Iwate Prefecture is best known in football circles as the birthplace of Mitsuru Komaeda, but the city has produced 42 documented association football players in total. Other notable players include Kaede Nakamura, Koichi Kudo, Toshimi Kikuchi and Kazuya Igarashi. Among them are 36 male and 5 female players. Documented players span more than 95 years, from 1909 to 2004.