Japan at the Olympics

For Olympics in Japan, see Japanese Olympics (disambiguation).

Japan first participated at the Olympic Games in 1912, and has competed at almost every Games since then. The nation was not invited to the 1948 Games after World War II, and was part of the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

Japan at the Olympics
IOC code	JPN
NOC	Japanese Olympic Committee
Website	www.joc.or.jp (in English and Japanese)
Medals Ranked 10th	Gold 206 Silver 191 Bronze 221 Total 618
Summer appearances
1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Winter appearances
1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022

Japan won its first medals in 1920, and its first gold medals in 1928. Japanese athletes have won 542 medals at the Summer Olympic Games (except art competitions), with the most gold medals won in judo, gymnastics, wrestling, and swimming, as of the end of the 2020 Summer Olympics. Japan has also won 76 medals at the Winter Olympic Games. Its most successful Olympics is the 2020 Games hosted in Tokyo.

The Japanese Olympic Committee was created in 1911 and recognized in 1912.^[1]

Hosted Games

Japan have hosted the Games on four occasions, including the 2020 Summer Olympics (which was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic):

Games	Dates	Host city
1964 Summer Olympics	10–24 October 1964	Tokyo
1972 Winter Olympics	3–13 February 1972	Sapporo
1998 Winter Olympics	7–22 February 1998	Nagano
2020 Summer Olympics	23 July – 8 August 2021	Tokyo

Cancelled games

Games	Host city	Relocation prior to cancellation
1940 Summer Olympics	Tokyo	Helsinki, Finland
1940 Winter Olympics	Sapporo	Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

Unsuccessful bids

Games	City	Winner of bid
1960 Summer Olympics	Tokyo	Rome, Italy
1968 Winter Olympics	Sapporo	Grenoble, France
1984 Winter Olympics	Sapporo	Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
1988 Summer Olympics	Nagoya	Seoul, South Korea
2008 Summer Olympics	Osaka	Beijing, China
2016 Summer Olympics	Tokyo	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Medal tables

See also: All-time Olympic Games medal table

  Host country

Medals by Summer Games Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank 1896 Athens did not participate 1900 Paris 1904 St. Louis 1908 London 1912 Stockholm 2 0 0 0 0 – 1920 Antwerp 15 0 2 0 2 17 1924 Paris 19 0 0 1 1 23 1928 Amsterdam 43 2 2 1 5 15 1932 Los Angeles 131 7 7 4 18 5 1936 Berlin 156 6 4 8 18 8 1948 London did not participate 1952 Helsinki 69 1 6 2 9 17 1956 Melbourne 110 4 10 5 19 10 1960 Rome 162 4 7 7 18 8 1964 Tokyo 328 16 5 8 29 3 1968 Mexico City 171 11 7 7 25 3 1972 Munich 184 13 8 8 29 5 1976 Montreal 213 9 6 10 25 5 1980 Moscow did not participate 1984 Los Angeles 226 10 8 14 32 7 1988 Seoul 255 4 3 7 14 14 1992 Barcelona 256 3 8 11 22 17 1996 Atlanta 306 3 6 5 14 23 2000 Sydney 266 5 8 5 18 15 2004 Athens 306 16 9 12 37 5 2008 Beijing 332 9 8 8 25 8 2012 London 295 7 14 17 38 11 2016 Rio de Janeiro 338 12 8 21 41 6 2020 Tokyo 556 27 14 17 58 3 2024 Paris 403 20 12 13 45 3 2028 Los Angeles future event 2032 Brisbane Total (24/30) 5,142 189 162 191 542 8

Medals by Winter Games Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank 1928 St. Moritz 6 0 0 0 0 – 1932 Lake Placid 16 0 0 0 0 – 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen 31 0 0 0 0 – 1948 St. Moritz did not participate 1952 Oslo 13 0 0 0 0 – 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 10 0 1 0 1 11 1960 Squaw Valley 41 0 0 0 0 – 1964 Innsbruck 47 0 0 0 0 – 1968 Grenoble 61 0 0 0 0 – 1972 Sapporo 85 1 1 1 3 11 1976 Innsbruck 58 0 0 0 0 – 1980 Lake Placid 50 0 1 0 1 15 1984 Sarajevo 39 0 1 0 1 14 1988 Calgary 48 0 0 1 1 16 1992 Albertville 60 1 2 4 7 11 1994 Lillehammer 59 1 2 2 5 11 1998 Nagano 156 5 1 4 10 7 2002 Salt Lake City 103 0 1 1 2 21 2006 Turin 110 1 0 0 1 18 2010 Vancouver 94 0 3 2 5 20 2014 Sochi 113 1 4 3 8 17 2018 Pyeongchang 124 4 5 4 13 11 2022 Beijing 124 3 7 8 18 12 2026 Milano Cortina future event 2030 French Alps 2034 Salt Lake City Total (23/24) 1,448 17 29 30 76 17

Medals by summer sport   Leading in that sport Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total  Judo 51 23 30 104  Wrestling 45 23 19 87  Gymnastics 36 34 37 107  Swimming 24 28 32 84  Athletics 8 10 10 28  Skateboarding 5 3 1 9  Volleyball 3 3 3 9  Fencing 3 3 2 8  Boxing 3 0 5 8  Weightlifting 2 3 10 15  Softball 2 1 1 4  Table tennis 1 4 5 10  Shooting 1 2 3 6  Badminton 1 1 4 6  Baseball 1 1 2 4  Karate 1 1 1 3  Equestrian 1 0 1 2  Breaking 1 0 0 1  Artistic swimming 0 4 10 14  Archery 0 3 4 7  Cycling 0 2 3 5  Sailing 0 2 1 3  Sport climbing 0 2 1 3  Tennis 0 2 1 3  Football 0 1 1 2  Golf 0 1 1 2  Surfing 0 1 1 2  Basketball 0 1 0 1  Diving 0 1 0 1  Field hockey 0 1 0 1  Modern pentathlon 0 1 0 1  Canoeing 0 0 1 1  Taekwondo 0 0 1 1 Totals (33 entries) 189 162 191 542

Medals by winter sport   Leading in that sport Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total  Speed skating 5 10 11 26  Ski jumping 4 6 4 14  Figure skating 3 5 3 11  Nordic combined 2 3 2 7  Snowboarding 1 3 3 7  Freestyle skiing 1 0 4 5  Short track speed skating 1 0 2 3  Curling 0 1 1 2  Alpine skiing 0 1 0 1 Totals (9 entries) 17 29 30 76

Youth Games medal tables

Main article: All-time Youth Olympic Games medal table

Medals by Summer Youth Games Games Gold Silver Bronze Total 2010 Singapore 8 5 3 16 2014 Nanjing 7 9 5 21 2018 Buenos Aires 15 12 12 39 Totals (3 entries) 30 26 20 76

Medals by Winter Youth Games Games Gold Silver Bronze Total 2012 Innsbruck 2 5 9 16 2016 Lillehammer 2 4 0 6 2020 Lausanne 9 7 1 17 2024 Gangwon 3 4 8 15 Totals (4 entries) 16 20 18 54

Medals by summer sport   Leading in that sport Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total Gymnastics 7 3 3 13 Wrestling 6 0 2 8 Athletics 3 7 3 13 Swimming 3 2 5 10 Judo 3 0 1 4 Table tennis 2 5 0 7 Karate 1 3 0 4 Tennis 1 1 1 3 Fencing 1 1 0 2 Sport climbing 1 1 0 2 Dancesport 1 0 1 2 Triathlon 1 0 0 1 Badminton 0 1 1 2 Boxing 0 1 1 2 Futsal 0 1 0 1 Cycling 0 0 1 1 Rugby 0 0 1 1 Totals (17 entries) 30 26 20 76

Medals by winter sport   Leading in that sport Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total Snowboarding 5 3 1 9 Speed skating 3 6 5 14 Figure skating 2 1 0 3 Ice hockey 2 0 1 3 Ski jumping 1 1 1 3 Nordic combined 0 1 1 2 Short track speed skating 0 1 1 2 Alpine skiing 0 1 0 1 Cross-country skiing 0 1 0 1 Curling 0 1 0 1 Totals (10 entries) 13 16 10 39

Hosted Olympics mottos

1964 Summer Olympics

The 1964 Summer Olympics marks Japan hosting its first Olympic Games. It was held in the capital Tokyo. It was also the first time it was held in Asia.

1972 Winter Olympics

The 1972 Winter Olympics marks the second time Olympics held in Japan. It was the first time held outside Tokyo because it was held at Sapporo.

Because of its snowy geographic, Japan would hosts its first Winter Olympics. It was also the first winter olympics held in Asia.

1998 Winter Olympics

The 1998 Winter Olympics was the third time Japan hosted the Olympics and second for Winter. Was held at Nagano. The motto of the games is Coexistence with Nature (自然との共存)

2020 Summer Olympics

The 2020 Summer Olympics marks the fourth time the Olympics was held in Japan. It was the first time it was held one year late (2021 instead of 2020) following the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. It marks the second time it was held in Tokyo. Its motto was United by Emotion (感動で、私たちはひとつになる). During that time, only the English version was used.

This motto appeals that "Sports enable us to overcome different environments and become one world through emotions such as joy and excitement that the athletes' competitive performances bring together in our hearts."^[2]

See also

• List of flag bearers for Japan at the Olympics
• Category:Olympic competitors for Japan
• Japan at the Paralympics
• Japan at the Asian Games

Notes

References

1. Japan | Japanese Olympic Committee | National Olympic Committee". Olympic.org.
2. "'United by Emotion': Everything you need to know about the Opening Ceremony for Tokyo 2020". Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee. 2021-07-16. Archived from the original on 2021-07-25. Retrieved 2021-08-17. What does 'United by Emotion' mean?

External links

• "Japan". International Olympic Committee. November 2021.
• "Japan". Olympedia.com.
• "Olympic Analytics/JPN". olympanalyt.com.