Japan at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Infobox Olympics Japan
games=2004 Summer
competitors=
sports=
flagbearer=Kyoko Hamaguchi
gold=16
silver=9
bronze=12
total=37
rank=5

Japan competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The delegation of athletes and officials was represented by the Japanese Olympic Committee. Japan's anthem, "Kimi Ga Yo" ("May 1000 Years of Happy Reign Be Yours (Emperor)") was played when Japan won a gold medal.

Medalists

Results by event

=Archery=

Men's individual:
* Hiroshi Yamamoto - silver medal
* Takaharu Furukawa - 22nd place
* Yuji Hamano - 37th place

Women's individual:
* Sayoko Kawauchi - 26th place
* Sayami Matsushita - 28th place
* Yukari Kawasaki - 63rd place

Men's team:
* Takaharu Furukawa, Yuji Hamano, and Hiroshi Yamamoto - 8th place

Women's team:
* Yukari Kawasaki, Sayoko Kawauchi, and Sayami Matsushita - 14th place

=Athletics=

Men's 100 metres:
* Shingo Suetsugu - Round 1: 10.27 s, Round 2: 10.19 s
* Nobuharu Asahara - Round 1: 10.33 s, Round 2: 10.24 s
* Hiroyasu Tsuchie - Round 1: 10.37 s

Men's 110 metre hurdles:
* Masato Naito - Round 1: 13.56 s, Round 2: 13.54 s
* Satoru Tanigawa - Round 1: 13.39 s (NR), Round 2: 13.70s

Men's 200 metres:
* Shinji Takahira - Round 1: 21.05 s
* Ryo Matsuda - Round 1: 24.59 s

Men's 400 metres:
* Yuki Yamaguchi - Round 1: 46.16
* Jun Osakada - Round 1: 46.39 s
* Mitsuhiro Sato - Round 1: 46.70 s

Men's 400 metre hurdles:
* Dai Tamesue - Round 1: 48.80 s, Semifinal: 48.46 s
* Ken Yoshizawa - Round 1: 50.95 s

Men's 3000 metre steeplechase:
* Yoshitaka Iwamizu - Round 1, 8:29.07 (did not advance)

Men's 10000 metres:
* Ryuji Ono - Final, 29:06.50 (19th place)

Men's 4x100 metre relay:
* Hiroyasu Tsuchie, Shingo Suetsugu, Shinji Takahira, and Nobuharu Asahara - Final, 0:38.49 (4th place)

Men's 4x400 metre relay:
* Yuki Yamaguchi, Jun Osakada, Tomohiro Itoh, and Mitsuhiro Sato - Final, 3:00.99 (4th place)

Men's marathon:
* Shigeru Aburaya – 2:13:11 (5th place)
* Toshinari Suwa – 2:13:24 (6th place)
* Tomoaki Kunichika – 2:21:13 (42nd place)

Men's 20 km walk:
* Takayuki Tanii – 1:23:38 (15th place)
* Yuki Yamazaki - DNF

Men's 50 km walk:
* Yuki Yamazaki – 3:57:00 (16th place)
* Takayuki Tanii - DQ

Men's long jump:
* Shinichi Terano - Round 1, 7.70 metres (did not advance)

Men's triple jump:
* Takanori Sugibayashi - Round 1, 16.00 metres (did not advance)

Men's pole vault:
* Daichi Sawano - Final, 5.55 metres (13th place)

Men's javelin:
* Yukifumi Murakami - Round 1, 78.59 metres (did not advance)

Men's hammer:
* Koji Murofushi - Final, 82.91 metres (gold medal)

Women

Women's 800 metres:
* Miho Sugimori - Round 1: 2:02.82

Women's 10000 metres:
* Megumi Tanaka - 31:42.18 (13th place)
* Harumi Hiroyama - 32:15.12 (18th place)
* Kayoko Fukushi - 33:48.66 (26th place)

Women's heptathlon:
* Yuki Nakata - 4871 points (28th place)

Women's marathon:
* Mizuki Noguchi - 2:26:20, gold medal
* Reiko Tosa - 2:28:44, 5th place
* Naoko Sakamoto - 2:31:43, 7th place

Women's 20 km walk:
* Mayumi Kawasaki - 1:37:56 (40th place)

Women's long jump:
* Maho Hanaoka - Round 1: 6.31 metres

Women's pole vault:
* Takayo Kondo - Round 1: 4.15 metres

Women's shot put:
* Chinatsu Mori - Round 1: 15.86 metres

Women's hammer:
* Yuka Murofushi - Round 1: 65.33 metres

=Badminton=

Men's singles:
* Shoji Sato - defeated in round of 32
* Hidetaka Yamada - defeated in round of 32

Women's singles:
* Kaori Mori - defeated in round of 16
* Miho Tanaka - defeated in round of 32
* Kanako Yonekura - defeated in round of 32

Men's doubles:
* Keita Masuda and Tadashi Ohtsuka - defeated in round of 16

Women's doubles:
* Chikako Nakayama and Keiko Yoshimoti - defeated in round of 16
* Shizuka Yamamoto and Seiko Yamada - defeated in round of 32

Mixed doubles:
* Tadashi Ohtsuka and Shizuka Yamamoto - defeated in round of 32

=Baseball=

The Japanese baseball team won the bronze medal.

* Players: Ryoji Aikawa, Yuya Ando, Atsushi Fujimoto, Kosuke Fukudome, Hirotoshi Ishii, Hisashi Iwakuma, Hitoki Iwase, Kenji Johjima, Takuya Kimura, Masahide Kobayashi, Hiroki Kuroda, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Daisuke Miura, Shinya Miyamoto, Arihito Muramatsu, Norihiro Nakamuru, Michihiro Ogasawara, Naoyuki Shimizu, Yoshinobu Takahashi, Yoshitomo Tani, Tomochika Tsuboi, Koji Uehara, Kazuhiro Wada, Tsuyoshi Wada
* Manager: Kiyoshi Nakahata
* Coaches: Yutaka Ono, Yutaka Takagi

=Basketball=

Women's: 10th place
* Preliminary round: 1-4
* Classification (9/10): lost to China, 83-62

=Boxing=

Japan sent one boxer to the 2004 Olympics. He was defeated in his first match.

Light Flyweight (48kg)
* Toshiyuki Igarashi
*# Round of 32 - Lost to Endalkachew Kebede of Ethiopia, 26-21

=Canoeing=

Women's K1 500 metres:
* Miyuki Shirata - semifinal, 19th place

Women's K2 500 metres:
* Shinobu Kitamoto and Yumiko Suzuki - semifinal, 14th place

Women's K4 500 metres:
* Shinobu Kitamoto, Yumiko Suzuki, Mikiko Takeya, and Miho Adachi - final, 9th place

=Cycling=

Road cycling

Men's road race:
* Yasutaka Tashiro - 57th place, 5:50:35
* Shinri Suzuki - did not finish

Women's road race:
* Miho Oki - 20th place, 3:25:42
* Miyoko Karami - 41st place, 3:30:30

Track cycling

Nagatsuka withdrew from the individual sprint after placing 14th in the qualifying round, which had qualified him for further competition.

Men's individual sprint:
* Tomohiro Nagatsuka - withdrew, no rank

Men's team sprint:
* Toshiaki Fushimi, Masaki Inoue, and Tomohiro Nagatsuka - final, silver medal

Women's time trial:
* Sayuri Osuga - 10th place, 35.045 seconds

Men's points race:
* Makoto Iijima - 16th place, 13 points

Men's Keirin:
* Toshiaki Fushimi - first repechage, no rank

Mountain biking

Men's cross country:
* Kenji Takeya - 38th place, -1 lap

Women's cross country:
* Yukari Nakagome - 22nd place, -1 lap

=Diving=

Men's 3 metre springboard:
* Ken Terauchi - Prelim: 456.15, Semifinal: 245.64, Final: 444.36 (8th place)

Women's 10 metre platform:
* Takiri Miyazaki - final, 11th place

=Equestrian=

Individual jumping:
* Taizo Sugitani riding Lamalushi - final round B, 16th place
* Yuka Watanabe riding Nike - final round A, 39th place
* Tadayoshi Hayashi riding Swanky - qualifier, 64th place
* Ryuichi Obata riding Oliver Q - qualifier, 74th place

Team jumping:
* Hayashi, Obata, Sugitani, and Watanabe - first round, 13th place

=Football (Soccer)=

Men's: 13th place
* Preliminary round: 1-0-2
* Quarterfinal: did not qualify

Women's: 7th place
* Preliminary round: 1-0-1
* Quarterfinal: lost to United States, 2-1

=Gymnastics=

Men's artistic: gold medal team
* Hiroyuki Tomita - advanced in four exercises
** Parallel bars - silver medal
** Rings - 4th place
** All-around - 6th place
** Pommel horse - 8th place
* Isao Yoneda - advanced in three exercises
** Horizontal bar - bronze medal
** Floor - 7th place
** All-around - 11th place
* Takehiro Kashima - advanced in one exercise
** Pommel horse - bronze medal
* Daisuke Nakano - advanced in three exercises
** Parallel bars - 5th place
** Floor - 6th place
** Horizontal bar - 9th place
* Hisashi Mizutori - did not advance in any exercise
* Naoya Tsukahara - did not advance in any exercise

Women's artistic:
* Manami Ishizaka - did not advance in any exercise
* Kyoko Oshima - did not advance in any exercise

Women's rhythmic:
* Individual
** Yukari Murata - 18th place

Women's trampoline:
* Haruka Hirota - 7th place

=Hockey=

Women's: 8th place
* Preliminary round: 2-0-2
* Classification (5-8): lost to Australia, 3-1
* Classification (7/8): lost to Korea, 3-1

=Judo=

Men

* Tadahiro Nomura - Men's -60 kg, gold medal
* Masato Uchishiba - Men's 60-66 kg, gold medal
* Masahiro Takamatsu - Men's 66-73 kg, defeated in 2nd round
* Masahiko Tomouchi - Men's 73-81 kg, defeated in 1st round
* Hiroshi Izumi - Men's 81-90 kg, silver medal
* Kosei Inoue - Men's 90-100 kg, defeated in 4th round
* Keiji Suzuki - Men's +100 kg, gold medal

Women

* Ryoko Tani - Women's -48 kg, gold medal
* Yuki Yokosawa - Women's 48-52 kg, silver medal
* Kie Kusakabe - Women's 52-57 kg, defeated in 3rd round
* Ayumi Tanimoto - Women's 57-63 kg, gold medal
* Masae Ueno - Women's 63-70 kg, gold medal
* Noriko Anno - Women's 70-78 kg, gold medal
* Maki Tsukada - Women's +78 kg, gold medal

=Sailing=

Men's mistral:
* Motokazu Kenjo - 170.0 pts, 19th place

Women's mistral:
* Masako Imai - 135.0 pts, 17th place

Men's 470:
* Kazuto Seki & Kenjiro Todoroki - 90 pts, bronze medal

Women's 470:
* Yuka Yoshisako & Mitsuko Satake - 101 pts, 11th place

Women's Europe:
* Maiko Sato - 192pts, 24th place

Laser mixed:
* Kunio Suzuki - 281pts, 35th place

49er mixed:
* Kenji Nakamura & Masato Takaki - 146pts, 15th place

=Softball=

Women's Team Competition

In the final game of the preliminary round, Yukiko Ueno of Japan pitched the first perfect game in Olympic softball history as Japan defeated China 2-0. Two days later, Japan again defeated China in the 3rd/4th semifinal to guarantee a medal. Their loss in the bronze medal game left them with the bronze.
* Preliminary Round:* Lost to Australia (2:4):* Defeated Chinese Taipei (6:0):* Lost to United States (0:3):* Lost to Canada (0:1):* Defeated Greece (6:0):* Defeated Italy (1:0):* Defeated PR China (0:2)
* Semifinal:* Defeated PR China (1:0)
* Bronze Medal Match:* Lost to Australia (0:3) → Bronze Medal
* Team Roster:*Juri Takayama:*Noriko Yamaji:*Haruka Saito:*Emi Naito:*Kazue Ito:*Reika Utsugi:*Masumi Mishina:*Yumi Iwabuchi :*Eri Yamada :*Yuki Sato :*Rie Sato :*Naoko Sakamoto:*Yukiko Ueno :*Hiroko Sakai:*Emi Inui

=Swimming=

Men

* Kosuke Kitajima
**100 m Breaststroke, gold medal
**200 m Breaststroke, gold medal
* Takashi Yamamoto - 200 m Butterfly, silver medal
* Tomomi Morita - 100 m Backstroke, bronze medal
* Japanese men's swimming team won the bronze medal in 4 x 100 m medley relay
**Swimmers: Tomomi Morita (Backstroke), Kosuke Kitajima (Breaststroke), Takashi Yamamoto (Butterfly), Yukihiro Okumura (Freestyle)

Women

* Ai Shibata - 800 m Freestyle, gold medal
* Reiko Nakamura - 200 m Backstroke, bronze medal
* Yuko Nakanishi - 200 m Butterfly, bronze medal

=Triathlon=

Japan's triathletes at the second Olympic triathlon included veterans Kiyomi Niwata and Hiroyuki Nishiuchi. The best result, a record high for the Japanese team, came from Akiko Sekine at twelfth place in the women's competition.

Women's:
* Akiko Sekine - 2:07:34.02 (12th place)
* Kiyomi Niwata - 2:07:42.79 (14th place)
* Machiko Nakanishi - 2:08:51.06 (20th place)

Men's:
* Hirokatsu Tayama - 1:53:28.41 (13th place)
* Hiroyuki Nishiuchi - 1:57:43.51 (32nd place)

=Volleyball=

Women's Beach Competition

* Ryoko Tokuno and Chiaki Kusuhara
** Prelims: 1-2
** Round of 16: Did not qualify

Women Indoor Team Competition

* Preliminary Round (Group A):* Lost to Brazil (0-3):* Lost to Italy (0-3):* Defeated Greece (3-1):* Lost to South Korea (0-3):* Defeated Kenya (3-0)
* Quarterfinals:* Lost to China (0-3) → Fifth place
*Team Roster:*Tomoko Yoshihara:*Chie Tsuji:*Ikumi Narita:*Miki Sasaki:*Kanako Omura:*Yoshie Takeshita:*Miyuki Takahashi:*Sachiko Sugiyama:*Ai Otomo:*Kana Oyama:*Megumi Kurihara:*Saori Kimura
*Head Coach: Shoichi Yanagimoto

=Wrestling=

Men

Freestyle

* Chikara Tanabe - Freestyle 55 kg, bronze medal
* Kenji Inoue - Freestyle 60 kg, bronze medal
* Kazuhiko Ikematsu - Freestyle 66 kg, 5th place
* Kunihiko Obata - Freestyle 74 kg
* Hidekazu Yokoyama - Freestyle 84 kg

Greco-Roman

* Masatoshi Toyota - Greco-Roman 55 kg
* Makoto Sasamoto - Greco-Roman 60 kg
* Katsuhiko Nagata - Greco-Roman 74 kg
* Shingo Matsumoto - Greco-Roman 84 kg

Women

* Chiharu Icho - Freestyle 48 kg, silver medal
* Saori Yoshida - Freestyle 55 kg, gold medal
* Kaori Icho - Freestyle 63 kg, gold medal
* Kyoko Hamaguchi - Freestyle 72 kg, bronze medal

Officials

*President: Tsunekazu Takeda
*Secretary General: Tsutomu Hayashi