Katagiri, Munemasa

片桐宗政

He made his debut in the Captain Tsubasa manga. He is a retired Japanese footballer who works for the Japan Football Association (JFA), primarily as a talent scout. According to the World Youth Cup arc, he hails from a wealthy family but severed ties with them for years after choosing soccer over joining the family business.
Katagiri operates behind the scenes, supporting the many talents of the Golden Age—including Tsubasa, Misaki, Hyuga, Aoi, and others—on their path to global prominence. In the film series and the U-13 International Tournament arc, Katagiri also serves as an assistant coach, helping U-13 Japan, U-14 Japan, and All Japan Jr. in their matches against European teams and in the Jr. World Cup featured in Film 4. As a JFA representative, he continues to back the Golden Generation: in the Battle of World Youth, he agreed to form a shadow team called Real Japan 7 to strengthen the All Japan Youth squad and prepare for the 2nd Asian preliminaries. He arranged for the U-20 International World Youth Cup to be held in Japan on short notice with the help of his father, Mr. Katagiri, a prominent corporate businessman in Japan. This process was not without difficulty, as Katagiri Sr. initially demanded that his son cut all ties with the Japan Team and return to the clan in exchange for his assistance; when Katagiri Jr. stated he would seek help elsewhere rather than submit to his father's demands, his father relented and agreed to help the team anyway, asking only that his son visit his mother.