Japan (JPN)

Japan first competed at the 1912 Olympic Games, its delegation and Olympic Committee led by Dr. Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo. Japan has since failed to compete only at the Games of 1948 (as an aggressor nation in World War II, it was not invited), and 1980 (when it chose to boycott the Moskva Olympics).

Japan was the dominant country in men’s gymnastics from 1956 until the mid-1980s. In addition, at times, it has been the top country in swimming and one of the top in wrestling and weightlifting.

Its top Olympic medals winners have been male gymnasts, led by Takashi Ono with 13, Sawao Kato with 12, and Akinori Nakayama with 10. Kato leads the gold medal count, with eight gold medals, followed by Nakayama (six) and Ono (five). Through 2022, Japan has won 497 Olympic medals (169 gold medals) at the Summer Olympics.

At the Olympic Winter Games, Japan first competed in 1928 and has since missed only 1948, when it also was not invited. They have won 76 medals, with 17 golds, at the Winter Games. Japan’s best sport has been speed skating, winning 26 medals and five gold medals. Their next best discipline has been ski jumping, highlighted by their first medals in the 1972 normal hill event, when Japan swept the medals at Sapporo, led by gold medalist Yukio Kasaya.

To no surprise, Japan’s most successful Winter Olympian comes in the sport of speed skating: Miho Takagi has won seven medals and two golds in 2018 and 2022. Three other Japanese athletes have won three medals and two golds: Takanori Kono in Nordic Combined (1992-1994), Kazuyoshi Funaki in ski jumping (1998), and speedskater Nana Takagi (2018-2022).

Japan hosted the Games of the XVIIIth Olympiad in Tokyo in 1964, the 11th Olympic Winter Games in Sapporo in 1972, and the 18th Olympic Winter Games in Nagano in 1998. Prior to the outbreak of hostilities, Japan was also scheduled to host both editions of the 1940 Olympics; the Olympic Winter Games were scheduled for Sapporo, and the Games of the XIIth Olympiad were scheduled for Tokyo.

Tokyo was scheduled to host the 2020 Olympic Games, but those Games were postponed to 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 1964 the Olympic Committee of Japan was awarded with the Count Alberto Bonacossa Trophy and in 1991 it was awarded with the Olympic Cup.