Overview

Motoo Tatsuhara (立原 元夫), born 14 January 1913, is recorded as a Japanese association football player who represented the Japan national team. Precise details about his club career, playing position and later life are limited in surviving public sources, and his date of death is not widely recorded. Tatsuhara is part of an early generation of players who helped establish Japan on the international football stage.

Historical context

Football in Japan in the first half of the 20th century was organized primarily through universities, company teams and regional associations. Players of Tatsuhara's era often combined sporting activity with study or employment rather than professional contracts. International fixtures were less frequent than today, so national-team selection carried considerable prestige and is a key reason figures like Tatsuhara are noted in historical rosters.

National team and records

Surviving match lists, tournament reports and association rosters mention Tatsuhara as a national-team player. Because archival material from the period can be fragmentary, comprehensive statistics (such as number of caps, goals or exact match dates) are sometimes unavailable. Researchers rely on contemporaneous newspapers, association records and later compilations to reconstruct these careers.

Significance and legacy

Tatsuhara represents the cohort of pre-war and interwar Japanese players who laid foundations for the sport's domestic organization and international participation. Their efforts contributed to later developments: the formation of national competitions, growth in university and company football, and Japan's evolving presence in regional and global tournaments. For context on the wider environment in which he played, see general discussions of Japanese football.

Notable facts

  • Born 14 January 1913.
  • Recorded as a player for the Japan national team.
  • Publicly available details about club affiliation and later life are sparse.

Further information about early Japanese international players and efforts to preserve their histories can be found in football history surveys and national association archives. For a general outline of the role and definition of an individual in this sport, see entries on a football player.