was a Japanese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and manager. He played for Japan national team.

Club career

Mori was born in

Fukuyama Fukuyama may refer to: People * Francis Fukuyama, Japanese-American philosopher and political economist * Fukuyama (surname), other people with the name Places *Fukuyama, Hiroshima, city in Japan *Fukuyama, Kagoshima was a town located in Aira D ...

on November 24, 1943. He played for

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

. He won

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

and

1966 Emperor's Cup Statistics of Emperor's Cup in the 1966 season. The cup was held between January 12 and January 15, 1967. Overview It was contested by 8 teams, and Waseda University won the cup. Results Quarterfinals * Toyo Industries 3–1 Kwansei Gakuin Univ ...

at university. After graduating from Waseda University, he joined

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.

(later ''Urawa Reds'') in 1967. The club won the league champions in

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

and

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

. The club also won

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

and

1973 Emperor's Cup Statistics of Emperor's Cup in the 1973 season. Overview It was contested by 26 teams, and Mitsubishi Motors won the championship. Results 1st round * Chuo University 3–0 Nippon Steel Kamaishi * Otsuka Pharmaceutical 3–1 Osaka Universit ...

. He retired in 1977. He played 146 games and scored 28 goals in the league. He was selected Best Eleven 5 times.

National team career

In October 1964, when Mori was a

student, he was selected Japan national team for

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

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 ...

. But he did not play in the match. On December 16, 1966, he debuted against

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

1966 Asian Games The 1966 Asian Games, also known as the V Asiad or Bangkok 1966, were a continental multi-sport event that was held from 9 to 20 December 1966, in Bangkok, Thailand. A total of 142 events in 16 sports were contested by athletes during the games. T ...

. In 1968, he was selected Japan for

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. He played in all matches and Japan won bronze medal. In 2018, this team was selected

Japan Football Hall of Fame is housed at the Japan Football Museum ( :ja:日本サッカーミュージアム), in JFA House in Bunkyo, Tokyo. The Hall aims to celebrate the achievements of the all-time top Japanese football players, managers, and other persons who have be ...

. In 1970, he also played at

1970 Asian Games The 6th Asian Games also known as Bangkok 1970, were held from 9 to 20 December 1970 in Bangkok, Thailand.- - Seoul, South Korea, had been selected to host the 6th Games but it declined due to both financial reasons and security threats from ne ...

. He played 56 games and scored 2 goals for Japan until 1976.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref>

Coaching career

After retirement, in November 1980, Mori became a coach for Japan national team under new manager Saburo Kawabuchi. Mori was promoted to manager in April 1981. He managed at

1982 Asian Games The 9th Asian Games (), also known as Delhi 1982 (), were held from 19 November to 4 December 1982, in Delhi, India. 74 Asian and Asian Games records were broken at the event. This was also the first Asiad to be held under the aegis of the Olymp ...

and 1984 Summer Olympics qualification. At

1986 World Cup qualification The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal ent ...

in 1985, Japan defeated

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

to reach the final round of the East Asian zone to play

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. Japan lost 1–3 on aggregate. Mori then led the team to the

1986 Asian Games The 1986 Asian Games (), officially known as the 10th Asian Games and the X Asiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1986 (), were held from 20 September to 5 October 1986, in Seoul, South Korea. The venues and facilities of the 10th Asiad were the sa ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

and resigned following the team's failure to reach the second round. In 1992, Mori became a manager for

Urawa Reds The or simply Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ, ''Urawa Rezzu''), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, are a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan, who p ...

. However, Urawa Reds finished at the bottom place in J1 League first season and he resigned. In 1998, he signed with

Avispa Fukuoka is a Japanese professional football club based in Hakata, Fukuoka. They currently compete in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. History Earlier years in Fujieda The club were originally based in Fujieda, Shizu ...

and he managed the club in 1 season. In 2006, Mori was selected to the

. On July 17, 2011, he died of

renal pelvis The renal pelvis or pelvis of the kidney is the funnel-like dilated part of the ureter in the kidney. It is formed by the convergence of the major calyces, acting as a funnel for urine flowing from the major calyces to the ureter. It has a mucous ...

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

Meguro is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Meguro City. The ward was founded on March 15, 1947. Meguro is predominantly residential in character ...

at the age of 67. That day was the day Japan women's national team won 2011 Women's World Cup, Japan won the world champions for the first time through men and women.

Club statistics

National team statistics

Managerial statistics

Awards

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 ...

Best Eleven: (5)

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

: Inducted in 2006

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
*

at

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 ...

Japan Football Hall of Fame
(Japan team at 1968 Olympics) at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mori, Takaji 1943 births 2011 deaths Waseda University alumni Association football people from Hiroshima Prefecture Japanese men's footballers Japan men's international footballers Japan Soccer League players Urawa Red Diamonds players Japanese football managers Japan national football team managers J1 League managers Urawa Red Diamonds managers Avispa Fukuoka managers Olympic footballers for Japan Olympic medalists in football Olympic bronze medalists for Japan Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in football Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan Footballers at the 1966 Asian Games Footballers at the 1970 Asian Games Men's association football defenders Medalists at the 1966 Asian Games 20th-century Japanese sportsmen