Japan competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea. 255 competitors, 186 men and 69 women, took part in 166 events in 23 sports.
Hitoshi Saito — Judo, Men's Heavyweight (+ 95 kg)Daichi Suzuki — Swimming, Men's 100 m BackstrokeTakashi Kobayashi — Wrestling, Men's Freestyle Light-Flyweight (48 kg)Mitsuru Sato — Wrestling, Men's Freestyle Flyweight (52 kg)Tomoko Hasegawa — Shooting, 25 m pistol (30+30 shots) WomenAkira Ota — Wrestling, Men's Freestyle Light-Heavyweight (90 kg)Atsuji Miyahara — Wrestling, Men's Greco-RomanFlyweight (52 kg)Yukio Iketani — Artistic Gymnastics, Men's Floor ExercisesHiriyuki Konishi, Takahiro Yamada, Toshiharu Sato, Daisuke Nishikawa, Koichi Mizushima, and Yukio Iketani — Artistic Gymnastics, Men's Team CompetitionShinji Hosokawa — Judo, Men's 60 kgYosuke Yamamoto — Judo, Men's 65 kgAkinobu Osako — Judo, Men's 86 kg (Middleweight)Miyako Tanaka and Mikako Kotani — Synchronized Swimming, Women's DuetMikako Kotani — Synchronized Swimming, Women's SoloIn 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)Men's 100 metres
Koji KuriharaTakahiko KasaharaTomohiro OsawaMen's 200 metres
Kenji YamauchiMen's 400 metres
Susumu TakanoMen's 5,000 metres
Shuichi YoneshigeMen's 10,000 metres
Kozu AkutsuHeat — 28:16.43Final — 28:09.70 (→ 14th place)Shuichi YoneshigeHeat — 28:26.04Final — 29:04.44 (→ 17th place)Tsukasa EndoHeat — did not finish (→ did not advance)Men's Marathon
Takeyuki NakayamaFinal — 2:11:05 (→ 4th place)Toshihiko SekoFinal — 2:13:41 (→ 9th place)Hisatoshi ShintakuFinal — 2:15:42 (→ 17th place)Men's 4 × 100 m Relay
Kaoru Matsubara, Shinji Aoto, Koji Kurihara, and Takahiro KasaharaHeat — 39.70Shinji Aoto, Kenji Yamauchi, Koji Kurihara, and Susumu TakanoSemi Final — 38.90 (→ did not advance)Men's 4 × 400 m Relay
Hirofumi Koike, Kenji Yamauchi, Hiromi Kawasumi, and Susumu TakanoHeat — 3:05.63Semi Final — 3:03.80 (→ did not advance)Men's Long Jump
Hiroyuki ShibataQualification — 7.48m (→ did not advance)Junichi UsuiQualification — NM (→ did not advance)Men's Triple Jump
Norifumi YamashitaMen's Javelin Throw
Kazuhiro MizoguchiQualification — 77.46m (→ did not advance)Masami YoshidaQualification — 76.90m (→ did not advance)Men's 20 km Walk
Hirofumi SakaiFinal — 1:24:08 (→ 26th place)Tadahiro KosakaFinal — 1:32:46 (→ 47th place)Men's 50 km Walk
Tadahiro KosakaFinal — 4'03:12 (→ 31st place)
Women's 10,000 metres
Akemi MatsunoWomen's Marathon
Eriko AsaiFinal — 2:34:41 (→ 25th place)Kumi ArakiFinal — 2:35:15 (→ 28th place)Misako MiyaharaFinal — 2:35:26 (→ 29th place)Women's High Jump
Megumi SatoWomen's Javelin Throw
Emi MatsuiQualification — 56.26m (→ did not advance)Men's Light Flyweight (– 48 kg)
Mamoru KuroiwaFirst Round — Lost to Ochirin Demberel (MGL), KO-3Twelve cyclists, nine men and three women, represented Japan in 1988.
Men's road raceMitsuhiro SuzukiKyoshi MiuraYoshihiro TsumurayaMen's sprintHideki MiwaMen's 1 km time trialHiroshi ToyookaMen's team pursuitKoichi AzumaFumiharu MiyamotoKazuaki SasakiKazuo TakikawaMen's points raceYoshihiro TsumurayaWomen's road raceTerumi Ogura — 2:00:52 (→ 30th place)Natsue Seki — 2:14:32 (→ 50th place)Women's sprintSeiko HashimotoTen fencers, five men and five women, represented Japan in 1988.
Men's foilKoji EmuraKenichi UmezawaYoshihiko KanatsuMen's team foilMatsuo Azuma, Harunobu Deno, Koji Emura, Yoshihiko Kanatsu, Kenichi UmezawaWomen's foilTomoko OkaAkemi MorikawaMieko MiyaharaWomen's team foilNona Kiritani, Keiko Mine, Mieko Miyahara, Akemi Morikawa, Tomoko OkaPreliminary 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 Match11th/12th place: vs United States 24 — 21 (→ 11th place)Team RosterHidetada ItoHiroshi YanaiIzumi FujiiKazuhiro MiyashitaKenji TamamuraKiyoshi NishiyamaKodo YamamotoKoji TachikiSeiichi TakamuraShinichi ShudoShinji OkudaTakashi TaguchiToshiyuki YamamuraYoshihiro NikawadoriYukihiro HashimotoThree 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)Men's 100 m Freestyle
Shigeo OgataHeat — 52.08 (→ did not advance, 32nd place)Men's 200 m Freestyle
Shigeo OgataHeat — 1:51.14B-Final — 1:51.89 (→ 15th place)Men's 400 m Freestyle
Yoshiyuki MizumotoHeat — 4:02.02 (→ did not advance, 32nd place)Shigeo OgataHeat — 4:05.68 (→ did not advance, 38th place)Men's 1500 m Freestyle
Masashi KatoHeat — 15:47.35 (→ did not advance, 25th place)Yoshiyuki MizumotoHeat — 15:52.06 (→ did not advance, 27th place)Men's 100 m Backstroke
Daichi SuzukiHeat — 55.90Final — 55.05 (→ Gold Medal)Shigemori MaruyamaHeat — 57.54B-Final — 57.13 (→ 12th place)Men's 200 m Backstroke
Daichi SuzukiHeat — 2:03.36B-Final — 2:04.67 (→ 15th place)Shigemori MaruyamaHeat — 2:09.16 (→ did not advance, 32nd place)Men's 100 m Breaststroke
Hironobu NagahataHeat — 1:04.02B-Final — 1:03.89 (→ 13th place)Kenji WatanabeHeat — 1:04.35 (→ did not advance, 18th place)Men's 200 m Breaststroke
Shigehiro TakahashiHeat — 2:17.69B-Final — 2:18.03 (→ 10th place)Hironobu NagahataHeat — 2:22.23 (→ did not advance, 30th place)Men's 100 m Butterfly
Hiroshi MiuraHeat — 54.82B-Final — 54.98 (→ 14th place)Yukinori TanakaHeat — 56.19 (→ did not advance, 24th place)Men's 200 m Butterfly
Satoshi TakedaHeat — 2:01.42B-Final — 2:02.18 (→ 15th place)Hiroshi MiuraHeat — 2:02.30 (→ did not advance, 19th place)Men's 200 m Individual Medley
Takahiro FujimotoHeat — 2:07.23 (→ did not advance, 19th place)Satoshi TakedaHeat — 2:08.11 (→ did not advance, 22nd place)Men's 400 m Individual Medley
Yoshiyuki MizumotoHeat — 4:28.11 (→ did not advance, 17th place)Takahiro FujimotoHeat — 4:33.03 (→ did not advance, 25th place)Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay
Daichi Suzuki, Hironobu Nagahata, Hiroshi Miura, and Shigeo OgataHeat — 3:46.88Final — 3:44.36 (→ 5th place)Women's 50 m Freestyle
Ayako NakanoHeat — 26.44B-Final — 26.45 (→ 12th place)Kaori SasakiHeat — 26.61 (→ did not advance, 20th place)Women's 100 m Freestyle
Ayako NakanoHeat — 57.29B-Final — 56.72 (→ 10th place)Kaori SasakiHeat — 58.40 (→ did not advance, 32nd place)Women's 200 m Freestyle
Chikako NakamoriHeat — 2:01.76B-Final — 2:02.31 (→ 14th place)Kaori SasakiHeat — 2:06.18 (→ did not advance, 29th place)Women's 400 m Freestyle
Chikako NakamoriHeat — 4:15.51B-Final — 4:15.59 (→ 15th place)Tomomi HosodaHeat — 4:17.30 (→ did not advance, 19th place)Women's 800 m Freestyle
Tomomi HosodaHeat — 8:39.55 (→ did not advance, 11th place)Women's 100 m Backstroke
Satoko MorishitaHeat — 1:05.38 (→ did not advance, 24th place)Tomoko OnogiHeat — 1:06.14 (→ did not advance, 26th place)Women's 200 m Backstroke
Satoko MorishitaHeat — 2:18.74B-Final — 2:18.78 (→ 14th place)Tomoko OnogiHeat — 2:21.46 (→ did not advance, 20th place)Women's 100 m Breaststroke
Yoshie NishiokaHeat — 1:13.36 (→ did not advance, 24th place)Hiroko NagasakiHeat — 1:16.63 (→ did not advance, 26th place)Women's 200 m Breaststroke
Yoshie NishiokaHeat — 2:35.81 (→ did not advance, 19th place)Hiroko NagasakiHeat — 2:37.44 (→ did not advance, 23rd place)Women's 100 m Butterfly
Kiyomi TakahashiHeat — 1:02.04B-Final — 1:01.80 (→ 10th place)Takayo KitanoHeat — 1:02.35B-Final — 1:02.53 (→ 14th place)Women's 200 m Butterfly
Kiyomi TakahashiHeat — 2:12.68Final — 2:11.62 (→ 6th place)Takayo KitanoHeat — 2:15.41B-Final — 2:15.61 (→ 14th place)Women's 200 m Individual Medley
Yoshie NishiokaHeat — 2:20.20B-Final — 2:20.43 (→ 16th place)Hiroyo HaradaHeat — 2:22.59 (→ did not advance, 22nd place)Women's 400 m Individual Medley
Yoshie NishiokaHeat — 4:55.31 (→ did not advance, 19th place)Hiroyo HaradaHeat — 5:00.92 (→ did not advance, 23rd place)Women's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay
Satoko Morishita, Yoshie Nishioka, Kiyomi Takahashi, and Ayako NakanoHeat — 4:18.88 (→ did not advance, 12th place)Three synchronized swimmers represented Japan in 1988.
Women's soloMikako KotaniMegumi ItōMiyako TanakaWomen's duetMikako KotaniMiyako TanakaWomen's Singles Competition
Kumiko OkamotoFirst Round — Lost to Catarina Lindqvist (Sweden) 6-7, 5-7Etsuko InoueFirst Round — Lost to Il-Soon Kim (South Korea) 3-6, 6-3, 5-7Preliminary 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 Matches9th/12th place: Defeated South Korea (3-2)9th/10th place: Lost to Italy (2-3) → Tenth placeTeam RosterAkihiro IwashimaYasunori KumadaEizaburo MitsuhashiMasayoshi ManabeYuji KasamaKazutomo YoneyamaHiromichi KageyamaHideharu HaraKimio SugimotoYuzuru InoueMasaki KaitoShunichi KawaiHead Coach: Kazuya MitakePreliminary Round (Group A)Defeated Soviet Union (3-2)Lost to East Germany (2-3)Defeated South Korea (3-1)Semi FinalsLost to Peru (2-3)FinalLost to PR China (0-3) → Fourth placeTeam RosterYumi MaruyamaKayoko SugiyamaReiko TakizawaMiyako YamashitaAkemi SugiyamaIchiko SatoNorie HiroKumi NakadaYukari KawaseMotoko ObayashiYukiko TakahashiSachiko FujitaHead Coach: Noriyuki Muneuchi