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

Hiraki was born in

Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its '' kofun'', keyhole-shaped burial mounds dating from the fifth century. The ''kofun ...

on October 7, 1931. After graduating from

Kwansei Gakuin University , colloquially known as , is a private, non-denominational Christian coeducational university in Japan. The university offers Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees to around 25,000 students in almost 40 different disciplines across 11 underg ...

, he joined Yuasa Batteries in 1957. In 1958, he moved to

Furukawa Electric is a Japanese electric and electronics equipment company. History The company traces its origins to Furukawa Ichibei who founded Nikko Copper Works, a copper-smelting facility at Yokohama in 1884, which became part of Furukuwa Kogyo. A new c ...

. Furukawa Electric won

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

and

1964 Emperor's Cup Statistics of Emperor's Cup in the 1964 season. The cup was held between January 11 and January 17, 1965. Overview It was contested by 10 teams, and Yawata Steel and Furukawa Electric won the championship. Results Group A Group B Final * ...

. In 1965, Furukawa Electric joined new league

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 ...

. He played 6 games in the league. He retired in 1966.

National team career

In March 1954, when Hiraki was a

student, he was selected Japan national team for 1954 World Cup qualification. At this qualification, on March 14, he debuted against

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 ...

. In 1956, he was selected Japan for

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. He also played at

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

and

1962 Asian Games The 1962 Asian Games () also known as the 4th Asian Games, IV Asiad, and Jakarta 1962, were the fourth edition of pan-Asian multi-sport event sanctioned by the Asian Games Federation (AGF). The games were held from 24 August to 4 September 1962, ...

. In 1964, he was selected Japan as captain 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 ...

. However, he could not play for injury. After 1964 Summer Olympics, he retired from national team. He played 30 games and scored 1 goal for Japan until 1962.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref>

Coaching career

In 1962, when Hiraki played for

, he became a playing manager as

Ken Naganuma was a Japanese football player and manager. A forward, he earned four caps for the Japan national team between 1954 and 1961 and later also served as the team's manager. He was also the president of the Japan Football Association from 1994 to ...

successor for the club and managed until 1965. He also served a coach for Japan national team and a manager for Japan U-20 national team. In 1968, he participated as a coach in

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 ...

and Japan team won Bronze Medal. In 2018, this team was selected Japan Football Hall of Fame. In 1992, he signed with

Nagoya Grampus Eight ; formerly known as is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, and have for all but one season since the inauguration of the league, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture an ...

joined new league

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 ...

and he managed until 1993. In 2005, Hiraki was selected Japan Football Hall of Fame. On January 2, 2009, he died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

at the age of 77.

Club statistics

National team statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

* Japan Football Hall of Fame: Inducted in 2005

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:Hiraki, Ryuzo 1931 births 2009 deaths Kwansei Gakuin University alumni Japanese men's footballers Japan men's international footballers Japan Soccer League players JEF United Chiba players Olympic footballers for Japan Association football people from Sakai, Osaka Footballers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1954 Asian Games Footballers at the 1958 Asian Games Footballers at the 1962 Asian Games Japanese football managers J1 League managers Nagoya Grampus managers Deaths from pneumonia in Japan Men's association football defenders Asian Games footballers for Japan 20th-century Japanese sportsmen