Japan at the Paralympics

Whilst Japan has been absent at the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 (in the city of 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 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

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]