Japan at the 1996 Summer Olympics
IOC code	JPN
NOC	Japanese Olympic Committee
Website	www.joc.or.jp (in Japanese and English)
inAtlanta
Competitors	306 (157 men and 149 women) in 27 sports
Flag bearer	Ryoko Tamura
Medals Ranked 23rd	Gold 3 Silver 6 Bronze 5 Total 14
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
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

Japan competed at the1996 Summer Olympics inAtlanta, United States. 306 competitors, 157 men and 149 women, took part in 168 events in 27 sports.^[1]

Medal Name Sport Event Date  Gold Yuko Emoto Judo Women's half middleweight July 23  Gold Kenzo Nakamura Judo Men's lightweight July 24  Gold Tadahiro Nomura Judo Men's extra lightweight July 26  Silver Yoko Tanabe Judo Women's half heavyweight July 21  Silver Toshihiko Koga Judo Men's half middleweight July 23  Silver Yukimasa Nakamura Judo Men's half lightweight July 25  Silver Ryoko Tamura Judo Women's extra lightweight July 26  Silver Alicia Kinoshita Yumiko Shige Sailing Women's 470 August 1  Silver Masanori Sugiura Takayuki Takabayashi Yoshitomo Tani Hitoshi Ono Yasuyuki Saigo 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 tournament August 2  Bronze Takanobu Jumonji Cycling Men's 1000 m time trial July 24  Bronze Noriko Narazaki Judo Women's half lightweight July 25  Bronze Yuko Arimori Athletics Women's marathon July 28  Bronze Takuya Ota Wrestling Men's freestyle 74 kg August 2  Bronze Junko Tanaka Miya Tachibana Kaori Takahashi Miho Takeda Miho Kawabe Akiko Kawase Riho Nakajima Raika Fujii Mayuko Fujiki Rei Jimbo Synchronized swimming Women's competition August 2

Medals by sport Sport Total Judo 3 4 1 8 Baseball 0 1 0 1 Sailing 0 1 0 1 Athletics 0 0 1 1 Cycling 0 0 1 1 Synchronized swimming 0 0 1 1 Wrestling 0 0 1 1 Total 3 6 5 14

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.

Men

Athlete	Event	Ranking round		Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final /BM
		Score	Seed	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Takayoshi Matsushita	Individual	657	25	Bjerendal (SWE) W 163–162	Hsieh (TPE) L 156–157	Did not advance
Hiroshi Yamamoto		665	13	González (MEX) W 155–154	Torres (FRA) L 163–164	Did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Ranking round		Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final /BM
		Score	Seed	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Kinue Kodama	Individual	613	52	Murzayeva (RUS) W 159–147	Galinovskaya (RUS) L 151–155	Did not advance
Misato Koide		583	58	Valeeva (MDA) L 141–159	Did not advance
Ai Ouchi		631	43	Sjöwall (SWE) L 152–152	Did not advance
Kinue Kodama Misato Koide Ai Ouchi	Team	1827	14	—	China (CHN) L 217–222	Did not advance

Men

Track and road events

Field events

Women

Track and road events

Athlete	Event	Heats		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Harumi Hiroyama	5000 metres	15:50.43	27	—	Did not advance
Yoshiko Ichikawa		15:58.90	34	—	Did not advance
Michiko Shimizu		15:23.56	12Q	—	15:09.05	4
Masako Chiba	10,000 metres	31:37.03	4Q	—	31:20.62	5
Yuko Kawakami		32:31.69	17Q	—	31:23.23	7
Hiromi Suzuki		31:54.89	7Q	—	32:43.39	16
Yuko Arimori	Marathon	—	2:28:39
Junko Asari		—	2:34:31	17
Izumi Maki		—	2:32:35	12
Yvonne Kanazawa	100 metres hurdles	13.30	35	Did not advance
Yuka Mitsumori	10 kilometres walk	—	DQ

Field events

Defendingbronze 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 toAustralia,Cuba, and theUnited States. After winning their next three, however, the Japanese were in a tie with theNicaraguans 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)

Preliminary round

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Brazil	5	5	0	424	360	+64	10	Quarterfinals
2	Russia	5	4	1	378	342	+36	9
3	Italy	5	3	2	330	309	+21	8
4	Japan	5	2	3	365	396	−31	7
5	China	5	1	4	347	378	−31	6
6	Canada	5	0	5	293	352	−59	5

21 July 1996 (1996-07-21)

Boxscore

Japan	63–73	Russia
Pts:Kato 15 Rebs: Kato 9 Asts:Murakami 6		Pts:Baranova 21 Rebs: Baranova 13 Asts:Sumnikova 5

Morehouse College Gymnasium,Atlanta

23 July 1996 (1996-07-23)

Boxscore

China	72–75	Japan
Pts:Zheng H 31 Rebs: Zheng H 16 Asts:Li X 6		Pts:Hagiwara 23 Rebs:Kato 10 Asts:Murakami 4

Morehouse College Gymnasium,Atlanta

25 July 1996 (1996-07-25)

Brazil	100–80	Japan
Pts:Paula 25 Rebs:Leila 14 Asts: Paula 10		Pts:Ichijo 16 Rebs:Nagata,Murakami 5 Asts: Murakami 4

Morehouse College Gymnasium,Atlanta

27 July 1996 (1996-07-27)

Boxscore

Japan	52–66	Italy
Pts:Murakami 13 Rebs:Ichijo 9 Asts: Murakami 5		Pts:Pollini,Arnetoli 13 Rebs:Fullin 11 Asts: Pollini,Ballabio 3

Morehouse College Gymnasium,Atlanta

29 July 1996 (1996-07-29)

Boxscore

Canada	85–95	Japan
Pts:Jerant 15 Rebs:Norman 10 Asts:Evans 4		Pts:Hagiwara 26 Rebs:Murakami,Ichijo 5 Asts: Murakami,Kato 5

Morehouse College Gymnasium,Atlanta

Quarterfinals

31 July 1996 (1996-07-31) 15:00

Boxscore

United States	108–93	Japan
Scoring by half:59–44, 49–49
Pts:Leslie 35 Rebs:McClain 16 Asts:Edwards 12		Pts:Ichijo,Hagiwara 22 Rebs:Kato 8 Asts:Murakami 10

Georgia Dome,Atlanta

Classification Round 5th−8th place

1 August 1996 (1996-08-01) 15:00

Boxscore

Russia	80–69	Japan
Scoring by half:39–34,41–35
Pts:Baranova 37 Rebs: Baranova 13 Asts:Sumnikova 14		Pts:Kato 19 Rebs:Ichijo 12 Asts:Murakami 7

Georgia Dome,Atlanta

7th place game

3 August 1996 (1996-08-03) 15:00

Boxscore

Italy	69–81	Japan
Scoring by half: 32–41, 37–40
Pts:Paparazzo 19 Rebs:Pollini 6 Asts:Caselin 5		Pts:Hagiwara 21 Rebs: Hagiwara,Hamaguchi 9 Asts:Harada 5

Georgia Dome,Atlanta

• Shoji Setoyama andKazuyuki Takao — 17th place overall

Men's Flyweight (– 51 kg)

• Kazumasa Tsujimoto

• First Round — Lost toLernik Papyan (Armenia), 5-10

Men's Light Welterweight (– 63,5 kg)

• Fumitaka Nitami

• First Round — Lost toEduard Zakharov (Russia), 6-21

Men's Middleweight (– 75 kg)

• Hirokuni Moto

• First Round — DefeatedTao Chen (China), 15-10
• First Round — Lost toTomasz Borowski (Poland), 6-11

Men's Points Race

• Masahiro Yasuhara

• Final — 2 points (→ 15th place)

Men's Cross Country

• Kyoshi Miura

• Final — 2:45:03 (→ 26th place)

Women's Cross Country

• Kanako Tanikawa

• Final — 2:05.44 (→ 23rd place)

Women's 3m Springboard

• Yuki Motobuchi

• Preliminary Heat — 262.71
• Semi Final — 210.00
• Final — 296.04 (→ 6th place)

Four fencers, one man and three women, represented Japan in 1996.

Men's foil

• Hiroki Ichigatani

Women's épée

• Noriko Kubo
• Yuko Arai
• Nanae Tanaka

Women's team épée

• Nanae Tanaka,Noriko Kubo,Yuko Arai

Men's competition

Japan  v Brazil

21 July 1996Match 1	Japan	1–0	Brazil	Miami
18:30 UTC−4	Ito 72'	Report		Stadium:Orange Bowl Attendance: 46,724 Referee:Benito Archundia (Mexico)

Nigeria  v Japan

23 July 1996Match 2	Nigeria	2–0	Japan	Orlando
20:30 UTC−4	Akiba 83' (o.g.) Okocha 90' (pen.)	Report		Stadium:Citrus Bowl Attendance: 28,000 Referee:Pierluigi Collina (Italy)

Japan  v Hungary

25 July 1996Match 3	Japan	3–2	Hungary	Orlando
21:00 UTC−4	Maezono 39' (pen.),90+1' Uemura 90'	Report	Sándor 2' Madar 48'	Stadium:Citrus Bowl Attendance: 17,224 Referee:Lucien Bouchardeau (Niger)

Women's competition

Germany  v Japan

21 July 1996Match 1	Germany	3–2	Japan	Birmingham
13:30 UTC−4	Wiegmann 5' Tomei 29' (o.g.) Mohr 52'	Report	Kioka 18' Noda 33'	Stadium:Legion Field Attendance: 44,211 Referee: Ingrid Jonsson (Sweden)

Brazil  v Japan

23 July 1996Match 2	Brazil	2–0	Japan	Birmingham
16:30 UTC−4	Kátia 68' Pretinha 78'	Report		Stadium:Legion Field Attendance: 26,111 Referee: Ingrid Jonsson (Sweden)

Norway  v Japan

25 July 1996Match 3	Norway	4–0	Japan	Washington, D.C.
18:30 UTC−4	Pettersen 25',86' Medalen 60' Tangeraas 74'	Report		Stadium:Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Attendance: 30,237 Referee:Omer Al Mehannah (Saudi Arabia)

• Preliminary Round Robin

• Defeated 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)

• Semifinals

• Lost to Australia (0:3)

• Bronze Medal Match

• Did not advance →4th place

• Team roster

• Juri Takayama
• Noriko Yamaji
• Haruka Saito
• Misako Ando
• Naomi Matsumoto
• Yoshiko Fujimoto
• Ikuko Fukita
• Noriko Harada
• Mayumi Inoue
• Chika Kodama
• Kyoko Kobayashi
• Kyoko Mochida
• Emi Tsukada
• Masako Watanabe
• Tomoko Watanabe

• Head coach:Mitsutoshi Suzumura

Men's 50 metres Freestyle:

• Yukihiro Matsushita

• Heat — 23.60 (→ did not advance, 35th place)

Men's 100 metres Freestyle:

• Shunsuke Ito

• Heat — 51.29 (→ did not advance, 37th place)

Men's 200 metres Freestyle:

• Shunsuke Ito

• Heat — 1:51.97 (→ did not advance, 23rd place)

Men's 400 metres Freestyle:

• Hisato Yasui

• Heat — 4:00.19 (→ did not advance, 24th place)

Men's 1500 m Freestyle

• Masato Hirano

• Heat — 15:19.48
• B-Final — 15:17.28 (→ 6th place)

• Hisato Yasui

• Heat — 15:43.66 (→ did not advance, 22nd place)

Men's 100 m Backstroke

• Keitaro Konnai

• Heat — 56.35
• B-Final — 55.74 (→ 9th place)

• Hajime Itoi

• Heat — 56.22
• B-Final — 56.23 (→ 11th place)

Men's 200 m Backstroke

• Hajime Itoi

• Heat — 2:00.43
• Final — 2:00.10 (→ 5th place)

• Ryuji Horii

• Heat — 2:02.33
• B-Final — 2:01.54 (→ 9th place)

Men's 100 m Breaststroke

• Akira Hayashi

• Heat — 1:02.63
• B-Final — 1:02.75 (→ 12th place)

• Yoshinobu Miyazaki

• Heat — 1:03.13 (→ did not advance, 22nd place)

Men's 200 m Breaststroke

• Akira Hayashi

• Heat — 2:15.37
• B-Final — 2:16.69 (→ 16th place)

Men's 100 m Butterfly

• Takashi Yamamoto

• Heat — 53.95
• B-Final — 53.98 (→ 13th place)

• Yukihiro Matsushita

• Heat — 54.50 (→ did not advance, 20th place)

Men's 200 m Butterfly

• Takashi Yamamoto

• Heat — 2:00.87 (→ did not advance, 20th place)

Men's 200 m Individual Medley

• Tatsuya Kinugasa

• Heat — 2:03.42
• B-Final — 2:04.59 (→ 14th place)

• Jo Yoshimi

• Heat — 2:04.49
• B-Final — 2:05.42 (→ 16th place)

Men's 400 m Individual Medley

• Toshiaki Kurasawa

• Heat — 4:24.83
• B-Final — 4:23.36 (→ 10th place)

• Tatsuya Kinugasa

• Heat — 4:26.73
• B-Final — 4:24.25 (→ 11th place)

Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay

• Keitaro Konnai,Akira Hayashi,Takashi Yamamoto andShunsuke Ito

• Heat — 3:41.78
• Final — 3:40.51 (→ 5th place)

Women's 50 m Freestyle

• Sumika Minamoto

• Heat — 25.89
• B-Final — 26.05 (→ 12th place)

Women's 100 m Freestyle

• Sumika Minamoto

• Heat — 57.25 (→ did not advance, 25th place)

Women's 200 m Freestyle

• Suzu Chiba

• Heat — 2:01.11
• B-Final — 2:01.00 (→ 10th place)

• Naoko Imoto

• Heat — 2:03.78 (→ did not advance, 20th place)

Women's 400 m Freestyle

• Eri Yamanoi

• Heat — 4:13.40
• Final — 4:11.68 (→ 7th place)

• Suzu Chiba

• Heat — 4:16.07
• B-Final — 4:16.60 (→ 13th place)

Women's 800 m Freestyle

• Eri Yamanoi

• Heat — 8:40.47 (→ did not advance, 10th place)

• Aiko Miyake

• Heat — 8:55.77 (→ did not advance, 21st place)

Women's 100 m Backstroke

• Mai Nakamura

• Heat — 1:02.35
• Final — 1:02.33 (→ 4th place)

• Miki Nakao

• Heat — 1:02.90
• Final — 1:02.78 (→ 8th place)

Women's 200 m Backstroke

• Mai Nakamura

• Heat — 2:15.05
• B-Final — 2:13.40 (→ 9th place)

• Miki Nakao

• Heat — 2:12.92
• Final — 2:13.57 (→ 5th place)

Women's 100 m Breaststroke

• Masami Tanaka

• Heat — 1:09.89
• B-Final — 1:10.43 (→ 13th place)

• Kyoko Iwasaki

• Heat — 1:11.33 (→ did not advance, 22nd place)

Women's 200 m Breaststroke

• Masami Tanaka

• Heat — 2:29.36
• Final — 2:28.05 (→ 5th place)

• Kyoko Iwasaki

• Heat — 2:30.84
• B-Final — 2:29.32 (→ 10th place)

Women's 100 m Butterfly

• Hitomi Kashima

• Heat — 1:00.85
• Final — 1:00.11 (→ 4th place)

• Ayari Aoyama

• Heat — 1:00.20
• Final — 1:00.18 (→ 6th place)

Women's 200 m Butterfly

• Hitomi Kashima

• Heat — 2:16.04
• B-Final — 2:13.97 (→ 14th place)

• Mika Haruna

• Heat — 2:12.59
• Final — 2:11.93 (→ 7th place)

Women's 200 m Individual Medley

• Fumie Kurotori

• Heat — 2:20.58 (→ did not advance, 28th place)

Women's 400 m Individual Medley

• Fumie Kurotori

• Heat — 4:48.51
• B-Final — 4:47.98 (→ 12th place)

• Hideko Hiranaka

• Heat — 4:49.32
• B-Final — 4:48.72 (→ 13th place)

Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay

• Sumika Minamoto,Naoko Imoto,Eri Yamanoi andSuzu Chiba

• Heat — 3:48.77 (→ did not advance, 12th place)

Women's 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay

• Eri Yamanoi,Naoko Imoto,Aiko Miyake andSuzu Chiba

• Heat — 8:09.46
• Final — 8:07.46 (→ 4th place)

Women's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay

• Mai Nakamura,Masami Tanaka,Ayari Aoyama andSuzu Chiba

• Heat — 4:10.71 (→ did not advance, 9th place)

Men's Singles Competition

• Shuzo Matsuoka

• First round — Lost toTim Henman (Great Britain) 6-7 3-6

Men's Doubles Competition

• Satoshi Iwabuchi andTakao Suzuki

• First round — DefeatedJuan-Carlos Bianchi andNicolas Pereira (Venezuela) 6-4, 6-7, 8-6
• Second round — Lost toSergi Bruguera andTomás Carbonell (Spain) 7-6, 2-6, 5-7

Women's Singles Competition

• Ai Sugiyama

• First round — DefeatedKatarina Studenikova (Slovakia) 6-2 6-3
• Second round — DefeatedMartina Hingis (Switzerland) 6-4 6-4
• Third round — Lost toJana Novotná (Czech Republic) 3-6 4-6

• Kimiko Date

• First round — DefeatedDally Randriantefy (Madagascar) 6-0 6-1
• Second round — DefeatedVirag Csurgo (Hungary) 6-2 6-3
• Third round — DefeatedMagdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) 6-4 6-4
• Quarter Finals — Lost toArantxa Sánchez Vicario (Spain) 6-4 3-6 8-10

• Naoko Sawamatsu

• First round — DefeatedSung-Hee Park (South Korea) 6-3 4-6 6-3
• Second round — Lost toLindsay Davenport (United States) 2-6 2-6

• Preliminary 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)

• Quarterfinals

• did not advance (→Ninth place)

• Team roster

• Kaiyo Hoshini
• Aki Nagatomi
• Kazumi Nakamura
• Chieko Nakanishi
• Motoko Ohbayashi
• Ikumi Ogake
• Mika Saiki
• Kiyomi Sakamoto
• Asako Tajimi
• Chiho Torii
• Mika Yamauchi
• Tomoko Yoshihara

• Head coach:Kuniaki Yoshida

• Nations at the 1996 Summer Olympics
• Japan at the Summer Olympics by year
• 1996 in Japanese sport

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