Hiroshi Kagawa, a pioneer in Japanese soccer journalism, died at a hospital in Kobe on Thursday from what is believed to be natural causes. He was 99.
A native of Kobe, Kagawa played soccer for a pre-World War II powerhouse team at Hyogo Prefectural Daiichi Kobe Chugakko, which is now Hyogo Prefectural Kobe High School, and other clubs including one he helped finish second in the Emperor's Cup national tournament.
He joined the Sankei Shimbun newspaper in 1952 and served as chief editor of the Sankei Sports newspaper before becoming a freelance journalist in 1990.
Kagawa covered a total of 10 FIFA World Cup tournaments, starting with the 1974 event in West Germany. At age 89, he was the oldest journalist reporting on the 2014 tournament in Brazil.
He was induced into the Japan Football Hall of Fame in 2010 and received the FIFA Presidential Award in 2015 for his contribution to the sport.
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