Keiko Kato


Keiko Kato is a Japanese rugby union player. She competed for at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup.
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Early life and career

Kato started playing rugby at the age of seven. She played basketball in Josho Gakuen Junior High School. After graduating from Josho Gakuen High School in 2007, she entered Hosei University.

Rugby career

In 2008, she made her international debut for the Japanese women's sevens team at the Hong Kong Sevens. A year later, she appeared for the Japanese sevens side in the Sevens World Cup in Dubai.
In 2010, she studied abroad in England, and also played for the Richmond Rugby Club for a year.
After graduating from Hosei University in 2012, she worked for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and also played for the Setagaya Ladies rugby club.
Kato won a silver medal at the 2014 Asian Games. In 2016, she was selected as a non-travelling reserve for the Japanese sevens team for the Rio Olympics.
In 2017, she featured for the Sakura fifteens in the Asian Women's Championship ahead of the World Cup. She subsequently made the Sakura fifteens side for the Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland.