| 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 | 54:08:06:08:32:20.3 [lower-alpha 1] | 36 [lower-alpha 1] | |||
Judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport, and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally. Judo was created in 1882 by Kanō Jigorō 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. 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 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was held on 6 July.
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".
The men's 100 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The competition was held on 6 July 1912 and on 7 July 1912. Seventy runners from 22 nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Ralph Craig of the United States, as the Americans swept the medals for a second time.
The men's 200 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth appearance of the event, which has appeared at every edition of the Summer Olympics since the 1900 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on July 10, 1912, and on July 11, 1912. 61 runners from 19 nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Ralph Craig of the United States, the nation's third victory in four Games. Another American, Donald Lippincott, took silver. Great Britain earned its first medal in the 200 metres with Willie Applegarth's bronze.
Kinue Hitomi was a Japanese track and field athlete. She was the world record holder in several events in the 1920s – 1930s and was the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic medal. She was also the first woman to represent Japan at the Olympics.
Hungary 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. 121 competitors, all men, took part in 52 events in 11 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 judoka, educator, politician, and the founder of judo. Judo was one of the first Japanese martial arts 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 minimal effort" and "mutual welfare and benefit".
The men's marathon was a track and field athletics event held as part of the athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. The distance used was 40.2 kilometres, nearly 2 full kilometres shorter than that used in 1908 and since 1924. The competition was held on Sunday, July 14, 1912. 95 runners entered, but only 68 runners competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. With conditions described as "very hot", only 36 of the 68 competitors finished. The event was won by Ken McArthur of South Africa, the nation's first Olympic marathon victory.
Shizo Kanakuri was a Japanese marathon runner celebrated as the "father of marathon" in Japan. He holds the Guinness World Record for the longest time to complete a marathon with a time of 54 years 8 months 6 days 5 hours 32 minutes 20.3 seconds—Kanakuri retired from the men's marathon event at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics without informing the authorities, but Sveriges Television gave him the opportunity to complete his marathon 1967.
The men's marathon event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The distance of this race was 42.75 kilometres. The competition was held on Sunday, 22 August 1920. 48 runners from 17 nations competed. No nation had more than 4 runners, suggesting the limit had been reduced from the 12 maximum in force in 1908 and 1912. The event was won by Hannes Kolehmainen of Finland, the nation's first Olympic marathon medal and victory; Kolehmainen received his fourth gold medal, having won the 5000 metres, 10,000 metres, and individual cross country in 1912. Estonia and Italy also won their first marathon medals.
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.
Jujutsu, also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdue one or more weaponless or armed and armored opponents. It was coined by Hisamori Tenenuchi when he officially established the first school of jiu-jitsu in Japan. A subset of techniques from certain styles of jujutsu were used to develop many modern martial arts and combat sports, such as judo, aikido, sambo, ARB, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and mixed martial arts.
The men's marathon event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France. 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.
Hyozo Omori was a Japanese physical education specialist who studied in America and married the American artist Annie Barrows Shepley. In Japan, they established Yurin En, which was a settlement house and leader in the Japanese playground movement. Omori introduced basketball and volleyball to the country and was the team manager at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics in Sweden.
Idaten: Tokyo Orinpikku-banashi is a Japanese historical drama television series and the 58th NHK taiga drama. It stars Nakamura Kankurō VI and Sadao Abe as marathon runner Shiso Kanakuri and swimming coach Masaji Tabata respectively. It began broadcasting in 2019 as part of the lead up to the 2020 Summer Olympics for which NHK was, under the Japan Consortium, principal co-host broadcaster. This drama marks the 55th anniversary of the 1964 Summer Olympics, which the NHK broadcast. It is the second post-war taiga drama in NHK history and the last series to premiere in the Heisei era and the first series to air during the Reiwa era. The series received an average rating of 8.2%, the lowest in history for a taiga drama.