Japan's Kenya Karasawa, right, finishes second in the T11 final of the men's 5,000 meters at the Tokyo Paralympics on Aug. 27, 2021, at the National Stadium in Tokyo, with Shinya Wada approaching the finish line to take third place. (Kyodo)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Asako Takakura will step down as manager of the national women's team at the end of August, just over a month after Japan's quarterfinal exit at the Tokyo Olympics, the Japan Football Association's Women's Committee said Friday.

       "It's been days of searching for what are Japan's strengths and choosing which to battle with against the world," said the 53-year-old, who was the first woman to manage one of Japan's senior national teams in the sport.

       "There were areas we've managed to make good attempts, and some where we were way off. I'm hoping for the future development of women's soccer."

       Japan won the 2014 under-17 Women's World Cup with Takakura and she took over Nadeshiko Japan in April 2016 after Japan failed to qualify for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

       Takakura inherited an aging squad with a core of players from the team that won the 2011 Women's World Cup and finished runners-up at the 2012 London Olympics.

       She oversaw a generational change within the squad and Nadeshiko Japan won the 2018 Women's Asian Cup but failed to reach the quarterfinals at the following year's Women's World Cup.

       She was expected to take the team to a medal at this summer's Olympics but instead oversaw a 3-1 quarterfinal exit against eventual silver medalists Sweden.

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