Volleyball - Team Japan

General
Japan's 12 total medals at the Asian Games is only surpassed by the Republic of Korea's 14, while the Japanese team's tally of five gold medals is second only to the People's Republic of China's eight. Japan won the first five golds on offer from 1962 to 1978, claimed back-to-back silvers in 1982 and 1986, then secured four consecutive bronze medals between 1990 and 2002. They also won silver at the 2006 Games in Doha after defeat in the final to the Chinese team, making it 12 medals from their first 12 appearances at the Asian Games. However, a quarterfinal loss to the Republic of Korea in 2010 ended their run, and they have not returned to the podium since.

The Japanese team's medal drought is despite bronze medal match appearances in both 2014 and 2018. At the 2014 Games they lost to the Republic of Korea in the semifinals and then to Thailand in the third place match. At Indonesia 2018, they won three of four pool matches and beat Kazakhstan 3-0 in the quarterfinals before losing in the last four to the People's Republic of China. In the bronze medal match they were defeated by the Republic of Korea.

Japan also saw early success at the Olympic Games, claiming two golds among five medals between 1964 and 1984. Since then they have only made the podium once, winning bronze at London 2012. As hosts of the 2020 Games in Tokyo, they won one of their five pool matches and finished 10th overall. It is a similar story at the world championship, which Japan won in 1962, 1967, and 1974, but they only managed one silver [1978] and one bronze [2010] in their next 12 appearances. The Japanese team also took one title [1977] and two runners-up finishes [1973 and 1981] at the first three editions of the World Cup, but did not rank in the top three on any of their 10 appearances from 1985 to 2019.

In contrast to their frustrations at the last three Asian Games, Japan have seen recent success at the Asian championship, securing consecutive titles in 2017 and 2019. The team also beat the People's Republic of China to claim their first Asian Cup triumph in 2022, which avenged a loss to the Chinese team in the final four years earlier.