New Head Coach of Men’s National Team “Samurai Japan”

Japan Hockey Association

To whom it may concern,

Please allow us to begin by extending our heartfelt gratitude for your continued support of the business operations of Japan Hockey Association.

This time, Japan Hockey Association is delighted to announce that Akira Takahashi will join our team as the new Men’s Team, Samurai Japan Head Coach. He is the successor of Siegfried Aikman who expired the contract at October, 2021.

Akira Takahashi was successful as a member of men’s national team and has worked with U21 national team and national team as a coach. In addition, he is qualified for the hockey academy Level 4 of International Hockey Federation and we believe his knowledge and experience will bring positive impact to Samurai Japan.

Akira Takahashi will lead the team from the Asian Championship Trophy coming up from 5th December to 12th December at Dhaka, Bangladesh. After that, he will strengthen the team in national camps towards 2024 Paris Olympics Games.

Brief History of Akira Takahashi

Name	Akira Takahashi
Birthday	July 7, 1972
Place of Birth	Japan
Coaching History	2004 Manager of Hyojito Hockey Team (Currently Known as Hyojito Frater Hockey Team） 2005-2007 Coach of Men’s National Team 　　 2006 9th in FIH Hockey World Cup (Germany) 　　 2006 4th in Asian Games (Doha) 2011-2014 Coach of Men’s National Team 2014 6th in Asian Games (China) 2018 Head Coach of LIEBE Tochigi 2020 Coach of U21 Men’s National Team
Playing History	1992 a member of U21 Men’s National Team 1992-2004 a member of Men’s National Team 2002 12th in FIH World Cup (Malaysia) 　　 2 times participation in Olympic Preliminaries 　　 (2000 Sydney Preliminary (Osaka), 2004 Athena Preliminary (Madrid) 　　 3 times participation in Asian Games　　　　 (1994 Hiroshima, 1998 Bangkok, 2002 Busan)

<Comments from Akira Takahashi＞

I sincerely appreciate Japan Hockey Association for this opportunity to work with Samurai Japan as a head coach. This summer, Samurai Japan shows that they were evenly matched with other teams in Tokyo Olympic Games. Towards Paris Olympics, I’ll take my advantage of what I have built up and my knowledge and experience to aim for more progress and build “Japanese unique play style” that is suitable for Japanese players. Thank you for your continued support for Samurai Japan.