Japan Men's National Gymnastics Team| Continental union | Asian Gymnastics Union |
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| National federation | Japan Gymnastics Association |
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| Appearances | 20 |
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| Medals | Gold: 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 2004, 2016, 2024
Silver: 1956, 2008, 2012, 2020
Bronze: 1984, 1988, 1992 |
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| Appearances | 30 |
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| Medals | Gold: 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 2015, 2023
Silver: 1954, 1958, 1979, 1981, 1995, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2022
Bronze: 1983, 2003, 2006, 2018, 2019 |
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| Appearances | 13 |
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| Medals | Gold: 2014
Silver: 1974, 1978, 1982, 1990, 2006, 2010, 2018, 2022
Bronze: 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002 |
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| Appearances | 10 |
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| Medals | Gold: 2008, 2015, 2023, 2025
Silver: 2003, 2006, 2012, 2019, 2022
Bronze: 1996, 2017 |
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| Appearances | 27 |
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| Medals | Gold: 1963, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1995, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2019
Silver: 1973, 1977, 1979, 1985, 1991, 1997, 2001, 2021
Bronze: 1987, 2003, 2013 |
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| Appearances | 2 |
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| Medals | Gold: 2019, 2023 |
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The Japan men's national artistic gymnastics team is a sport group governed by Japan Gymnastics Association and represents Japan in international gymnastics competitions and multi-sports events. Followed the establishment of All Japan Gymnastics Federation in 1930, the team first appeared at the 1932 Summer Olympics and gradually became the major force till this day. For nearly two decades, from 1960 to 1978, Japanese men was dominant and won every gold medal at the Olympics and World Championships.
History
1930-1958: Establishment to first medals
The Japanese first appeared internationally at the 1932 Summer Olympics, following the establishment of All Japan Gymnastics Federation on April 13, 1930,[1] and finished 5th. They returned 4 years later in Berlin, Germany and got 9th place. As the result of the World War II, Germany, Japan and Bulgaria, under Allied military occupations, were not allowed to send athletes to London.[2]
The breakthrough came in 1952 when Japanese gymnasts achieved 4 medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. Tadao Uesako brought home a silver in floor and a bronze in vault. Another two vault medalists were Masao Takemoto and Takashi Ono, winning silver and bronze respectively.[3] The team made its debut at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in 1954 and immediately achieved success, winning silver in Group All-around, their first world-level medal in the discipline. Takemoto became the champion in Floor, also the country first gold medal, and bronze in Parallel Bars.[4]
Japan's performances in men's gymnastics improved incredibly at the 1956 Olympics, with 11 medals in total. While securing their position as 2nd best team in the world, winning silver in Group All-around, they also achieved first Olympic gold medal, with Takashi Ono being the champion in Horizontal Bar. Ono was also tied with Viktor Chukarin as the most decorated male gymnasts at the Games, winning silvers in All-around and Pommel Horse, and a bronze in Parallel Bars. Other successful Japanese gymnasts in individual disciplines were Masao Takemoto, winning 3 bronzes, Masumi Kubota, a silver in Parallel Bars and a bronze in Rings, and Nobuyuki Aihara, a bronze in Floor.[5]
Ono and Takemoto led team Japan to defend their second place at the 1958 World Championships, with each of them winning 5 and 4 individual medals respectively. Takemoto successfully achieved another gold in Floor, and added a Vault silver and Horizontal Bar bronze to his collection. Ono received 3 silvers in All-around, Floor, Parallel Bars and a bronze in Vault. Another individual medal was a silver in Rings achieved by Nobuyuki Aihara.[6][7][8]
1960-1978: World Superpower
For nearly 30 years, Japan dominated men's gymnastics, winning every team competition from 1960 Summer Olympics to 1978 World Championships. During this golden age, many gymnasts rose to prominent and achieved overwhelming success. Despite the World Championships only be held every four year, multiple legends appeared and became some of the most decorated gymnasts in the history. Notable names could be mentioned are Sawao Kato, who's holding the record of most Olympics gold medals, Akinori Nakayama, most Olympic and World victories until being surpassed by Kohei Uchimura in 2016, Eizo Kenmotsu, 24 medals including 10 gold, Mitsuo Tsukahara, 15 medals with 9 gold, Yukio Endo, 8 victories and 17 times being on the podium, Takashi Ono, whose glory continued until 1964 Summer Olympics, Shigeru Kasamatsu, Haruhiro Yamashita, Shuji Tsurumi, Nobuyuki Aihara, Takashi Mitsukuri,...
Japan defeated the USSR in Team All-around for the first time, ending a decade of Soviet domination in the discipline. Takashi Ono brought home two more gold medals in Vault and horizontal bar, as well as an all around silver, and two bronzes in rings and parallel bars, respectively. Nobuyuki Aihara also won the floor, and other 2 medals were achieved by Masao Takemoto, with a silver in horizontal bar, and Shuji Tsurumi, the pommel horse bronze medalist. In total, Japanese team won 9 medals, 2 less than 4 years ago, but 3 more gold, jumping to second place with only 2 behind the USSR.[9]
At the World Championships 2 years later in Prague, Japan surpassed the USSR, climbing to the first on men's medal table. They continued the victory in team, while also being successful in individual events, winning another 3 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze. Yukio Endo was the biggest star by reaching the podium in every category except for pommel horse. He shared the victory in floor with the reigning Olympic Champion and compatriot Nobuyuki Aihara, getting silvers in individual all-around, rings and horizonal bar, bronzes in vault and parallel bars. Takashi Ono adding another gold in horizontal bar to his collection. Another 2 medal of the Japanese team were a silver from the later Olympic and world vault champion, Haruhiro Yamashita and a bronze in pommel horse by Takashi Mitsukuri.[10][11][12]
When Japan hosted their first Olympics in 1964, their male gymnasts won big at home. The Japanese men achieved the total of 5 gold medals, more than the whole Soviet team, male and female, combined. The defending Olympic and world champion successfully secured the top position in team, with the exact score different like 4 years ago, 2.500. Yukio Endo won the first gold medal in all-around for Japan, while his compatriot Shuji Tsurumi got the silver. The two men also achieved 2 other medals each, with Endo winning gold parallel bars and silver in floor, and Tsurumi getting 2 silvers in parallel bars & pommel horse. in vault, the defending world runner-up Haruhiro Yamashita became the Olympic champion, and Takuji Hayata bought Japan the first victory in rings.[13]
Japan showed their domination rival at the 1966 World Championships by winning 13 medals, including 4 golds, 5 silvers and 4 bronzes. Akinori Nakayama was the biggest star with 3 championship titles in team, floor, parallel bars, as well as a silver in rings and 2 bronzes in all-around and vault. In total, he won the same number of medals as the Soviet men, also the number of gold medals. The defending Olympic champion in vault, Haruhiro Yamashita successfully became the world champion in the same apparatus. All other 4 Japanese gymnasts were also be on the podium in individual events. Yukio Endo won 2 silvers in floor and horizontal bar. Takeshi Kato got a silver in vault and a bronze in pommel horse. Takashi Mitsukuri helped Japan achieve the podium sweep in horizontal bar. Shuji Tsurumi, the all-around runner-up, also qualified for all 6 apparatus finals. However, an injury happened in rings performance caused him to withdraw from the competition.
1979-1992: Declining Results
1993-2002: Deeply Struggling
2003-2008: Returning to Top & Olympic Gold
2009-2016: Uchimura's Era
2017-2020: Post Uchimura's Dominance
2021- : Hashimoto & World Leading Teams
Recent Squads
2021 - 2024
[14]
[15]
[16]
2017 - 2020
Team Competition Results
Olympic Games
- 1896 through 1928 — did not participate
- 1932 — 5th place
- Toshihiko Sasano, Shigeo Homma, Takashi Kondo, Yoshitaka Takeda, Fujio Kakuta
- 1936 — 9th place
- Yoshitaka Takeda, Hikoroku Arimoto, Yoshio Miyake, Hiroshi Nosaka, Kiichiro Toyama, Dokan Sone, Fujio Kakuta, Hiroshi Matsunobu
- 1948 — banned from participating
- 1952 — 5th place
- Akitomo Kaneko, Tetsumi Nabeya, Takashi Ono, Masao Takemoto, Tadao Uesako
- 1956 — silver medal
- Nobuyuki Aihara, Akira Kono, Masami Kubota, Takashi Ono, Masao Takemoto, Shinsaku Tsukawaki
- 1960 — gold medal
- Nobuyuki Aihara, Yukio Endo, Takashi Mitsukuri, Takashi Ono, Masao Takemoto, Shuji Tsurumi
- 1964 — gold medal
- Yukio Endo, Takuji Hayata, Takashi Mitsukuri, Takashi Ono, Shuji Tsurumi, Haruhiro Yamashita
- 1968 — gold medal
- Yukio Endo, Sawao Kato, Takeshi Kato, Eizo Kenmotsu, Akinori Nakayama, Mitsuo Tsukahara
- 1972 — gold medal
- Shigeru Kasamatsu, Sawao Kato, Eizo Kenmotsu, Akinori Nakayama, Teruichi Okamura, Mitsuo Tsukahara
- 1976 — gold medal
- Shun Fujimoto, Hisato Igarashi, Hiroshi Kajiyama, Sawao Kato, Eizo Kenmotsu, Mitsuo Tsukahara
- 1980 — did not participate
- 1984 — bronze medal
- Koji Gushiken, Noritoshi Hirata, Nobuyuki Kajitani, Shinji Morisue, Koji Sotomura, Kyoji Yamawaki
- 1988 — bronze medal
- Yukio Iketani, Hiroyuki Konishi, Koichi Mizushima, Daisuke Nishikawa, Toshiharu Sato, Takahiro Yameda
- 1992 — bronze medal
- Yutaka Aihara, Takashi Chinen, Yoshiaki Hatakeda, Yukio Iketani, Masayuki Matsunaga, Daisuke Nishikawa
- 1996 — 10th place
- Naoya Tsukahara, Hikaru Tanaka, Yoshiaki Hatakeda, Toshiharu Sato, Shigeru Kurihara, Takashi Uchiyama
- 2000 — 4th place
- Naoya Tsukahara, Yoshihiro Saito, Kenichi Fujita, Mutsumi Harada, Akihiro Kasamatsu, Norimasa Iwai
- 2004 — gold medal
- Takehiro Kashima, Hisashi Mizutori, Daisuke Nakano, Hiroyuki Tomita, Naoya Tsukahara, Isao Yoneda
- 2008 — silver medal
- Hiroyuki Tomita, Takehiro Kashima, Koki Sakamoto, Makoto Okiguchi, Kohei Uchimura, Takuya Nakase
- 2012 — silver medal
- Ryohei Kato, Kazuhito Tanaka, Yusuke Tanaka, Kohei Uchimura, Koji Yamamuro
- 2016 — gold medal
- Ryohei Kato, Kenzo Shirai, Yusuke Tanaka, Kohei Uchimura, Koji Yamamuro
- 2020 — silver medal
- Daiki Hashimoto, Kazuma Kaya, Takeru Kitazono, Wataru Tanigawa
- 2024 — gold medal
- Daiki Hashimoto, Kazuma Kaya, Shinnosuke Oka, Takaaki Sugino, Wataru Tanigawa
World Championships
- 1954 — silver medal
- Akitomo Kaneko, Akira Kono, Masami Kubota, Tetsumi Nabeya, Takashi Ono, Yoshiyuki Oshima, Masao Takemoto
- 1958 — silver medal
- Nobuyuki Aihara, Akira Kono, Takashi Ono, Masao Takemoto, Katsumi Terai, Shinsaku Tsukawaki
- 1962 — gold medal
- Nobuyuki Aihara, Yukio Endo, Takashi Mitsukuri, Takashi Ono, Shuji Tsurumi, Haruhiro Yamashita
- 1966 — gold medal
- Shuji Tsurumi, Akinori Nakayama, Takeshi Katō, Yukio Endo, Takashi Mitsukuri, Haruhiro Matsuda
- 1970 — gold medal
- Eizo Kenmotsu, Mitsuo Tsukahara, Akinori Nakayama, Fumio Honma, Takuji Hayata, Takeshi Katō
- 1974 — gold medal
- Shigeru Kasamatsu, Eizo Kenmotsu, Mitsuo Tsukahara, Hiroshi Kajiyama, Fumio Honma, Sawao Kato
- 1978 — gold medal
- Hiroshi Kajiyama, Shigeru Kasamatsu, Eizo Kenmotsu, Junichi Shimizu, Shinzo Shiraishi, Mitsuo Tsukahara
- 1979 — silver medal
- Hiroshi Kajiyama, Shigeru Kasamatsu, Nobuyuki Kajitani, Toshiomi Nishikii, Koji Gushiken, Eizo Kenmotsu
- 1981 — silver medal
- Nobuyuki Kajitani, Koji Gushiken, Koji Sotomura, Kiyoshi Goto, Kyoji Yamawaki, Toshiro Kanai
- 1983 — bronze medal
- Koji Gushiken, Koji Sotomura, Nobuyuki Kajitani, Mitsuaki Watanabe, Noritoshi Hirata, Shinji Morisue
- 1985 — 4th place
- Koji Gushiken, Koji Sotomura, Hiroyuki Konishi, Kyoji Yamawaki, Mitsuaki Watanabe, Shigemitsu Kondo
- 1987 — 5th place
- Koichi Mizushima, Naoyuki Terao, Hiroyuki Konishi, Morimasa Honda, Yukihiro Hayase, Shinji Kanda
- 1989 — 4th place
- Toshiharu Sato, Yukio Iketani, Yoshikazu Nakamura, Daisuke Nishikawa, Hiroyuki Kato, Masayuki Matsunaga
- 1991 — 4th place
- Yukio Iketani, Yoshiaki Hatakeda, Daisuke Nishikawa, Takashi Chinen, Masayuki Matsunaga, Yutaka Aihara
- 1994 — 5th place
- Hikaru Tanaka, Daisuke Nishikawa, Masayuki Matsunaga, Toshiharu Sato, Takehiko Ono, Yoshiaki Hatakeda, Masayoshi Maeda
- 1995 — silver medal
- Yoshiaki Hatakeda, Daisuke Nishikawa, Hikaru Tanaka, Toshiharu Sato, Masayuki Matsunaga, Hiromasa Masuda, Masayoshi Maeda
- 1997 — 4th place
- Kenichi Fujita, Yoshiaki Hatakeda, Takuya Kishimoto, Shigeru Kurihara, Naoya Tsukahara, Yoshihiro Saito
- 1999 — 4th place
- Naoya Tsukahara, Yoshihiro Saito, Akihiro Kasamatsu, Kenichi Fujita, Mutsumi Harada, Tatsuya Yamada
- 2001 — did not participate
- 2003 — bronze medal
- Takehiro Kashima, Hiroyuki Tomita, Naoya Tsukahara, Tatsuya Yamada
- 2006 — bronze medal
- Hisashi Mizutori, Takehito Mori, Takuya Nakase, Eichi Sekiguchi, Hiroyuki Tomita, Naoya Tsukahara
- 2007 — silver medal
- Hisashi Mizutori, Hiroyuki Tomita, Yosuke Hoshi, Makoto Okiguchi, Takuya Nakase, Shun Kuwahara
- 2010 — silver medal
- Kōhei Uchimura, Koji Yamamuro, Koji Uematsu, Kazuhito Tanaka, Kenya Kobayashi, Tatsuki Nakashima
- 2011 — silver medal
- Kōhei Uchimura, Kazuhito Tanaka, Kenya Kobayashi, Koji Yamamuro, Makoto Okiguchi, Yusuke Tanaka
- 2014 — silver medal
- Kohei Kameyama, Ryohei Kato, Shogo Nonomura, Kenzo Shirai, Yusuke Tanaka, Kōhei Uchimura, Kazuyuki Takeda*
- 2015 — gold medal
- Naoto Hayasaka, Ryohei Kato, Kazuma Kaya, Kenzō Shirai, Yusuke Tanaka, Kōhei Uchimura, Tomomasa Hasegawa*
- 2018 — bronze medal
- Kazuma Kaya, Kenzō Shirai, Yūsuke Tanaka, Wataru Tanigawa, Kōhei Uchimura, Kakeru Tanigawa*
- 2019 — bronze medal
- Daiki Hashimoto, Yuya Kamoto, Kazuma Kaya, Kakeru Tanigawa, Wataru Tanigawa, Shogo Nonomura*
- 2022 — silver medal
- Ryosuke Doi, Daiki Hashimoto, Yuya Kamoto, Kakeru Tanigawa, Wataru Tanigawa, Kazuma Kaya*
- 2023 — gold medal
- Kenta Chiba, Daiki Hashimoto, Kazuma Kaya, Kazuki Minami, Kaito Sugimoto, Teppei Miwa*
Asian Games
- 1974 — silver medal
- Kazuo Horide, Kenji Igarashi, Takeo Igarashi, Ryuji Nakayama, Hideyuki Nozawa, Hiroshi Sugawara
- 1978 — silver medal
- Nobuyuki Kajitani, Junichi Kitagawa, Toshiomi Nishikii, Teruichi Okamura, Shinzo Shiraishi, Haruyasu Taguchi
- 1982 — silver medal
- Koji Gushiken, Noritoshi Hirata, Nobuyuki Kajitani, Shinji Morisue, Taichi Okada, Koji Sotomura
- 1986 — bronze medal
- Yukihiro Hayase, Hiroyuki Konishi, Koichi Mizushima, Hiroaki Okabe, Koji Sotomura, Kyoji Yamawaki
- 1990 — silver medal
- Yutaka Aihara, Yoshiaki Hatakeda, Yukio Iketani, Masayuki Matsunaga, Daisuke Nishikawa, Toshiharu Sato
- 1994 — bronze medal
- Takashi Chinen, Yoshiaki Hatakeda, Horimasa Masuda, Masayuki Matsunaga, Daisuke Nishikawa, Toshiharu Sato, Hikaru Tanaka
- 1998 — bronze medal
- Mutsumi Harada, Akihiro Kasamatsu, Yasuhiro Ogawa, Yoshihiro Saito, Naoya Tsukahara, Isao Yoneda
- 2002 — bronze medal
- Mutsumi Harada, Takehiro Kashima, Hisashi Mizutori, Yasuhiro Ogawa, Hiroyuki Tomita, Naoya Tsukahara
- 2006 — silver medal
- Ryosuke Baba, Kenya Kobayashi, Shun Kuwahara, Hisashi Mizutori, Hiroyuki Tomita, Yuki Yoshimura
- 2010 — silver medal
- Ryosuke Baba, Ryotaka Deguchi, Shun Kuwahara, Hisashi Mizutori, Takuya Nakase, Kyoichi Watanabe
- 2014 — gold medal
- Tomomasa Hasegawa, Yuya Kamoto, Yusuke Saito, Shotaro Shirai, Kazuyuki Takeda, Masayoshi Yamamoto
- 2018 — silver medal
- Kenta Chiba, Tomomasa Hasegawa, Fuya Maeno, Shogo Nonomura, Kakeru Tanigawa
- 2022 — silver medal
- Shohei Kawakami, Takeru Kitazono, Kakeru Tanigawa, Wataru Tanigawa, Ryota Tsumura
Asian Championships
- 1996 — bronze medal
- 2003 — silver medal
- Yoshihiro Saito, Akihiro Kasamatsu, Masaki Endo, Yasuhiro Ogawa
- 2006 — silver medal
- Tomoharu Sano, Hiroaki Kusu, Kazusa Fujita, Ryuta Nakazato
- 2008 — gold medal
- Naoyuki Terao, Koji Yamamuro, Yosuke Hoshi, Shoichi Yamamoto, Ryosuke Baba, Go Tagashira
- 2012 — silver medal
- Minori Koyama, Yoshiaki Furutani, Takayuki Ohara, Yu Suzuki, Rikii Hoshino, Kenzo Shirai
- 2015 — gold medal
- Naoto Hayasaka, Yusuke Tanaka, Ryohei Kato, Kazuma Kaya, Koji Yamamuro, Kenzo Shirai
- 2017 — bronze medal
- Hayato Uchida, Jun Muraoka, Shuto Horiuchi, Tatsuki Ichise, Hiroki Ishikawa
- 2019 — silver medal
- Daisuke Fudono, Hibiki Arayashiki, Minori Haruki, Tatsuki Tanaka, Jumpei Oka
- 2022 — silver medal
- Tsuyoshi Hasegawa, Daiki Hidaka, Kouki Maeda, Shiga Tachibana, Kenya Yuasa
- 2023 — silver medal
- Takeru Kitazono, Shinnosuke Oka, Fumiya Sasaki, Ryota Tsumura, Motomu Yoshida
Summer Universiade
- 1963 — gold medal
- 1965 — gold medal
- 1967 — gold medal
- 1970 — gold medal
- 1973 — silver medal
- 1977 — silver medal
- 1979 — silver medal
- 1981 —
- 1983 —
- 1985 — silver medal
- 1987 — bronze medal
- 1991 — silver medal
- 1993 —
- 1995 — gold medal
- 1997 — silver medal
- 1999 — gold medal
- 2001 — silver medal
- 2003 — bronze medal
- Masaki Endo, Akifumi Sasaki, Naoya Tabara, Yuki Yoshimura
- 2005 — gold medal
- Ryosuke Baba, Takehiro Kashima, Shun Kuwahara, Takehito Mori, Hiroyuki Tomita
- 2007 — gold medal
- Hisashi Mizutori, Koki Sakamoto, Kohei Uchimura, Kazuya Ueda,
- 2009 — gold medal
- Yosuke Hoshi, Takuya Nakase, Takuya Niijima, Makoto Okiguchi, Kyoichi Watanabe
- 2011 — gold medal
- Yodai Hojo, Hiroki Ishikawa, Ryuzo Sejima, Masayoshi Yamamoto, Shoichi Yamamoto
- 2013 — bronze medal
- Hiroki Ishikawa, Ryohei Kato, Shogo Nonomura, Yusuke Tanaka, Chihiro Yoshioka
- 2015 — gold medal
- Naoto Hayasaka, Kaito Imabayashi, Yuya Kamoto, Shogo Nonomura, Chihiro Yoshioka
- 2017 — gold medal
- Kenta Chiba, Tomomasa Hasegawa, Yuya Kamoto, Shogo Nonomura, Wataru Tanigawa
- 2019 — gold medal
- Kazuma Kaya, Kakeru Tanigawa, Wataru Tanigawa
- 2021 – silver medal
- Daiki Hashimoto, Shohei Kawakami, Kazuma Kaya, Kazuki Minami, Kaito Sugimoto
Most Decorated Gymnasts
Multiple Medalists
Multiple Gold Medalists
Multiple Individual Medalists
Multiple Individual Gold Medalists
See also
References
National Men's Artistic Gymnastics Teams |
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