Kunishige Kamamoto passed away on the morning of August 10th, 2025 at a hospital in Osaka Prefecture, from complications due to pneumonia. His contributions to Japanese football will never be forgotten.

Kunishige Kamamoto passed away on the morning of August 10th, 2025 at a hospital in Osaka Prefecture, from complications due to pneumonia. Mr. Kamamoto was born on April 15, 1944, in Kyoto Prefecture. After graduating from Prefectural Yamashiro High School and Waseda University, he joined Yanmar.

Kamamoto was a member of the Japanese national team from 1964 to 1977, including being a member of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics squad, and was the top goalscorer at the Mexico City Olympics, scoring seven goals, as Japan won a bronze medal.

He played in 76 A matches for Japan, and scored 75 goals, still the national team's all-time top goalscorer.

In 1978, he became player-manager of Yanmar Diesel (later to become Cerezo Osaka). He continued as a player-manager until his retirement from playing in 1984. During that time, he led the team to the JSL First Division League once and the JSL Cup twice.

In 1991, he became the manager of the Matsushita Soccer Club (as it metamorphosed into Gamba Osaka) in preparation for the club's entry into the J.League in 1993. In 2005, he was inducted into the Japan Football Hall of Fame, while serving as Vice President of the JFA (1998-2008).

Kunishige Kamamoto was 81 years old.

Our picture is from JSoccer Magazine in 2012, when I was fortunate enough to get an audience and an interview with the man himself.