Japan at the Paralympics

Japan at the Paralympics
IPC code	JPN
NPC	Japan Paralympic Committee
Website	www.jsad.or.jp (in Japanese)
Medals Ranked 19th	Gold 154 Silver 173 Bronze 197 Total 524
Summer appearances
1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Winter appearances
1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022

Absent at the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome, Japan made its Paralympic debut by hosting the 1964 Games in Tokyo. The country has participated in every subsequent edition of the Summer Paralympics and in every edition of the Winter Paralympics since the first in 1976. It has hosted the Paralympic Games twice, with Tokyo hosting the 1964 Summer Games and Nagano hosting the 1998 Winter Paralympics. The next Summer Paralympics in 2020 was held again in Tokyo.^[1] Japan is represented by the Japan Paralympic Committee.

Japan was the only Asian country to compete at the 1964 Paralympics and also the only Asian country present at the inaugural Winter Games, making it the first Asian nation to have participated in either the Summer or Winter Games. It is also the third-most successful Asian country at the Summer Games (behind China and South Korea), having won 424 Paralympic medals, of which 127 are gold, 139 are silver, and 158 are bronze. These results place it 17th in the Summer Games. At the Winter Paralympics, Japan is the most successful nation with 97 medals, with 27 gold, 33 silver, and 37 bronze. These results put it in 13th place.^[2]

Japan won only a single gold medal at the Tokyo Games (in the men's doubles, category C, in table tennis), but rapidly improved, with two golds in 1968, four in 1972, and ten in 1976, with a peak at eighteen in 2004—though that number stayed at just five in 2008 and 2012. Despite having won 24 medals in Rio, the country returned without any gold medals—10 silver and 14 bronze. Five years later, at home, Japan finished with 13 gold medals and 11th place in the medal table.

In the Winter Games, the country emerged as a notable competitor when it hosted the Nagano Games in 1998, winning twelve gold medals, compared to none at all in previous editions, except for the 2002 Winter Paralympics, when the Japanese delegation won three bronze medals. Japan won all Winter Paralympics editions after Nagano. Being the best campaign, the last one in Beijing 2022, with 4 gold medals.^[3]

By far Japan's most successful Paralympian has been swimmer Mayumi Narita, who won fifteen gold medals for her country between 1996 and 2004, making her one of the world's most successful Paralympians of all time.^[4]

Hosted Games

Japan has hosted the Games on three occasions, including the 2020 Summer Paralympics (which was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic):

Unsuccessful bids

Medals

Medals by Summer Games   Host country (Japan) Games Gold Silver Bronze Total 1964 Tokyo* 1 5 4 10 1968 Tel-Aviv 2 2 8 12 1972 Heidelberg 4 5 3 12 1976 Toronto 10 6 3 19 1980 Arnhem 9 10 7 26 1984 New York 1984 Stoke Mandeville 9 7 8 24 1988 Seoul 17 12 17 46 1992 Barcelona 8 7 15 30 1996 Atlanta 14 10 13 37 2000 Sydney 13 17 11 41 2004 Athens 17 15 20 52 2008 Beijing 5 14 8 27 2012 London 5 5 6 16 2016 Rio 0 10 14 24 2020 Tokyo * 13 15 23 51 Totals (15 entries) 127 140 160 427

Medals by Winter Games   Host country (Japan) Games Gold Silver Bronze Total 1976 Örnsköldsvik 0 0 0 0 1980 Geilo 0 0 0 0 1984 Innsbruck 0 0 0 0 1988 Innsbruck 0 0 2 2 1992 Tignes-Albertsville 0 0 2 2 1994 Lillehammer 0 3 3 6 1998 Nagano* 12 16 13 41 2002 Salt Lake City 0 0 3 3 2006 Turin 2 5 2 9 2010 Vancouver 3 3 5 11 2014 Sochi 3 1 2 6 2018 PyeongChang 3 4 3 10 2022 Beijing 4 1 2 7 Totals (13 entries) 27 33 37 97

Medals by sports

Medals by summer sport   Leading in that sport Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total Athletics 61 68 62 191 Swimming 30 30 41 101 Judo 12 9 11 32 Archery 5 12 9 26 Wheelchair tennis 4 1 5 10 Table tennis 3 5 9 17 Road cycling 3 2 6 11 Badminton 3 1 5 9 Track cycling 2 5 0 7 Lawn bowls 2 2 1 5 Boccia 1 2 1 4 Goalball 1 0 2 3 Wheelchair basketball 0 1 2 3 Paratriathlon 0 1 1 2 Wheelchair fencing 0 1 0 1 Dartchery 0 0 2 2 Wheelchair rugby 0 0 2 2 Weightlifting 0 0 1 1 Totals (18 entries) 127 140 160 427

Medals by winter sport   Leading in that sport Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total Alpine skiing 11 15 21 47 Ice sledge speed racing 9 12 11 32 Cross-country skiing 4 3 2 9 Biathlon 2 2 2 6 Snowboarding 1 0 1 2 Para ice hockey 0 1 0 1 Totals (6 entries) 27 33 37 97

See also

• Japan at the Olympics

References