JFA Hall of Fame Inductee

TAKAKURA Asako

Special Selection: 21st Japan Football Hall of Fame in 2025

Born in Fukushima Prefecture on 19 April 1968

TAKAKURA Asako started playing soccer in elementary school, playing for FC Jinnan and others. In 1985, she joined Yomiuri Soccer Club Ladies Beleza (now Nipon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza), where she played a central role in the team for a long time. She made her presence felt both offensively and defensively with her quality play, and contributed to four consecutive Japan Ladies Soccer League (later the Japan Women's Football League) from 1990 to 1993. As an individual, she was named to the league's best eleven seven times in the ten years between 1989 and 1998, and won the best player award two years in a row in 1992 and 1993.

Except for one year in 2000 when she played in the United States, she played a total of 15 years in the Japan Women's Football League. She played a total of 226 games and scored 44 goals.

She was selected for the Japan women's national team for the first time in 1983 at the age of 15, and made her international A-match debut the following year at 16. She scored 29 goals in 79 international A-match appearances, including two appearances at the FIFA Women's World Championship (now the FIFA Women's World Cup) and the 26th Olympic Games in Atlanta (1996).

• 
  KIOKA Futaba
• NODA Akemi