Masanori Tokita

Masanori Tokita (Japanese 鴇田 正憲, Tokita Masanori; June 24, 1925 – March 5, 2004) was a Japanese football player. He played for the Japan national team.

Youth career Tokita joined the Kobe Daiich High School team in 1938 and was a member of teams who won Hyogo Prefecture Tournament in 1941 and 1944. The team also won the Meiji Jingu Tournament two years in a row in 1941, and 1942, and the inaugural Kashihara Jingu tournament in 1942. In 1943, his final year at the school, he played as captain of the school team.

Tokita joined the Kwansei Gakuin University team in 1944. There was some disruption during this period, with the club being suspended in 1944 due to wartime conditions. In 1945 Tokita joined the army, where he served until the end of the war in 1945. When the team was reinstated in 1946, after the end of the war, Tokita belonged to the team which won the 1946 Student National Football Club tournament, which they also won in 1948. The team also won two consecutive Kansai Student League championships in 1946 and 1947.

On March 5, 2004, Tokita died of esophageal cancer in Hyogo Prefecture at the age of 78. In 2006, he was selected for the Japan Football Hall of Fame.

National team statistics