He first appeared in Captain Tsubasa manga as a retired Japanese footballer who now works as a talent scout for the Japan Football Association. Katagiri comes from serious money—the kind of family wealth that expected him to take over the business—but he walked away from all that to pursue soccer instead, a choice that created a rift between him and his family for years.
Katagiri's real influence comes from working behind the scenes. He's been instrumental in supporting the stars of the Golden Age, including Tsubasa, Misaki, Hyuga, and Aoi, helping shepherd them toward international success. Beyond scouting, he's also served as an assistant coach for Japan's youth teams—the U-13, U-14, and All Japan Jr. squads—particularly during the film series and the U-13 International Tournament arc, where he prepared young players for matches against European teams and the Jr. World Cup.
As a JFA representative, Katagiri continues backing the Golden Generation. Most notably, he orchestrated the creation of Real Japan 7, a shadow team designed to strengthen All Japan Youth ahead of the 2nd Asian preliminaries. He also pulled off the logistical feat of hosting the U-20 International World Youth Cup in Japan on short notice, which required calling in a favor with his father—a major corporate businessman. That conversation didn't go smoothly at first; his father initially demanded he sever ties with the national team and return to the family business. Katagiri refused to buckle, saying he'd find support elsewhere. His father eventually relented and helped anyway, asking only that his son visit his mother.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
