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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

or a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Regarded by many as one of the greatest female footballers of all time, Sawa had a professional club career spanning 24 seasons, mostly with

Nippon TV Beleza is a women's professional football team that plays in Japan's WE League. It is based in the Kita, Itabashi, Inagi, Hino, Tama, and Tachikawa wards of Tokyo. They have won 52 major Asian and national titles, the most of any team in the W ...

and

INAC Kobe Leonessa INAC Kobe(INAC神戸レオネッサ, Ainakku-Kōbe Reonessa) is a professional Japanese women's soccer, football club from Kobe, founded in 2001. INAC stands for International Athletic Club, while Leonessa means Lioness in Italian language, Ita ...

. She also spent 22 years with the Japan national team, most notably captaining them to a

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...

win in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and an Olympic silver medal finish in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. Sawa made her club debut in 1991 at the age of 12, and went on to win five titles with

between 1991 and 1999 before departing to the United States to play football in the

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Uni ...

(WUSA). She played for two WUSA clubs, the Atlanta Beat and the Denver Diamonds, before returning to the Japanese league in 2004. Sawa won another nine titles with Nippon TV Beleza in four years, but left the club again in 2008. That year, Japan reached their first Olympic medal match at the Summer Olympics, and Sawa was Japan's top scorer of the tournament. In 2011, Sawa captained the Japan national team at the 2011 World Cup. In Germany, Japan advanced to their first

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of a major international tournament, where Sawa scored Japan's match-tying goal in extra time, allowing Japan to win the match on penalties. She finished the tournament with the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player and the Golden Boot as the tournament's top scorer. Later in the year, Sawa was named the 2011 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year, the first Asian person regardless of gender to receive a major year-end individual award. She later captained Japan to a silver medal finish at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and then retired from international football for the first time immediately after the completion of the tournament. Sawa returned to her role in the Japan national team to play in the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the f ...

, her sixth World Cup and the final major international tournament of her career. Japan reached their second-ever Women's World Cup final that year, and after a runner-up finish, she retired from international football for the second and final time. At the end of the year, after winning the

2015 Empress's Cup Statistics of Empress's Cup in the 2015 season. Overview It was contested by 48 teams, and INAC Kobe Leonessa won the championship. Results 1st round *Diosa Izumo FC 0-4 Fujieda Junshin High School *Waseda University 1-0 Fukuoka J. Anclas *Niig ...

with

, she retired from football completely. She retired from club football with 11 league titles and 8 domestic cup titles in the Japanese League, and was also named to the league's Best XI for 11 seasons. Sawa remains the leader in both

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and goals for Japan, with 205 and 83 respectively.

Early life

Sawa was born in

Fuchū, Tokyo file:FuchuCityHall2023091.jpg, 260px, Fuchū City Hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in the western Tokyo, western portion of the Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. Fuchū serves as a regional commercial center and a commuter town for workers in cent ...

on 6 September 1978. She began playing football at the age of six. While watching her older brother train, she was invited by his coach to join the boys' team on the pitch.

Club career

NTV Beleza

In 1991, long considered Japan's finest female footballer, Sawa was promoted to Yomiuri Beleza (later ''NTV Beleza'') from youth team by manager

Kazuhiko Takemoto is a former Japanese football player and manager. His wife is former footballer Asako Takakura. Coaching career Takemoto was born in Aichi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū ...

. She made her debut in L.League, Japan's highest domestic league, at the young age of 12. She played as

and played 136 matches and scored 79 goals in League. She was also selected Best Eleven 5 times (

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

). In 1999, NTV Beleza cancelled Sawa's contract, forcing her to move abroad to the United States.

Atlanta Beat

With the birth of the

(WUSA) in 2001, Sawa found herself playing in the highest-level professional women's league in the United States, for the Atlanta Beat. With Asian compatriot Sun Wen in the team, she scored the first goal in the club's history, and was a centerpiece of the Beat's three seasons in the league, helping them into the playoffs each year. Despite her diminutive stature at tall and , she held her own with the mostly larger and more physical players, and was regularly among the team and league leaders in fouls taken.

Nippon TV Beleza

Following the WUSA's demise in 2003, Sawa returned to Japan, where she played with powerhouse

. In 2004, she was named Women's Player of the Year for the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation ( ...

. She played the club until 2008. The club won L.League championship for four years in a row (

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

–

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

). She also was selected L.League MVP awards in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

Washington Freedom

On 24 September 2008, Sawa was selected by the

Washington Freedom Washington Freedom may refer to: * Washington Freedom (cricket) * Washington Freedom (soccer) {{dab ...

in the first round of the

2008 WPS International Draft The 2008 WPS International Draft took place on September 24, 2008. It was the first international draft held by Women's Professional Soccer to assign the WPS rights of international players to the American-based teams. For the 2009 season, teams ...

. She was a fixture in the Freedom midfield through the league's first two seasons in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Nippon TV Beleza and INAC Kobe Leonessa

Sawa returned to Japan temporarily at the end of the

2009 Women's Professional Soccer season The 2009 Women's Professional Soccer season served as the inaugural season for WPS, the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. The regular season began on March 29 and ended on August 9, with the postseason being held ...

, and joined

on loan. At the end of

2010 Women's Professional Soccer season The 2010 Women's Professional Soccer season was the second season for the WPS, the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. Regular season champion FC Gold Pride won the WPS Championship on September 26 with a 4–0 vi ...

, she returned to Nippon TV Beleza. In January 2011, Sawa moved to

due to financial strain at Nippon TV Beleza, with international players;

Shinobu Ohno is a Japanese former footballer who played as a forward. She formerly played for the Japan national team. Club career Ohno was born in Zama on 23 January 1984. She played for Nippon TV Beleza from 1999 to 2010. In 12 seasons, she played 192 ...

Yukari Kinga is a Japanese football player. She plays as a defender for Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina in the WE League. She previously played for the Japan women's national football team, winning a World Cup and an Olympic silver medal before her international ...

, and Chiaki Minamiyama. The club won the L.League championship three years in a row (

–

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

). On 16 December 2015, she announced her intent to retire at the end of the 2015 season. At the

, Sawa's final tournament as a player, INAC Kobe Leonessa reached the

. In the final against

Albirex Niigata is a professional football club based in Niigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. They currently play in J1 League after being promoted from J2 League as cha ...

on 27 December, she scored the lone goal of the match in the 78th minute to secure the championship for her side.

International career

On 6 December 1993, at age 15, Sawa made her Japanese international debut, scoring four goals in her first ever match, a win against the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. Sawa debuted in her first Women's World Cup tournament in 1995, making her first start at 16 years old against Germany. On 12 July 2003, Sawa scored the tie-winning goal against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in 2003 Women's World Cup qualification play-offs to secure Japan's participation in the

2003 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial championship of women's association football, women's national soccer teams organized by FIFA. It was held in the United States from September ...

. Sawa played in all of Japan's matches at the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, leading them to the knockout round of a major international tournament for the first time in Japan's history. Sawa scored a

hat trick A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mechan ...

in a 2011 World Cup group stage match against

, becoming the then-oldest player in World Cup history to score a hat trick. Sawa led the Japanese national team as captain to a world championship victory at the 2011 World Cup . After a 2–2 tie in front of a sellout crowd in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Germany (with one goal by Sawa in the 117th minute), Japan won the penalty shootout 3–1, defeating the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to win their first ever World Cup. Sawa was awarded the Golden Boot for being the tournament's leading scorer with five goals and the Golden Ball for being the tournament's MVP. On 9 January 2012, Sawa was awarded the

FIFA Women's World Player of the Year The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representative ...

in Zurich, Switzerland. She broke

Marta Marta may refer to: People * Marta (given name), a feminine given name * Märta, a feminine given name * Marta (surname) * Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer Places * Marta (river), an Italian river that flow ...

’s streak of 5 consecutive FIFA Women's World Player of the Year awards, and also became the first Asian person regardless of gender to receive a major individual year-end award. In February of that year,

Aya Miyama is a Japanese former footballer who played for the Japan national team starting in 2003, and from 2012 to 2016 served as captain of the team. She appeared in four World Cups between 2003 and 2015, and was part of the team that won the 2011 W ...

took over captaincy of Japan from Sawa. At the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, Japan met the United States in the

gold medal match Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal, a group 11 ...

where they were defeated 2–1. She announced her immediate retirement from international football in August 2012. In October 2012, she was shortlisted for the 2012 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year, where she finished 4th place in the voting. Sawa returned to international competition in 2014 at the

2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup The 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup, the 18th edition of the competition, was a women's association football tournament competed by national teams in Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It served as the qualification for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup ...

, which served as qualifiers to the

. Sawa scored Japan's opening goal in the semifinal against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, helping Japan win 2–1 to send them to the final. Japan went on to win the final 1–0 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 ...

, claiming their first ever Asian Cup title. Sawa was absent for many months after Japan's Asian Cup win, coinciding with multiple injuries. In November 2014, Sawa was a member of the first round of inductees into the

Asian Football Hall of Fame The Asian Football Hall of Fame, officially known as AFC Hall of Fame, is a hall of fame for Asian professional footballers maintained by Asian Football Confederation. AFC officially created it for 60th anniversary of its foundation on 30 Novemb ...

. In March 2015,

Norio Sasaki is a Japanese football coach and former player. He is best known for leading the Japanese women's national team to their first and only FIFA Women's World Cup win in 2011 over the United States on penalty shootouts. He retired as head coach in ...

left Sawa out of Japan's squad for the

2015 Algarve Cup The 2015 Algarve Cup was the 22nd edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place on 4–11 March. Format Because of the number of competitive teams this year, the format was changed ...

despite her being injury-free. Her exclusion from the Algarve Cup squad presented speculation that she would not be named to Japan's World Cup roster, as the Algarve Cup was typically used as warm-up matches for major international competitions. To some surprise, Sawa was called into Japan's

squad after not featuring for Japan for the second half of 2014 or the early months of 2015. She did not regain her captaincy, however, which was still held by

. She returned to the national team from injury after a one-year absence, marking the occasion by scoring Japan's match-winning goal in a friendly against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. On 8 June, she started Japan's first match of the 2015 Women's World Cup, achieving her 200th cap with 57 minutes against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Sawa and Brazil's Formiga became the first footballers to appear for a record sixth World Cup.This record was held until Formiga participated in her seventh World Cup in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. Sawa had an off-the-bench role for the remainder of the tournament, starting just twice in seven games. Japan went on to advance to the final against the

, where Sawa was subbed into the match in the 33rd minute after Japan had already conceded four goals. Japan went on to lose 5–2 to the U.S. in the

in what would end up being Sawa's last ever match with the ''Nadeshiko''. On 16 December 2015, Sawa announced her retirement from football after the completion of the

2015 Nadeshiko League The 2015 Nadeshiko League season was won by NTV Beleza, who have won the title 13 times. Nadeshiko League Division 1 First stage : Regular series Second stage : Exciting series Championship league Position playoff League awards Best playe ...

season. Sawa's retirement was met with tributes from people across Japanese football, including coach

, teammates

Yuki Nagasato Yuki, Yūki or Yuuki may refer to: Places * Yuki, Hiroshima (Jinseki), a town in Jinseki District, Hiroshima, Japan * Yuki, Hiroshima (Saeki), a town in Saeki District, Hiroshima, Japan * Yūki, Ibaraki, a city on Honshu island in Japan * Yuk ...

Eriko Arakawa is a Japanese football player. She plays for Chifure AS Elfen Saitama and formerly played for the Japan national team. Club career Arakawa was born in Nerima, Tokyo on 30 October 1979. In 1997, she joined L.League club Yomiuri-Seiyu Beleza ( ...

, and

Azusa Iwashimizu is a Japanese footballer who played as a defender for Tokyo Verdy Beleza in the WE League and the Japan national team. Club career Iwashimizu was born in Takizawa on 14 October 1986. In 2003, she was promoted to Nippon TV Beleza after devel ...

, and male footballing compatriot

Shunsuke Nakamura is a Japanese former professional footballer. He is currently a first-team coach of Yokohama FC. He is the only person to have been named J.League Most Valuable Player more than once, receiving the award in 2000 and 2013. Renowned as one of ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sawa goal.''

Matches and goals scored at World Cup and Olympic tournaments

Sawa has competed in six

s ( Sweden 1995, USA 1999, USA 2003, China 2007, Germany 2011, and Canada 2015); she and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

's Formiga, who competed at the same Women's World Cups, are the only players of either sex to appear in six World Cup final tournaments. Sawa has also represented Japan in four

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

Atlanta 1996 Atlanta 1996 may refer to: * 1996 Summer Olympics * 1996 Summer Paralympics The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a bud ...

Athens 2004 Athens 2004 may refer to: * 2004 Summer Olympics * 2004 Summer Paralympics The 2004 Summer Paralympics (), the 12th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the Internati ...

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

and

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In all, she played 41 matches and scored 11 goals at those ten global tournaments. Sawa was a member of the Japanese teams that won the 2011 Women's World Cup, and were runners-up at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2015 Women's World Cup.

Honors

Yomiuri/Nippon TV Beleza * Nadeshiko.League (8): 1991, 1992, 1993, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 * Empress's Cup All-Japan Women's Football Tournament (7): 1993, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 *Nadeshiko League Cup: 2007 INAC Kobe Leonessa * Nadeshiko.League: 2011, 2012, 2013 * Empress's Cup All-Japan Women's Football Tournament: 2011 * International Women's Club Championship: 2013 *Nadeshiko League Cup: 2013 Japan *

East Asian Football Championship EAFF E-1 Football Championship, known as the East Asian Football Championship from 2003 to 2010, and the EAFF East Asian Cup for the 2013 and 2015 editions, is a men's international football competition in East Asia for member nations of the East ...

* Asian Games Gold Medal:

Olympic Silver Medal An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold, silver, and bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respectively. The granting of awards is laid ou ...

AFC Women's Asian Cup The AFC Women's Asian Cup (formerly known as the AFC Women's Championship) is a quadrennial competition in women's football for national teams which belong to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is the oldest women's international football ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Individual * Nadeshiko League Best Eleven (11): 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012 * AFC Women's Player of the Year: 2004, 2008 * Nadeshiko League MVP: 2006, 2008 * EAFF Women's Football Championship Best Player:

* FIFA Women's World Cup Golden Ball:

* FIFA Women's World Cup Golden Shoe:

* FIFA Women's World Cup All-Star Team:

FIFA World Player of the Year The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representative ...

: 2014 *IFFHS AFC Best Woman Player of the Decade 2011–2020 * IFFHS AFC Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020

Personal life

Sawa attended

Teikyo University is a private university headquartered in the Itabashi, Tokyo, Itabashi ward of Tokyo, Japan. It was established in 1931 as Teikyo shogyo, Commercial High School (帝京商業高等学校). It became Teikyo University in 1966. It is part of Teik ...

in 1999 until her club team,

, ended her club contract, forcing her to drop out to go play club football in the

. On 11 August 2015, Sawa announced her marriage without naming her husband. The next day, when asked, she said that her husband was former

Vegalta Sendai is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Sendai, Miyagi, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. They currently play in J2 League, the Japanese second tier of professional football. History Founded in 1988 as ''Tohoku Elect ...

player Hiroaki Tsujikami. On 10 January 2017, it was announced that she had given birth to a baby girl. In 2013, Sawa was made an ambassador for Japan's bid for the

2020 Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, which was later chosen to be hosted in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. In 2021, she pulled out of the 2020 Summer Olympics torch relay due to a chronic inner-ear condition. She also works as a TV host and commentator in

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.Japan Football Association The Japan Football Association (JFA, ) is the Sport governing body, governing body responsible for the administration of Association football, football, futsal, beach soccer and Esports, efootball in Japan. It is responsible for the Japan national ...

Notes

References

;Match reports

External links