Japan Football Association vice president Kozo Tashima was named to the FIFA executive committee on Thursday by the Asian Football Confederation Congress.
It was the second time Tashima was up for election for the FIFA seat. Four years ago, he fell short of the necessary majority with just 19 of 46 votes from the AFC member nations.
The former head of the JFA's technical committee has been building support for the election in the Bahraini capital. Tashima was elected to a four-year term. He is the first Japanese to serve on the executive committee since former JFA President Junji Ogura retired from his post in 2011.
In addition to Tashima, who described himself as the "only commoner" in the field, the congress selected Prince Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah of Malaysia to the other four-year post and Olympic Council of Asia President Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah of Kuwait to the final seat, a two-year post.