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.

Club career

Murai was born in

Chiba Chiba may refer to: Places China * (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei Japan * Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture ** Chiba Station, a train station * Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...

on December 1, 1979. He joined his local club

JEF United Ichihara , full name and also known as , is a Japanese professional football club that plays in the J2 League. On 1 February 2005, the club changed its name from ''JEF United Ichihara'' to the current name after Chiba city had joined Ichihara, Chiba as ...

(later ''JEF United Chiba'') from youth team in 1998. He became a regular player as left midfielder from 2001. The club won the 3rd place

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

and 2003 J1 League. He moved to

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 ...

with team mate

Takayuki Chano is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. Club career Chano was born in Ichikawa on 23 November 1976. After graduating from high school, he joined his local club JEF United Ichihara (later ''JEF United Chiba'' ...

in 2005. He played many matches until 2009 except when he injured in 2006. He left the club with Chano end of 2009 season for generational change and he returned to JEF United Chiba with Chano in 2010. He moved to

Oita Trinita is a Japanese football club currently playing in J2 League, having been relegated after the 2021 season after a three-year stint in J1 League. The club's home town is Ōita, Ōita, Ōita city, but the club draws support from Beppu, Ōita, Beppu, ...

in 2012 and played until 2013.

National team career

In July 2005, Murai was selected Japan national team for

2005 East Asian Football Championship The 2005 EAFF East Asian Football Championship was a football competition between teams from East Asian countries and territories held from 31 July to 7 August 2005 in South Korea, with the qualifiers held in Taiwan in March 2005. China PR, So ...

. At this tournament, on August 3, he debuted against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. He played 5 games for Japan until 2006.Japan National Football Team Database
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Club statistics

J.League
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National team statistics

Appearances in major competitions

References

External links

* *

1979 births Living people Japanese men's footballers Japan men's international footballers J1 League players J2 League players JEF United Chiba players Júbilo Iwata players Oita Trinita players Men's association football midfielders Association football people from Chiba (city) {{Japan-footy-midfielder-1970s-stub