is a former 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.

Playing career

Kato was born 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 ...

on December 24, 1969. After graduating from high school, he joined

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 ...

(JSL) club Toho Titanium in 1988. He played as regular goalkeeper. In 1991, he moved to JSL club

Tokyo Gas , founded in 1885, is the primary provider of natural gas to the main cities of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a p ...

and played in 3 seasons. In 1994, he moved to

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 ...

club

PJM Futures The was a former Japanese football club that played in the Japan Football League between 1994 and 1996. History PJM Futures was founded in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka in 1987 as the team of PJM Japan, a company based on Paul J. Meyer's U.S. academy S ...

. In 1995, he moved to newly 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 ...

club,

Kashiwa Reysol is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Sankyo ...

. Although he played many matches in 1995, his opportunity to play decreased behind Yoichi Doi from 1996. In 1998, he moved to

Consadole Sapporo is a Japanese professional football club based in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido. They will play in the 2025 J2 League, the second tier league of Japanese football, after relegation from the J1 League at conclusion of th ...

. However he could hardly play in the match behind

Dido Havenaar Dido Havenaar (born 26 September 1957) is a Dutch football coach and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper, primarily in Japan. His sons Mike and Nikki are also footballers. Playing career Havenaar was born in Hazerswoude-Dorp o ...

and Yohei Sato. In 2000, he moved to

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima () is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Hiroshima. The club competes in the J1 League, top flight of the Japanese football league system. Sanfrecce is one of the most successful clubs in Ja ...

. However he could hardly play in the match behind Takashi Shimoda. In May 2002, he moved to

(JFL) club Sagawa Express Tokyo. He played many matches in 3 seasons. In 2005, he moved to Regional Leagues club Rosso Kumamoto (later ''Roasso Kumamoto''). He played many matches in 2005 and the club was promoted to JFL from 2006. He also served a goalkeeper coach from 2006 and the club was promoted to

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yasud ...

end of 2007 season. He retired from playing career end of 2007 season. On April 18, 2014, he came back as player because multiple goalkeepers were injured. However he did not play in the match and his registration was deleted on April 25.Roasso Kumamoto
/ref>

Coaching career

In 2006, when Kato played for Rosso Kumamoto (later ''Roasso Kumamoto''), he became a goalkeeper coach for the club. He coached until end of 2014 season. In 2015, he moved to JFA Academy Fukushima LSC and became a goalkeeper coach.

Club statistics

References

External links

*
Roasso Kumamoto
1969 births Living people Association football people from Tokyo Japanese men's footballers Japan Soccer League players J1 League players J2 League players Japan Football League (1992–1998) players 20th-century Japanese sportsmen Japan Football League players Toho Titanium SC players FC Tokyo players Sagan Tosu players Kashiwa Reysol players Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo players Sanfrecce Hiroshima players Sagawa Shiga FC players Roasso Kumamoto players Men's association football goalkeepers {{Japan-footy-goalkeeper-stub