In October 1974 he joined the Japan Football Association (JFA). Soon after that he became executive director of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC); in 1977 he was appointed as its general secretary and in 1989 as its executive director. In September 1990 he became a member of the IOC, and in 1995 of the FIFA Olympic Tournaments' Organizing Committee. He also served as 9th president of JFA (1998-2002) and 1st president of East Asian Football Federation (2004-2006).