Hockey - Team Japan

General
Japan are the reigning Asian Games champions after winning their maiden gold medal in 2018 in Indonesia. It was the team's first medal at the Games in 48 years, with their two previous podium appearances coming as bronze medallists in 1966 and 1970. They were also beaten in the bronze medal match on seven occasions between 1962 and 2006.

At the 2018 Games they won four of their five pool games, but only qualified for the semifinals after edging the Republic of Korea 3-2 in a winner-takes-all final match. The team then beat Pakistan 1-0 in the final four to set up a gold medal match with Malaysia. They found themselves 5-2 down in the final period but scored four times in eight minutes to finish level at 6-6, including an equaliser with 13 seconds to play. It was Japan that held their nerve in the penalty shoot-out to win 3-1.

In 2023 Japan made their first World Cup appearance since 2006. Facing a tough draw in Pool B, they lost to eventual champions Germany and eventual runners-up Belgium, and were also defeated 2-1 by the Republic of Korea. They then lost their two classification matches to finish 15th and joint-last.

At the 2022 Asia Cup in Jakarta, the Japanese team lost the third place play-off 1-0 to India. They also lost the third place play-off at the Asia Cup four times between 1985 and 2007, with three of those defeats coming against the Republic of Korea.

Japan's only Olympic medal came at the 1932 Games in Los Angeles, when they won silver in a three-team round-robin event. At Tokyo 2020 the team returned to the Games for the first time since 1968 as the host nation. They drew 2-2 with New Zealand but lost their four other group matches and ranked 11th out of 12 teams.