is a

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 ...

manager and former

player.

Playing career

Ejiri was born in

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

on July 12, 1967. After graduating from

Meiji University , abbreviated as Meiji (明治) or Meidai (明大'')'', is a private research university located in Chiyoda City, the heart of Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1881 as Meiji Law School (明治法律学校, ''Meiji Hōritsu Gakkō'') by three Meiji-er ...

, he joined

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 ...

club Furukawa Electric (later ''JEF United Ichihara'') in 1990. He played many matches as offensive midfielder from first season and the club won the 2nd place

1990 JSL Cup Statistics of JSL Cup in the 1990 season. Overview It was contested by 28 teams, and Nissan Motors FC, Nissan Motors won the championship. Results 1st Round *Toyota Motors SC, Toyota Motors 2-0 Kawasaki Steel SC, Kawasaki Steel *NKK S.C., NKK 3- ...

. In 1992, Japan Soccer League was folded and founded new league

J1 League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...

. He played as regular player and also served a captain from 1996. The club won the 2nd place 1998 J.League Cup. He retired end of 1998 season.

Coaching career

After retirement, Ejiri became a coach for JEF United Ichihara (later ''JEF United Chiba'') in 1999. He mainly served as coach for top team. In 2005, he moved to Albirex Niigata and became a coach under manager Yasuharu Sorimachi (2005) and Jun Suzuki (2006). In 2007, he became a coach for Japan U-23 national team under manager Sorimachi and participated in

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. In 2009, Ejiri returned to JEF United and became a coach under manager Alex Miller. However the club performance was bad and manager Miller was sacked in July 2009. Ejiri became a manager as Miller successor. Although Ejiri managed in 15 matches, the club won only one match and finished at bottom place in the season. The club was relegated from the division 1 first time in the club history. Although he also managed in 2010 season, the club could not return division 1 and he resigned end of 2010 season. On 18 March 2019, he was appointed manager once again, after the departure of argentine Juan Esnáider. He left his position at the end of 2019 season.

Club statistics

Managerial statistics

Update; ''November 25, 2019''J.League Data Site
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References

External links

* * * 1967 births Living people Meiji University alumni Association football people from Shizuoka Prefecture Japanese men's footballers Japan Soccer League players J1 League players JEF United Chiba players Japanese football managers J1 League managers J2 League managers JEF United Chiba managers Men's association football midfielders {{Japan-footy-midfielder-1960s-stub