 7, and Japan played against

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

. This match was the Japan team's first match in an

International A Match Association football (more commonly known as football) was first codified in 1863 in England, although games that involved the kicking of a ball were evident considerably earlier.

. However, Japan lost this match (0–1) and its second match, against

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

(0–2), on June 11. The third match, against

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, was on June 13, and Japan won 1–0 with

Etsuko Handa is a former Japanese football player. She played for Japan national team, and competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Club career Handa was born in Shizuoka on May 10, 1965. She played for her local club Shimizudaihachi SC and Suzuyo Shimizu FC ...

's goal. This was the Japan team's first victory.Japan Football Association
/ref>
/ref> In September, the team played two matches in Japan. However, they lost in both games, against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

(0–4) and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

(0–9). The match against Italy was the greatest loss in the history of the Japan national team.

Result

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Japanese men's footballers Japanese football managers Japan women's national football team managers Men's association football players not categorized by position {{Japan-footy-bio-stub