Tsutomu_Kawabuchi
Tsutomu Kawabuchi
Japanese ice hockey player, coach and administrator
Tsutomu Kawabuchi (Japanese: 河渕 務; 16 May 1925 – 19 January 2014) was a Japanese ice hockey player, coach and administrator. He won Japanese hockey championships as a player and as a coach with Iwakura, and later coached the Japan men's national ice hockey team, and the Japan women's national ice hockey team. He was president of the Hokkaido Ice Hockey Federation for twenty years, and later founded a women's ice hockey club. He served with the Japan Ice Hockey Federation and was involved in organizing the first IIHF Asian Oceanic U18 Championships, and sat on the Japanese Olympic Committee where he played an integral role in introducing women's ice hockey at the Winter Olympic Games. He was recognized for his contributions to international ice hockey with induction into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2004.