TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Long-time football writer Hiroshi Kagawa, the first Japanese recipient of the FIFA Presidential Award, died of natural causes Thursday, a source familiar with the matter said. He was 99.

The Kobe native was a pioneer in the field in Japan, covering a total of 10 World Cups through the 2014 edition in Brazil, where he drew attention for reporting on the game at the age of 89.

The Japan Football Association inducted Kagawa into the Japan Football Hall of Fame in 2010. Football's international governing body recognized Kagawa for his work with the FIFA Presidential Award in 2015.

"Mr. Kagawa has left us an inheritance of a life spent conveying football's excellence, and now we must carry on with everyone on board to further develop Japanese football," JFA President Tsuneyasu Miyamoto said.

Kagawa started working for the Sankei Shimbun in 1952 and held posts including chief editor of Sankei Sports before turning freelance upon reaching retirement age.

His first World Cup was in 1974 in West Germany, where he traveled out of his own pocket to witness legends Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff in action, the battle he always spoke of vividly as if it happened only yesterday.

Kagawa, who applied to be a kamikaze pilot during the war, shed light on football at a time when the sport was not yet popular in Japan.

Known for his affable yet passionate reporting style, Kagawa interviewed the likes of Dettmar Cramer, commonly known as the father of Japanese football, and the country's all-time leading goal scorer Kunishige Kamamoto.

This year marked the 10th anniversary of the Kobe Kagawa soccer collection in Kobe central library storing thousands of historical works. Kagawa was to turn 100 on Dec. 29.

"Everyone studied the game well and Japanese football has done well, growing bit by bit," Kagawa said.