(former name; Tomoe Sakai, 酒井與惠) is a former

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese

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. She played for Japan national team.

Club 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 May 27, 1978. She played for

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 ...

from 1993 to 2008. The club won L.League championship 8 times. She played 246 matches in L.League. She was selected MVP awards 2 times in

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 ...

and

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

. She was also selected Best Eleven for 12 years in a row (

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 ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

National team career

On June 8, 1997, when Kato was 19 years old, she debuted for Japan national team 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 ...

.Japan Football Association
/ref> She was a member of Japan for

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, 2007 World Cup,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2008 Summer Olympics 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 fro ...

. She played 114 games and scored 8 goals for Japan until 2008.

Personal life

Kato got married and changed her name to Tomoe Kato (加藤與惠) from Tomoe Sakai (酒井與惠) in November 2007.

National team statistics

International goals

References

External links

Tomoe Sakai
– FIFA competition record * * * * 1978 births Living people Tokyo Women's College of Physical Education alumni Association football people from Tokyo Japanese women's footballers 21st-century Japanese sportswomen Japan women's international footballers Nadeshiko League players Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza players 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players Olympic footballers for Japan Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in football Footballers at the 1998 Asian Games Footballers at the 2002 Asian Games Footballers at the 2006 Asian Games Women's association football midfielders Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan FIFA Women's Century Club Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Nadeshiko League MVPs {{Japan-footy-midfielder-1970s-stub