| Japan at the 1912 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IOC code | JPN |
| NOC | Japanese Olympic Committee |
| Website | www |
| in Stockholm | |
| Competitors | 2 in 1 sport |
| Flag bearer | Yahiko Mishima |
| Medals |
|
| Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |
The Empire of Japan competed at the Summer Olympic Games for the first time at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden.
When Pierre de Coubertin formulated the modern Olympic Games, it was his intent for the games to be global in scale. However, no athletes from any Asian nation participated in the first four games, which was a cause for great concern. Kristian Hellström of the Swedish Olympic Committee wrote to the government of Japan to ask if they were going to send teams to the 1912 Olympics. [1] The Japanese government did not want to embarrass itself on an international stage by saying no, so the Ministry of Education was told to look into this. The Ministry turned to Kanō Jigorō, the founder of modern judo, with recent experience in Europe. Kanō, after talking to the French ambassador to Japan and reading pamphlets sent by the Swedes, developed, in his words, "a fairly good idea of what the Olympic Games were" [2] and agreed to become a member of the International Olympic Committee.
However, the Ministry of Education was uncooperative in providing any funding for participation in the Olympics, so Kanō approached the Japan Physical Education Society (Nippon Taiiku Kai) instead. However, the necessary funding was still not forthcoming, so in 1912, Kanō helped establish the Japan Amateur Athletic Association (Dai Nippon Tai-iku Kyokai), of which he became president [3]
Two athletes represented Japan in that nation's Olympic debut. Mishima advanced to the semifinals in one of his three events, but did not start the semifinal race. Kanakuri abandoned the marathon due to the heat; because he never notified race officials before returning to Japan, Swedish authorities considered him missing for 50 years before discovering that he was living in Japan oblivious to his status in Sweden. Finally notified, Kanakuri finished the marathon more than 54 years after he started, with an unofficial score measured to the same tenths of a second standard as used for other runners at the 1912 marathon (54 y, 8 m, 6 d, 8:32:20.3). [4]
Ranks given are within that athlete's heat for running events.
| Athlete | Events | Heat | Semifinal | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | ||
| Mishima Yahiko | 100 m | ? | 5 | Did not advance | |||
| 200 m | ? | 5 | Did not advance | ||||
| 400 m | 55.5 | 2 Q | Did not start | Did not advance | |||
| Kanakuri Shizō | Marathon | N/A | Did not finish | ||||
Judo is a system of unarmed combat, modern Japanese martial art and Olympic sport. Judo was created in 1882 by Jigoro Kano (嘉納治五郎) as an eclectic martial art, distinguishing itself from its predecessors due to an emphasis on "randori" instead of "kata" alongside its removal of striking and weapon training elements. Judo rose to prominence for its dominance over established jujutsu schools in tournaments hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, resulting in its adoption as the department's primary martial art. As "jujutsu" was a Japanese term referring to this sub-type of martial arts in general, Judo was colloquially known as Kano Jujutsu or Kano Ryu to differentiate it from other jujutsu schools; this naming convention decreased in prominence due to the adoption of the formal name of Judo. A judo practitioner is called a "judoka", and the judo uniform is called "judogi".
The 1912 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 5 May and 22 July 1912.
Budō is a Japanese term describing modern Japanese martial arts. Literally translated it means the "Martial Way", and may be thought of as the "Way of War" or the "Way of Martial Arts".
Sweden competed at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. 159 competitors, 146 men and 13 women, took part in 84 events in 15 sports.
Russian Empire (Russia) competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. 159 competitors took part in 62 events in 15 sports.
Austria competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. Austrian and Hungarian results at early Olympic Games are generally kept separate despite the union of the two nations as Austria-Hungary at the time. 85 competitors, 76 men and 6 women, took part in 46 events in 12 sports.
The Union of South Africa competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. 21 competitors, all men, took part in 21 events in 6 sports.
The Empire of Japan competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium.
The Empire of Japan competed at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
The Empire of Japan competed at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Kanō Jigorō was a Japanese educator, athlete, and the founder of Judo. Judo was the first Japanese martial art to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official Olympic sport. Pedagogical innovations attributed to Kanō include the use of black and white belts, and the introduction of dan ranking to show the relative ranking among members of a martial art style. Well-known mottoes attributed to Kanō include "maximum efficiency with minimum effort" and "mutual welfare and benefit".
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Yahiko Mishima was a Japanese track and field athlete who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics. Together with the marathon runner Shizo Kanakuri he was the first ever Olympic competitor for Japan.
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The men's marathon event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. The marathon was held on Sunday, July 13, 1924. It was only the second Olympic marathon to use the distance of 42.195 km which was first used in 1908 and is now the standard marathon distance. Fifty-eight runners from 20 nations competed, with no more than 6 runners per nation. The event was won by Albin Stenroos of Finland, the nation's second consecutive Olympic marathon victory.
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