# Japan at the 1988 Summer Olympics

Japan competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. 255 competitors, 186 men and 69 women, took part in 166 events in 23 sports.

## Medalists

| Medal | Name | Sport | Event | Date |
| Gold | Daichi Suzuki | Swimming | Men's 100 m backstroke | September 24 |
| Gold | Takashi Kobayashi | Wrestling | Men's freestyle light flyweight | September 29 |
| Gold | Mitsuru Sato | Wrestling | Men's freestyle flyweight | September 30 |
| Gold | Hitoshi Saito | Judo | Men's heavyweight | October 1 |
| Silver | Tomoko Hasegawa | Shooting | Women's 25 m pistol | September 19 |
| Silver | Atsuji Miyahara | Wrestling | Men's Greco-Roman flyweight | September 21 |
| Silver | Akira Ota | Wrestling | Men's freestyle light heavyweight | September 29 |
| Bronze | Hiroyuki Konishi Takahiro Yamada Toshiharu Sato Daisuke Nishikawa Koichi Mizushima Yukio Iketani | Gymnastics | Men's team all-around | September 20 |
| Bronze | Yukio Iketani | Gymnastics | Men's floor | September 24 |
| Bronze | Shinji Hosokawa | Judo | Men's extra lightweight | September 25 |
| Bronze | Yosuke Yamamoto | Judo | Men's half lightweight | September 26 |
| Bronze | Akinobu Osako | Judo | Men's middleweight | September 29 |
| Bronze | Mikako Kotani | Synchronized swimming | Women's solo | September 30 |
| Bronze | Miyako Tanaka Mikako Kotani | Synchronized swimming | Women's duet | October 1 |
Medals by sport :
| Sport | | | | Total |
| Wrestling | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Judo | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Swimming | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Shooting | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Gymnastics | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Synchronized swimming | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Total | 4 | 3 | 7 | 14 |

## Competitors

The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.
| Sport | Men | Women | Total |
| Archery | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Athletics | 24 | 6 | 30 |
| Boxing | 7 | – | 7 |
| Canoeing | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| Cycling | 9 | 3 | 12 |
| Diving | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Equestrian | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| Fencing | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Gymnastics | 6 | 8 | 14 |
| Handball | 15 | 0 | 15 |
| Judo | 7 | – | 7 |
| Modern pentathlon | 3 | – | 3 |
| Rowing | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| Sailing | 11 | 2 | 13 |
| Shooting | 9 | 5 | 14 |
| Swimming | 12 | 11 | 23 |
| Synchronized swimming | – | 3 | 3 |
| Table tennis | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Tennis | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Volleyball | 12 | 12 | 24 |
| Weightlifting | 10 | – | 10 |
| Wrestling | 20 | – | 20 |
| Total | 186 | 69 | 255 |

## Archery

In their fourth Olympic archery competition, Japan was unable to win any medals. Defending bronze medallist Hiroshi Yamamoto placed eighth, the only individual archer to make the finals. The men's team placed sixth overall, while the women's team was last place.
Women's Individual Competition:
* Toyoka Oki — Preliminary round (→ 31st place)
* Keiko Nakagomi — Preliminary round (→ 52nd place)
* Kyoko Kitahara — Preliminary round (→ 53rd place)
Men's Individual Competition:
* Hiroshi Yamamoto — Final (→ 8th place)
* Takayoshi Matsushita — Quarterfinal (→ 14th place)
* Terushi Furuhashi — Preliminary round (→ 40th place)
Women's Team Competition:
* Oki, Nakagomi, and Kitahara — Preliminary round (→ 15th place)
Men's Team Competition:
* Yamamoto, Matsushita, and Furuhashi — Final (→ 6th place)

## Athletics

Men's 100 metres
* Koji Kurihara
* Takahiko Kasahara
* Tomohiro Osawa
Men's 200 metres
* Kenji Yamauchi
Men's 400 metres
* Susumu Takano
Men's 5,000 metres
* Shuichi Yoneshige
Men's 10,000 metres
* Kozu Akutsu
   * Heat — 28:16.43
   * Final — 28:09.70 (→ 14th place)
* Shuichi Yoneshige
   * Heat — 28:26.04
   * Final — 29:04.44 (→ 17th place)
* Tsukasa Endo
   * Heat — did not finish (→ did not advance)
Men's Marathon
* Takeyuki Nakayama
   * Final — 2:11:05 (→ 4th place)
* Toshihiko Seko
   * Final — 2:13:41 (→ 9th place)
* Hisatoshi Shintaku
   * Final — 2:15:42 (→ 17th place)
Men's 4 × 100 m Relay
* Kaoru Matsubara, Shinji Aoto, Koji Kurihara, and Takahiro Kasahara
   * Heat — 39.70
* Shinji Aoto, Kenji Yamauchi, Koji Kurihara, and Susumu Takano
   * Semi Final — 38.90 (→ did not advance)
Men's 4 × 400 m Relay
* Hirofumi Koike, Kenji Yamauchi, Hiromi Kawasumi, and Susumu Takano
   * Heat — 3:05.63
   * Semi Final — 3:03.80 (→ did not advance)
Men's Long Jump
* Hiroyuki Shibata
   * Qualification — 7.48m (→ did not advance)
* Junichi Usui
   * Qualification — NM (→ did not advance)
Men's Triple Jump
* Norifumi Yamashita
Men's Javelin Throw
* Kazuhiro Mizoguchi
   * Qualification — 77.46m (→ did not advance)
* Masami Yoshida
   * Qualification — 76.90m (→ did not advance)
Men's 20 km Walk
* Hirofumi Sakai
   * Final — 1:24:08 (→ 26th place)
* Tadahiro Kosaka
   * Final — 1:32:46 (→ 47th place)
Men's 50 km Walk
* Tadahiro Kosaka
   * Final — 4'03:12 (→ 31st place)
Women's 10,000 metres
* Akemi Matsuno
Women's Marathon
* Eriko Asai
   * Final — 2:34:41 (→ 25th place)
* Kumi Araki
   * Final — 2:35:15 (→ 28th place)
* Misako Miyahara
   * Final — 2:35:26 (→ 29th place)
Women's High Jump
* Megumi Sato
Women's Javelin Throw
* Emi Matsui
   * Qualification — 56.26m (→ did not advance)

## Boxing

Men's Light Flyweight (– 48 kg)
* Mamoru Kuroiwa
   * First Round — Lost to Ochiryn Demberel (MGL), KO-3

## Cycling

Twelve cyclists, nine men and three women, represented Japan in 1988.

### Men's road race

* Mitsuhiro Suzuki
* Kyoshi Miura
* Yoshihiro Tsumuraya

### Men's sprint

* Hideki Miwa

### Men's 1 km time trial

* Hiroshi Toyooka

### Men's team pursuit

* Koichi Azuma
* Fumiharu Miyamoto
* Kazuaki Sasaki
* Kazuo Takikawa

### Men's points race

* Yoshihiro Tsumuraya

### Women's road race

* Terumi Ogura — 2:00:52 (→ 30th place)
* Natsue Seki — 2:14:32 (→ 50th place)

### Women's sprint

* Seiko Hashimoto

## Fencing

Ten fencers, five men and five women, represented Japan in 1988.

### Men's foil

* Koji Emura
* Kenichi Umezawa
* Yoshihiko Kanatsu

### Men's team foil

* Matsuo Azuma, Harunobu Deno, Koji Emura, Yoshihiko Kanatsu, Kenichi Umezawa

### Women's foil

* Tomoko Oka
* Akemi Morikawa
* Mieko Miyahara

### Women's team foil

* Nona Kiritani, Keiko Mine, Mieko Miyahara, Akemi Morikawa, Tomoko Oka

## Handball
### Men's team competition

* Preliminary round (group B)
   * vs East Germany (18 — 25)
   * vs Spain (19 — 25)
   * vs Hungary (19 — 22)
   * vs South Korea (24 — 33)
   * vs Czechoslovakia (17 — 21)
* Classification Match
   * 11th/12th place: vs United States 24 — 21 (→ 11th place)
* Team roster
   * Hidetada Ito
   * Hiroshi Yanai
   * Izumi Fujii
   * Kazuhiro Miyashita
   * Kenji Tamamura
   * Kiyoshi Nishiyama
   * Kodo Yamamoto
   * Koji Tachiki
   * Seiichi Takamura
   * Shinichi Shudo
   * Shinji Okuda
   * Takashi Taguchi
   * Toshiyuki Yamamura
   * Yoshihiro Nikawadori
   * Yukihiro Hashimoto

## Modern pentathlon

Three male pentathletes represented Japan in 1988.
Men's Individual Competition:
* Hiroshi Saito — 4881pts (→ 30th place)
* Tadafumi Miwa — 4517pts (→ 51st place)
* Hiroaki Izumikawa — 3722pts (→ 63rd place)
Men's Team Competition:
* Saito, Miwa, and Izumikawa — 13120pts (→ 17th place)

## Swimming

Men's 100 m Freestyle
* Shigeo Ogata
   * Heat — 52.08 (→ did not advance, 32nd place)
Men's 200 m Freestyle
* Shigeo Ogata
   * Heat — 1:51.14
   * B-Final — 1:51.89 (→ 15th place)
Men's 400 m Freestyle
* Yoshiyuki Mizumoto
   * Heat — 4:02.02 (→ did not advance, 32nd place)
* Shigeo Ogata
   * Heat — 4:05.68 (→ did not advance, 38th place)
Men's 1500 m Freestyle
* Masashi Kato
   * Heat — 15:47.35 (→ did not advance, 25th place)
* Yoshiyuki Mizumoto
   * Heat — 15:52.06 (→ did not advance, 27th place)
Men's 100 m Backstroke
* Daichi Suzuki
   * Heat — 55.90
   * Final — 55.05 (→ Gold Medal)
* Shigemori Maruyama
   * Heat — 57.54
   * B-Final — 57.13 (→ 12th place)
Men's 200 m Backstroke
* Daichi Suzuki
   * Heat — 2:03.36
   * B-Final — 2:04.67 (→ 15th place)
* Shigemori Maruyama
   * Heat — 2:09.16 (→ did not advance, 32nd place)
Men's 100 m Breaststroke
* Hironobu Nagahata
   * Heat — 1:04.02
   * B-Final — 1:03.89 (→ 13th place)
* Kenji Watanabe
   * Heat — 1:04.35 (→ did not advance, 18th place)
Men's 200 m Breaststroke
* Shigehiro Takahashi
   * Heat — 2:17.69
   * B-Final — 2:18.03 (→ 10th place)
* Hironobu Nagahata
   * Heat — 2:22.23 (→ did not advance, 30th place)
Men's 100 m Butterfly
* Hiroshi Miura
   * Heat — 54.82
   * B-Final — 54.98 (→ 14th place)
* Yukinori Tanaka
   * Heat — 56.19 (→ did not advance, 24th place)
Men's 200 m Butterfly
* Satoshi Takeda
   * Heat — 2:01.42
   * B-Final — 2:02.18 (→ 15th place)
* Hiroshi Miura
   * Heat — 2:02.30 (→ did not advance, 19th place)
Men's 200 m Individual Medley
* Takahiro Fujimoto
   * Heat — 2:07.23 (→ did not advance, 19th place)
* Satoshi Takeda
   * Heat — 2:08.11 (→ did not advance, 22nd place)
Men's 400 m Individual Medley
* Yoshiyuki Mizumoto
   * Heat — 4:28.11 (→ did not advance, 17th place)
* Takahiro Fujimoto
   * Heat — 4:33.03 (→ did not advance, 25th place)
Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay
* Daichi Suzuki, Hironobu Nagahata, Hiroshi Miura, and Shigeo Ogata
   * Heat — 3:46.88
   * Final — 3:44.36 (→ 5th place)
Women's 50 m Freestyle
* Ayako Nakano
   * Heat — 26.44
   * B-Final — 26.45 (→ 12th place)
* Kaori Sasaki
   * Heat — 26.61 (→ did not advance, 20th place)
Women's 100 m Freestyle
* Ayako Nakano
   * Heat — 57.29
   * B-Final — 56.72 (→ 10th place)
* Kaori Sasaki
   * Heat — 58.40 (→ did not advance, 32nd place)
Women's 200 m Freestyle
* Chikako Nakamori
   * Heat — 2:01.76
   * B-Final — 2:02.31 (→ 14th place)
* Kaori Sasaki
   * Heat — 2:06.18 (→ did not advance, 29th place)
Women's 400 m Freestyle
* Chikako Nakamori
   * Heat — 4:15.51
   * B-Final — 4:15.59 (→ 15th place)
* Tomomi Hosoda
   * Heat — 4:17.30 (→ did not advance, 19th place)
Women's 800 m Freestyle
* Tomomi Hosoda
   * Heat — 8:39.55 (→ did not advance, 11th place)
Women's 100 m Backstroke
* Satoko Morishita
   * Heat — 1:05.38 (→ did not advance, 24th place)
* Tomoko Onogi
   * Heat — 1:06.14 (→ did not advance, 26th place)
Women's 200 m Backstroke
* Satoko Morishita
   * Heat — 2:18.74
   * B-Final — 2:18.78 (→ 14th place)
* Tomoko Onogi
   * Heat — 2:21.46 (→ did not advance, 20th place)
Women's 100 m Breaststroke
* Yoshie Nishioka
   * Heat — 1:13.36 (→ did not advance, 25th place)
* Hiroko Nagasaki
   * Heat — 1:16.63 (→ did not advance, 34th place)
Women's 200 m Breaststroke
* Yoshie Nishioka
   * Heat — 2:35.81 (→ did not advance, 19th place)
* Hiroko Nagasaki
   * Heat — 2:37.44 (→ did not advance, 23rd place)
Women's 100 m Butterfly
* Kiyomi Takahashi
   * Heat — 1:02.04
   * B-Final — 1:01.80 (→ 10th place)
* Takayo Kitano
   * Heat — 1:02.35
   * B-Final — 1:02.53 (→ 14th place)
Women's 200 m Butterfly
* Kiyomi Takahashi
   * Heat — 2:12.68
   * Final — 2:11.62 (→ 6th place)
* Takayo Kitano
   * Heat — 2:15.41
   * B-Final — 2:15.61 (→ 14th place)
Women's 200 m Individual Medley
* Yoshie Nishioka
   * Heat — 2:20.20
   * B-Final — 2:20.43 (→ 16th place)
* Hiroyo Harada
   * Heat — 2:22.59 (→ did not advance, 22nd place)
Women's 400 m Individual Medley
* Yoshie Nishioka
   * Heat — 4:55.31 (→ did not advance, 19th place)
* Hiroyo Harada
   * Heat — 5:00.92 (→ did not advance, 23rd place)
Women's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay
* Satoko Morishita, Yoshie Nishioka, Kiyomi Takahashi, and Ayako Nakano
   * Heat — 4:18.88 (→ did not advance, 12th place)

## Synchronized swimming

Three synchronized swimmers represented Japan in 1988.

### Women's solo

* Mikako Kotani
* Megumi Itō
* Miyako Tanaka

### Women's duet

* Mikako Kotani
* Miyako Tanaka

## Tennis

Women's Singles Competition
* Kumiko Okamoto
   * First Round — Lost to Catarina Lindqvist (Sweden) 6-7, 5-7
* Etsuko Inoue
   * First Round — Lost to Il-Soon Kim (South Korea) 3-6, 6-3, 5-7

## Volleyball
### Men's team competition

* Preliminary round (group B)
   * Lost to United States (0-3)
   * Lost to Argentina (1-3)
   * Lost to France (1-3)
   * Defeated Tunisia (3-0)
   * Lost to the Netherlands (0-3)
* Classification Matches
   * 9th/12th place: Defeated South Korea (3-2)
   * 9th/10th place: Lost to Italy (2-3) → Tenth place
* Team roster
   * Akihiro Iwashima
   * Yasunori Kumada
   * Eizaburo Mitsuhashi
   * Masayoshi Manabe
   * Yuji Kasama
   * Kazutomo Yoneyama
   * Hiromichi Kageyama
   * Hideharu Hara
   * Kimio Sugimoto
   * Yuzuru Inoue
   * Masaki Kaito
   * Shunichi Kawai
* Head coach: Kazuya Mitake

### Women's Team Competition

* Preliminary round (group A)
   * Defeated Soviet Union (3-2)
   * Lost to East Germany (2-3)
   * Defeated South Korea (3-1)
* Semi Finals
   * Lost to Peru (2-3)
* Final
   * Lost to PR China (0-3) → Fourth place
* Team roster
   * Yumi Maruyama
   * Kayoko Sugiyama
   * Reiko Takizawa
   * Miyako Yamashita
   * Akemi Sugiyama
   * Ichiko Sato
   * Norie Hiro
   * Kumi Nakada
   * Yukari Kawase
   * Motoko Obayashi
   * Yukiko Takahashi
   * Sachiko Fujita
* Head coach: Noriyuki Muneuchi