As Motoaki Inukai settles into his new role as president of the Japan Football Association, he must contend with both the challenges ahead of him and the weight of the past on his shoulders.
Inukai was officially elected to replace outgoing chief Saburo Kawabuchi on Saturday, as the 71-year-old came to the end of his third term after six years as president and a decade before as the most influential man in Japanese soccer.
Inukai comes to the job with an impressive track record. As a player during the days of the Japan Soccer League and then head of Mitsubishi Motors' European subsidiary, he rose through the ranks to turn his company's amateur team into the most powerful club in Asia — Urawa Reds.