Tadahiro Nomura — Judo, Men's Extra Lightweight (60 kg)Kenzo Nakamura — Judo, Men's Lightweight (71 kg)Yuko Emoto — Judo, Women's Half Middleweight (61 kg)Masanori Sugiura, Takayuki Takabayashi, Yoshitomo Tani, Hitoshi Ono, Yasuyuki Saigou, Tomoaki Sato, Daishin Nakamura, Masahiro Nojima, Hideaki Okubo, Koichi Misawa, Masahiko Mori, Masao Morinaka, Takashi Kurosu, Takao Kuwamoto, Nobuhiko Matsunaka, Takeo Kawamura, Jutaro Kimura, Kosuke Fukudome, Tadahito Iguchi, Makoto Imaoka — Baseball, Men's Team CompetitionYukimasa Nakamura — Judo, Men's Half Lightweight (65 kg)Toshihiko Koga — Judo, Men's Half Middleweight (78 kg)Ryoko Tani — Judo, Women's Extra Lightweight (48 kg)Yoko Tanabe — Judo, Women's Half Heavyweight (72 kg)Alicia Kinoshita and Yumiko Shige — Sailing, Women's 470 Team CompetitionYuko Arimori — Athletics, Women's MarathonTakanobu Jumonji — Cycling, Men's 1.000 m Time TrialNoriko Narazaki — Judo, Women's Half Lightweight (52 kg)Junko Tanaka, Miya Tachibana, Kaori Takahashi, Miho Takeda, Miho Kawabe, Akiko Kawase, Riho Nakajima, Raika Fujii, Mayuko Fujiki, and Rei Jinbo — Synchronised Swimming, Women's Team CompetitionTakuya Ota — Wrestling, Men's Freestyle Welterweight (74 kg)In the nation's sixth Olympic archery competition, three of Japan's five archers won their first matches. All three lost in the second round, however.
Women's Individual Competition:
Kinue Kodama → Round of 32, 24th place (1-1)Ai Ouchi → Round of 64, 41st place (0-1)Misato Koide → Round of 64, 56th place (0-1)Men's Individual Competition:
Hiroshi Yamamoto → Round of 32, 19th place (1-1)Takayoshi Matsushita → Round of 32, 27th place (1-1)Women's Team Competition:
Kodama, Ouchi, and Koide → Round of 16, 14th place (0-1)Men's 100 metres
Nobuharu AsaharaHiroyasu TsuchieMen's 200 metres
Koji ItoTakahiro MazukaMen's 400 metres
Shigekazu OmoriMen's 10,000 metres
Toshinari TakaokaKatsuhiko HanadaMen's 4 × 100 metres Relay
Nobuharu AsaharaHiroyasu TsuchieKoji ItoSatoru InoueMen's 4 × 400 metres Relay
Shunji Karube, Koji Ito, Jun Osakada, and Shigekazu OmoriHeat — 3:02.82Semi Final — 3:01.92Final — 3:00.76 (→ 5th place)Men's 400m Hurdles
Shunji KarubeHeat — 48.96s (→ did not advance)Hideaki KawamuraHeat — 49.88s (→ did not advance)Kazuhiko YamazakiHeat — 49.07s (→ did not advance)Men's Marathon
Hiromi Taniguchi — 2:17.26 (→ 19th place)Masaki Oya — 2:22.13 (→ 54th place)Kenjiro Jitsui — 2:33.27 (→ 93rd place)Men's 20 km Walk
Daisuke Ikeshima — 1:24.54 (→ 22nd place)Men's 50 km Walk
Tadahiro Kosaka — 4:05.57 (→ 29th place)Men's High Jump
Tomohiro NomuraMen's Long Jump
Nobuharu AsaharaQualification — 7.46m (→ did not advance)Men's Pole Vault
Teruyasu Yonekura
Women's 5,000 metres
Michiko ShimizuHarumi HiroyamaYoshiko IchikawaWomen's 10,000 metres
Masako ChibaQualification — 31:37.03Final — 31:20.62 (→ 5th place)Yuko KawakamiQualification — 32:31.69Final — 31:23.23 (→ 7th place)Hiromi SuzukiQualification — 31:54.89Final — 32:43.39 (→ 16th place)Women's Marathon
Yuko Arimori — 2:28.39 (→ Bronze Medal)Izumi Maki — 2:32.35 (→ 12th place)Junko Asari — 2:34.31 (→ 17th place)Women's 100 metres Hurdles
Yvonne KanazawaWomen's 10 km Walk
Yuka Mitsumori — dsq (→ no ranking)Women's Javelin Throw
Akiko MiyajimaQualification — 53.98m (→ did not advance)Defending bronze medalist Japan competed for the second time in the Olympic baseball tournament. They got off to a rough start, losing three of their first four games to Australia, Cuba, and the United States. After winning their next three, however, the Japanese were in a tie with the Nicaraguans for third and fourth places. Since Japan had beaten Nicaragua in head-to-head competition, they won the tie-breaker and faced the United States in the semifinals rather than the Cubans, which had not lost any of their 16 games in the 1992 and 1996 Olympiads. Japan defeated the United States to advance to the final, where they became the Cubans' 18th victim (Nicaragua's loss in the semifinals being the 17th win for Cuba).
Men's Team Competition:
Japan - Silver Medal (5-4)Shoji Setoyama and Kazuyuki Takao — 17th place overallMen's Flyweight (– 51 kg)
Kazumasa TsujimotoFirst Round — Lost to Lernik Papyan (Armenia), 5-10Men's Light Welterweight (– 63,5 kg)
Fumitaka NitamiFirst Round — Lost to Eduard Zakharov (Russia), 6-21Men's Middleweight (– 75 kg)
Hirokuni MotoFirst Round — Defeated Tao Chen (China), 15-10First Round — Lost to Tomasz Borowski (Poland), 6-11Men's Points Race
Masahiro YasuharaFinal — 2 points (→ 15th place)Men's Cross Country
Kyoshi MiuraFinal — 2:45:03 (→ 26th place)Women's Cross Country
Kanako TanikawaFinal — 2:05.44 (→ 23rd place)Women's 3m Springboard
Yuki MotobuchiPreliminary Heat — 262.71Semi Final — 210.00Final — 296.04 (→ 6th place)Four fencers, one man and three women, represented Japan in 1996.
Men's foilHiroki IchigataniWomen's épéeNoriko KuboYuko AraiNanae TanakaWomen's team épéeNanae Tanaka, Noriko Kubo, Yuko AraiPreliminary Round RobinDefeated Netherlands (3:0)Defeated PR China (3:0)Lost to United States (1:6)Defeated Canada (4:0)Lost to Australia (0:10)Defeated Puerto Rico (8:1)Defeated Chinese Taipei (5:1)SemifinalsLost to Australia (0:3)Bronze Medal MatchDid not advance → 4th placeTeam RosterJuri TakayamaNoriko YamajiHaruka SaitoMisako AndoNaomi MatsumotoYoshiko FujimotoIkuko FukitaNoriko HaradaMayumi InoueChika KodamaKyoko KobayashiKyoko MochidaEmi TsukadaMasako WatanabeTomoko WatanabeHead Coach: Mitsutoshi SuzumuraMen's 50 metres Freestyle:
Yukihiro MatsushitaHeat — 23.60 (→ did not advance, 35th place)Men's 100 metres Freestyle:
Shunsuke ItoHeat — 51.29 (→ did not advance, 37th place)Men's 200 metres Freestyle:
Shunsuke ItoHeat — 1:51.97 (→ did not advance, 23rd place)Men's 400 metres Freestyle:
Hisato YasuiHeat — 4:00.19 (→ did not advance, 24th place)Men's 1500 m Freestyle
Masato HiranoHeat — 15:19.48B-Final — 15:17.28 (→ 6th place)Hisato YasuiHeat — 15:43.66 (→ did not advance, 22nd place)Men's 100 m Backstroke
Keitaro KonnaiHeat — 56.35B-Final — 55.74 (→ 9th place)Hajime ItoiHeat — 56.22B-Final — 56.23 (→ 11th place)Men's 200 m Backstroke
Hajime ItoiHeat — 2:00.43Final — 2:00.10 (→ 5th place)Ryuji HoriiHeat — 2:02.33B-Final — 2:01.54 (→ 9th place)Men's 100 m Breaststroke
Akira HayashiHeat — 1:02.63B-Final — 1:02.75 (→ 12th place)Yoshinobu MiyazakiHeat — 1:03.13 (→ did not advance, 22nd place)Men's 200 m Breaststroke
Akira HayashiHeat — 2:15.37B-Final — 2:16.69 (→ 16th place)Men's 100 m Butterfly
Takashi YamamotoHeat — 53.95B-Final — 53.98 (→ 13th place)Yukihiro MatsushitaHeat — 54.50 (→ did not advance, 20th place)Men's 200 m Butterfly
Takashi YamamotoHeat — 2:00.87 (→ did not advance, 20th place)Men's 200 m Individual Medley
Tatsuya KinugasaHeat — 2:03.42B-Final — 2:04.59 (→ 14th place)Jo YoshimiHeat — 2:04.49B-Final — 2:05.42 (→ 16th place)Men's 400 m Individual Medley
Toshiaki KurasawaHeat — 4:24.83B-Final — 4:23.36 (→ 10th place)Tatsuya KinugasaHeat — 4:26.73B-Final — 4:24.25 (→ 11th place)Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay
Keitaro Konnai, Akira Hayashi, Takashi Yamamoto and Shunsuke ItoHeat — 3:41.78Final — 3:40.51 (→ 5th place)Women's 50 m Freestyle
Sumika MinamotoHeat — 25.89B-Final — 26.05 (→ 12th place)Women's 100 m Freestyle
Sumika MinamotoHeat — 57.25 (→ did not advance, 25th place)Women's 200 m Freestyle
Suzu ChibaHeat — 2:01.11B-Final — 2:01.00 (→ 10th place)Naoko ImotoHeat — 2:03.78 (→ did not advance, 20th place)Women's 400 m Freestyle
Eri YamanoiHeat — 4:13.40Final — 4:11.68 (→ 7th place)Suzu ChibaHeat — 4:16.07B-Final — 4:16.60 (→ 13th place)Women's 800 m Freestyle
Eri YamanoiHeat — 8:40.47 (→ did not advance, 10th place)Aiko MiyakeHeat — 8:55.77 (→ did not advance, 21st place)Women's 100 m Backstroke
Mai NakamuraHeat — 1:02.35Final — 1:02.33 (→ 4th place)Miki NakaoHeat — 1:02.90Final — 1:02.78 (→ 8th place)Women's 200 m Backstroke
Mai NakamuraHeat — 2:15.05B-Final — 2:13.40 (→ 9th place)Miki NakaoHeat — 2:12.92Final — 2:13.57 (→ 5th place)Women's 100 m Breaststroke
Masami TanakaHeat — 1:09.89B-Final — 1:10.43 (→ 13th place)Kyoko IwasakiHeat — 1:11.33 (→ did not advance, 22nd place)Women's 200 m Breaststroke
Masami TanakaHeat — 2:29.36Final — 2:28.05 (→ 5th place)Kyoko IwasakiHeat — 2:30.84B-Final — 2:29.32 (→ 10th place)Women's 100 m Butterfly
Hitomi KashimaHeat — 1:00.85Final — 1:00.11 (→ 4th place)Ayari AoyamaHeat — 1:00.20Final — 1:00.18 (→ 6th place)Women's 200 m Butterfly
Hitomi KashimaHeat — 2:16.04B-Final — 2:13.97 (→ 14th place)Mika HarunaHeat — 2:12.59Final — 2:11.93 (→ 7th place)Women's 200 m Individual Medley
Fumie KurotoriHeat — 2:20.58 (→ did not advance, 28th place)Women's 400 m Individual Medley
Fumie KurotoriHeat — 4:48.51B-Final — 4:47.98 (→ 12th place)Hideko HiranakaHeat — 4:49.32B-Final — 4:48.72 (→ 13th place)Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay
Sumika Minamoto, Naoko Imoto, Eri Yamanoi and Suzu ChibaHeat — 3:48.77 (→ did not advance, 12th place)Women's 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay
Eri Yamanoi, Naoko Imoto, Aiko Miyake and Suzu ChibaHeat — 8:09.46Final — 8:07.46 (→ 4th place)Women's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay
Mai Nakamura, Masami Tanaka, Ayari Aoyama and Suzu ChibaHeat — 4:10.71 (→ did not advance, 9th place)Men's Singles Competition
Shuzo MatsuokaFirst round — Lost to Tim Henman (Great Britain) 6-7 3-6Men's Doubles Competition
Satoshi Iwabuchi and Takao SuzukiFirst round — Defeated Juan-Carlos Bianchi and Nicolas Pereira (Venezuela) 6-4, 6-7, 8-6Second round — Lost to Sergi Bruguera and Tomás Carbonell (Spain) 7-6, 2-6, 5-7Women's Singles Competition
Ai SugiyamaFirst round — Defeated Katarina Studenikova (Slovakia) 6-2 6-3Second round — Defeated Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 6-4 6-4Third round — Lost to Jana Novotná (Czech Republic) 3-6 4-6Kimiko DateFirst round — Defeated Dally Randriantefy (Madagascar) 6-0 6-1Second round — Defeated Virag Csurgo (Hungary) 6-2 6-3Third round — Defeated Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) 6-4 6-4Quarter Finals — Lost to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (Spain) 6-4 3-6 8-10Naoko SawamatsuFirst round — Defeated Sung-Hee Park (South Korea) 6-3 4-6 6-3Second round — Lost to Lindsay Davenport (United States) 2-6 2-6Preliminary Round (Group A)Lost to South Korea (0-3)Defeated Ukraine (3-0)Lost to Netherlands (0-3)Lost to United States (0-3)Lost to China (0-3)Quarterfinalsdid not advance (→ Ninth place)Team RosterKaiyo HoshiniAki NagatomiKazumi NakamuraChieko NakanishiMotoko OhbayashiIkumi OgakeMika SaikiKiyomi SakamotoAsako TajimiChiho ToriiMika YamauchiTomoko YoshiharaHead Coach: Kuniaki Yoshida