OBITUARY
Bangkok, Thailand, September 18, 2024 – AVC and Asian volleyball family are deeply saddened by the loss of volleyball great and pioneering sports leader Yuko Arakida. The Japanese women’s volleyball player, who won the Olympic Games gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, passed away on September 16, 2024 at the age of 70 years old after a short illness.
She was a well-respected leader in various Olympic and sports organizations, including the Japan Volleyball Association, International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), Japanese Olympic Committee, Olympic Council of Asia as former Chair of the OCA Athletes’ Committee and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Organising Committee.
One of Asia’s most influential and charismatic sports administrators, Yuko Arakida was born in Akita Prefecture, Japan. After graduating from Kakunodate Minami High School in Akita, she joined Hitachi and was a member of the winning team that represented Japan at the 1974 World Championship and the 1977 World Cup.
After retiring from the volleyball, she entered Kyoritsu Women’s University and worked in International Relations Department of the Japan Volleyball Association under then Managing Director Yasutaka Matsudaira.
She was then sent to Europe for the first time under the JOC’s overseas training program, and worked as a coach in Switzerland. She mastered German to an amazing degree that even the Germans were surprised, and was sent to the IOC Baden-Baden Conference. She also worked as a TV commentator.
Yuko Arakida had served as the head of the Japan Volleyball Association’s training operations, a director of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC), and a program member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). She had a wide network of contacts in the domestic and international sports world, including the IOC, OCA, FIVB, and AVC, and was the negotiator with international sports organizations in bid for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, and served as a director and vice president of the organizing committee.
Also playing prominent roles as Executive Vice President of Japan Softball Association and President of Japan National Radio Gymnastics Federation, Yuko Arakida was nominated to be the First Female President of the Japan Volleyball Association, but declined due to various circumstances.
This is a very sad day for AVC, Asian volleyball family and for Japan. We will never forget her vitality, her tireless efforts and the inspiring role she played in Japan and Asia and also in the volleyball world. In this sorrowful time, AVC and Asian volleyball family extend our deepest condolences to the Japan volleyball community and Yuko Arakida’s family and loved ones during this difficult time.
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