is a former 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

Kato was born in Saitama on August 1, 1957. After graduating from

Osaka University of Commerce , abbreviated to , is a private university located in Higashiosaka City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. History The origin was founded in 1928 as Osaka Joto School of Commerce (大阪城東商業学校) by Noboru Tanioka (谷岡登, 1894–197 ...

, he joined

Furukawa Electric is a Japanese electric and electronics equipment company. The company was founded by Furukawa Ichibei in 1884 in Yokohama when a copper-smelting facility and a wire manufacturing factory were established. Furukawa was a Japanese businessman wh ...

(later ''JEF United Ichihara'') in 1980. The club won the league champions in 1985–86. The club also won

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

and

1986 JSL Cup Statistics of JSL Cup in the 1986 season. Overview It was contested by 27 teams, and Furukawa Electric won the championship. Results 1st Round *Furukawa Electric 4-1 Tanabe Pharmaceuticals * Fujita Industries 4-0 Osaka Gas * Yamaha Motors 3-1 ...

. However, he could not play in the game much, as he was the team's reserve goalkeeper behind

Choei Sato is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for Japan national team. Club career Sato was born in Yamagata Prefecture on April 15, 1951. After graduating from Chuo University, he joined Furukawa Electric in 1974. He debuted in ...

. Kato became a regular goalkeeper in later 1980s. He retired in 1993. He played 87 games in the league.

National team career

On June 9, 1980, Kato debuted 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 ...

. He played 8 games for Japan until 1981.Japan National Football Team Database
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Coaching career

After retirement, Kato started a coaching career at

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 ...

in 1994. During the 2000s, he became a goalkeeper coach for the youth team of the Japan national team. In 2006, he became a goalkeeper coach for the Japan national team. He coached Japan until the

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

under managers

Ivica Osim Ivan Osim (6 May 1941 – 1 May 2022), best known as Ivica Osim, was a Bosnian professional footballer and football manager. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Bosnian football managers of all time and as one of the most influential foo ...

and

Takeshi Okada is a Japanese former football player and manager. He played for and managed the Japan national team. Club career Okada was born in Osaka on August 25, 1956. After graduating from Waseda University, he joined Japan Soccer League (JSL) club Fur ...

. In 2011, Kato moved to Thailand and became a goalkeeper coach for

Chonburi Chonburi ( th, ชลบุรี, , IAST: , ) is the capital of Chonburi Province and Mueang Chonburi District in Thailand. It is about 100 km southeast of Bangkok, on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. Its name means 'city of water'. Chonb ...

. In 2013, he also became a goalkeeper coach for the Thailand football team. He returned to Japan in 2015 and coached at the JFA Academy.

Club statistics

National team statistics

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
1957 births Living people Osaka University of Commerce alumni Association football people from Saitama Prefecture Japanese footballers Japan international footballers Japan Soccer League players J1 League players JEF United Chiba players Japanese expatriates in Thailand Association football goalkeepers {{Japan-footy-goalkeeper-stub