Japan at the Olympics

Japan at the Olympics is a history which includes 41 games in 22 countries and 3,000+ athletes.SportsReference.com (SR/Olympics), "Japan" ; retrieved 2012-7-28.  Since 1912, athletes of Japan have been part of the "Olympic Movement".Olympics.org,  "Factsheet: The Olympic Movement"; retrieved 2012-7-28.

The International Olympic Committee's official abbreviation for Japan is JPN.

History
The Japanese National Olympic Committee was formed in 1911.  It was recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 1912.Olympic.org,   Japan; retrieved 2012-7-28.   Its first president was Kanō Jigorō.Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC),  "JOC History at a Glance"; retrieved 2012-7-26.

Japan's team first competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. Japan was not invited to the 1948 Games after World War II; and Japan boycotted of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

In support of the team at the 2012 Summer Olympics, each of the 518 athletes were given hand-carved good luck charm made by schoolchildren from tsunami-hit areas in Tōhoku. These special "medals" were made from driftwood. There were messages from the children on the ribbons which were attached. "Japanese Olympians receive good-luck medals handcrafted by children from tsunami-hit areas,"  Washington Post (US). July 23, 2012; retrieved 2012-7-31.

Medalists
Japanese tennis players Ichiya KumagaeSR/Olympics, "Ichiya Kumagae" ; retrieved 2012-7-27.  and Seiichiro KashioSR/Olympics, "Seiichiro Kashio" ; retrieved 2012-7-27. were the first Japanese athletes to win medals in summer sport.  They won silver medals in the 1920 Summer Olympics.SR/Olympics, "Japan at the 1920 Antwerpen Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-7-20.

The first Japanese medal in a winter sport was in 1956SR/Olympics, "Japan at the 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-7-20. when Chiharu Igaya earned a silver medal for Alpine skiing.SR/Olympics, "Chiharu Igaya" ; retrieved 2012-7-23.

Summer Games
During the course of 20 summer games, Japanese athletes have won 350+ medals, "Japan, London 2012 Olympics,"  Telegraph (UK); retrieved 2012-7-20. with the most gold medals won in judo.  In the 1928 games in Amsterdam, Japan's first gold medals in summer sports were won by Mikio Oda in the triple jump and by Yoshiyuki Tsuruta in swimming.

Notes 1912 StockholmSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  -  -  -  -   1920 AntwerpSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1920 Antwerpen Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  -  2  -  2  Tennis 1924 ParisSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1924 Paris Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  -  -  1  1  Wrestling 1928 AmsterdamSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1928 Amsterdam Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  2  2  1  5  Swimming, Track and field athletics 1932 Los AngelesSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  7  7  4  18   1936 BerlinSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  6  4  8  18   1948 London  did not participate 1952 HelsinkiSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  1  6  2  9   1956 MelbourneSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  4  10  5  19   1960 RomeSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1960 Roma Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  4  7  7  18   1964 Tokyo (Host Nation)SR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  16  5  8  29   1968 Mexico CitySR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  11  7  7  25   1972 MunichSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1972 München Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  13  8  8  29   1976 MontrealSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1976 Montréal Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  9  6  10  25   1980 Moscow  did not participate 1984 Los AngelesSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  10  8  14  32   1988 SeoulSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1976 Seoul Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  4  3  7  14   1992 BarcelonaSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  3  8  11  22   1996 AtlantaSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  3  6  5  14   2000 SydneySR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 2000 Sydney Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  5  8  5  18   2004 AthensSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 2004 Athina Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  16  9  12  37   2008 BeijingSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  9  6  11  26   2012 LondonSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 2012 London Summer Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  7  14  17  38BleacherReport.com,  "Olympic Medal Count 2012: Updated Tracker, Standings and List of Winners"; retireved 2012-8-13.   2016 Rio de Janeiro               2020 Summer Olympics              Totals  124  116  134  374  

Winter Games
Japan has won 37 medals at the winter games.SR/Olympics, "Japan Winter Sports" ; retrieved 2012-7-20. In the 1972 games in Sapporo, Japan's first gold medal in a winter sports was won by Yukio Kasaya in ski jumping.
Notes 1924 Chamonix  did not participate 1928 St. MoritzSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1928 Sankt Moritz Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  -  -  -  -   1932 Lake PlacidSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1932 Lake Placid Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  -  -  -  -   1936 Garmisch-PartenkirchenSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  -  -  -  -   1948 St. Moritz  did not participate 1952 OsloSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1952 Oslo Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  -  -  -  -   1956 Cortina d'AmpezzoSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  -  1  -  1  Alpine skiingSR/Olympics, "Chiharu Igaya " ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  1960 Squaw ValleySR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  -  -  -  -   1964 InnsbruckSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1964 Insbruck Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  -  -  -  -   1968 GrenobleSR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1968 Grenoble Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  -  -  -  -   1972 Sapporo (Host Nation)SR/Olympics,  "Japan at the 1972 Sapporo Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  1  1  1  3  Ski jumpingSR/Olympics, "Yukio Kasaya" ; "Akitsugu Konno" ; "Seiji Aochi" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  1976 InnsbruckSR/Olympics, "Japan at the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  -  -  -  -   1980 Lake PlacidSR/Olympics, "Japan at the 1980 Sapporo Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  -  1  -  1  Ski jumpingSR/Olympics, "Hirokazu Yagi" ; retrieved 2012-7-20. 1984 SarajevoSR/Olympics, "Japan at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  -  1  -  1  Speed skatingSR/Olympics, "Yoshihiro Kitazawa" ; retrieved 2012-7-20.  1988 CalgarySR/Olympics, "Japan at the 1988 Calgary Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  -  -  1  1  Speed skatingSR/Olympics, "Akira Kuroiwa" ; retrieved 2012-7-20.  1992 AlbertvilleSR/Olympics, "Japan at the 1992 Albertville Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  1  2  4  7  Figure Skating,SR/Olympics, "Midori Ito" ; retrieved 2012-8-16. Nordic combined,SR/Olympics, "Takanori Kono" ; "Reiichi Mikata" ; "Kenji Ogiwara" ; retrieved 2012-8-16. Speed skatingSR/Olympics, "Yuichi Akasaka" ; "Seiko Hashimoto" ; "Junichi Inoue" ; Ishihara-1.html "Tatsuyoshi Ishihara"; "Toshinobu Kawai" ; "Tsutomu Kawasaki" ; "Toshiyuki Kuroiwa" ; "Yukinori Miyabe" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  1994 LillehammerSR/Olympics, "Japan at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  1  2  2  5   1998 Nagano (Host Nation)SR/Olympics, "Japan at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  5  1  4  10   2002 Salt Lake CitySR/Olympics, "Japan at the 2002 Nagano Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  -  1  1  2   2006 TurinSR/Olympics, "Japan at the 2006 Torino Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  1  -  -  1  Figure skatingSR/Olympics, "Shizuka Arakawa" ; retrieved 2012-8-16. 2010 VancouverSR/Olympics, "Japan at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games" ; retrieved 2012-8-16.  -  3  2  5   2014 Sochi           2018 Pyeongchang           Totals  9  13  15  37  

Notable Olympians
Japanese Olympic greats include 
 Naoko Takahashi, marathon gold medal in 2000
 Tamara Ryoka, judoka gold medals in 2000 and 2004
 Sawao Kato, gymnast gold medals in 1968, 1972 and 1976
 Akinori Nakayama, gymnast gold medals in 1968 and 1972

The youngest Japanese competitor was Etsuko Inada (12 years, 4 days) in the 1936 Winter Olympics.  The oldest Japanese Olympian is Hiroshi Hoketsu (67 years, 139 days) in the 2008 Summer Games.SR/Olympics,  "Japan" ; retrieved 2012-7-20.

Host country
The 1940 Summer Olympics and the 1940 Winter Olympics were planned for Japan, but the organizers withdrew in 1938 because of the Second Sino-Japanese War.Organizing Committee of the XIIth Olympiad. (1940).   Report of the Organizing Committee on Its Work for the XIIth Olympic Games of 1940 in Tokyo Until the Relinquishment, p. 177 [201 of 207 PDF]; retrieved 2012-7-25.  These games were later cancelled because of World War II.

Japan was the host country three times, including
 1964 Summer Olympics
 1972 Winter Olympics
 1998 Winter Olympics

Related pages
 Sports in Japan
 List of IOC country codes
 Japan national football team
 Japan women's national football team

References

Other websites

 Japanese Olympic Committee website
  Japan profile at London2012.com 
  Japan at databaseOlympics.com

Category:Nations at the Olympics
Category:Sport in Japan
Category:National sports teams of Japan