Yuji Iwamoto has been named head coach of the Japanese national team ©IIHF

Yuji Iwamoto has been named the first homegrown head coach of the Japanese men’s national ice hockey team in 19 years.

He was appointed by the Japanese Ice Hockey Federation after the country failed to qualify to the second tier of the World Championships earlier this year.

Iwamoto replaces Greg Thomson to become the first Japan-born coach of the men's team since Masaru Seino in 1998.

Born in 1962, he played over 600 games as a forward for Yukjirushi Sapporo and Japan before shifting to the coaching ranks.

He has since serve as head coach of the under-20 national team before spearheading the Nikko Ice Bucks in the Asia League for the last four years.

Yosuke Haga of Japan pictured playing in a World Championship game against Great Britain earlier this year ©Getty Images
Yosuke Haga of Japan pictured playing in a World Championship game against Great Britain earlier this year ©Getty Images

Returning to the top tier of the sport is his priority.

“There is a long way to go before the men play at Olympics, but we will build a brand-new team that should meet the expectations to succeed,” Iwamoto said. 

“I want to take advantage of our speed. 

"I want to play aggressive hockey on defence and offence. 

"I want to choose players with self-sacrifice who put the team first.” 

The team will compete at the 2018 Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group B in Kaunas from April 22 to 28 with Ukraine, hosts Lithuania, Estonia, Croatia and Romania.