is a Japanese former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. He earned 38 caps for the Japan national team between 1994 and 2003, including three games at the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref>

Club career

Narahashi was born in Chiba on November 26, 1971. After graduating from Chiba Eiwa High School in 1990, he joined Fujita Industries (later ''Bellmare Hiratsuka'', ''Shonan Bellmare'') playing in the

Japan Soccer League ; 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 Cup, JSL was the second national league of a team sport in Japan after the professi ...

Division 2. In 1992, Japan Soccer League was folded and the club joined new league

Japan Football League The , also known as simply the JFL, is the 4th tier of the Japanese association football league system, positioned beneath the three divisions of the J.League. The league features fully professional teams that hold J.League 100 Year Plan club sta ...

. The club won the champions in 1993 and was promoted to

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

. In 1994, the club won

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or Japan FA Cup, and rebranded as The JFA Emperor's Cup from 2024 onwards, is a Japanese annual football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football tournament in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formatio ...

. In Asia, the club also won

1995 Asian Cup Winners' Cup The 1995–96 Asian Cup Winners' Cup was the sixth edition of association football competition run by the Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and ...

. Narahashi moved to

Kashima Antlers The are a professional association football, football club based in Kashima, Ibaraki, Japan. They currently play in the J1 League, the top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The club has financial backing from Mercari, a Japanese ...

in 1997. The presence of Jorginho at Kashima propelled his decision to move as he aspired to learn the trade under the Brazilian international full back. In 2000, the club won all three major title in Japan;

J.League Cup The is a Japanese Association football, football (soccer) competition organised by J.League, the men's association football league in Japan. It has been sponsored by Yamazaki Biscuits (YBC) of Yamazaki Baking (formerly Yamazaki Nabisco) since it ...

and

first time in

J.League The , commonly a.k.a. shortened to the , and officially known as the for sponsorship with Meiji Yasuda Life, is the men's association football league in Japan. It is responsible for organizing Japan's major professional football tournaments, in ...

history. The club won J1 League three times,

three times and

two times. From the mid-2000s, his opportunities to play decreased. At the end of the 2006 season, Kashima announced that they wouldn't renew his contract. Narahashi returned to Bellmare in February 2007 but was released in August 2007. On February 1, 2008, he announced his retirement from professional football.

International career

On September 27, 1994, Narahashi debuted for Japan national team against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. He competed with Hiroshige Yanagimoto for regular of right side-back. Yanagimoto was hurt in 1997, Narahashi became a regular. At

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification The 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA FIFA#Structure, confederations. Each confederation — the Asian Football Confederation, AFC (Asia), Confederation of African Football, CAF (Afr ...

, Japan won the qualify for

first time in Japan's history. In 1998, he played in all three matches at 1998 World Cup. After

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, in October, Narahashi was selected Japan by new manager Zico for the first time in four years. He was also selected Japan for

2003 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the sixth FIFA Confederations Cup, held in France in June 2003. France retained the title they had won in 2001, but the tournament was overshadowed by the death of Cameroon player Marc-Vivi ...

, but he did not play in the match. He played 38 games for Japan until 2003.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honors

With Shonan Bellmare *

: 1994 * Asian Cup Winner's Cup: 1995 With Kashima Antlers * J - League: 1998, 2000, 2001 *

: 1997, 2000 *

J - League Cup J, or j, is the tenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon varia ...

: 1997, 2000, 2002 *

Japanese Super Cup The , the for sponsorship reasons, is an annual one-match association football competition in Japan organised by J.League and the Japan Football Association. This competition serves as the season opener and is played between the reigning J1 Leag ...

: 1997, 2000, 2002 Individual *

Best Eleven:

2001 The year's most prominent event was 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. The United States led a Participan ...

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Narahashi, Akira 1971 births Living people Japanese men's footballers Japan men's international footballers Japan Soccer League players J1 League players J2 League players Japan Football League (1992–1998) players 20th-century Japanese sportsmen Shonan Bellmare players Kashima Antlers players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players Men's association football defenders Footballers at the 1994 Asian Games Asian Games footballers for Japan Association football people from Chiba (city)