Volleyball at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

Women's volleyball at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad
Masae Kasai standing in the center of podium as the team leader, 1964 Tokyo Olympics Women's Volleyball
Venue	Komazawa Volleyball Courts Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium
Date	11–23 October
Competitors	71 from 6 nations
Medalists
Japan (1st title)   Soviet Union   Poland
1968  →

The inaugural Women's Volleyball Tournament in the Summer Olympic Games was held during Olympic Games of Tokyo, from October 11 to October 23, 1964. Japan won the gold medal, with the Soviet Union and Poland taking silver and bronze, respectively. ^[1] The gold medal-winning Japanese team was referred to as the "Oriental Witches" due to their domination of the women's volleyball scene in the early 1960's. ^[2] The final match between Japan and the Soviet Union was watched by over 80% of the entire population of Japan, according to NHK. ^[3] Princess Michiko was present at the final match. ^[3]

Qualification

Means of qualification	Date	Host	Vacancies	Qualified
Host Country	26 May 1959	Munich	1	Japan
1962 World Championship	13-25 October 1962	Soviet Union	2	Soviet Union
				Poland
1963 European Championship	22 October-2 November 1963	Romania	1	Romania
Asian Qualifier	22-30 December 1963	New Delhi	1	North Korea *   South Korea
1963 Pan American Games	21 April – 3 May 1963	São Paulo	1	Brazil   United States
Total			6

*North Korea did not send its delegation to Tokyo because it does not have bilateral relations with Japan.Their spot was given to South Korea. ^[4]

Format

The tournament was played in a single round-robin format, all teams were placed into a single pool and faced each other once.

Rosters

Main article: Volleyball at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Women's team rosters

Venues

• Komazawa Volleyball Courts in Tokyo
• Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in Yokohama

Round robin

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR
1	Japan	5	5	0	10	15	1	15.000	238	93	2.559
2	Soviet Union	5	4	1	9	12	3	4.000	212	97	2.186
3	Poland	5	3	2	8	10	6	1.667	180	162	1.111
4	Romania	5	2	3	7	6	9	0.667	140	172	0.814
5	United States	5	1	4	6	3	12	0.250	98	213	0.460
6	South Korea	5	0	5	5	0	15	0.000	94	225	0.418

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

• All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00).

Date	Time		Score		Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4	Set 5	Total	Report
11 Oct	13:15	Romania	0–3	Soviet Union	5–15	6–15	0–15			11–45	Report
11 Oct	15:15	United States	0–3	Japan	1–15	5–15	2–15			8–45	Report
12 Oct	15:15	South Korea	0–3	Soviet Union	0–15	6–15	0–15			6–45	Report
12 Oct	17:15	United States	0–3	Poland	3–15	4–15	10–15			17–45	Report
12 Oct	19:15	Romania	0–3	Japan	7–15	3–15	8–15			18–45	Report
13 Oct	17:15	Romania	3–0	United States	15–9	15–1	15–2			45–12	Report
14 Oct	15:15	South Korea	0–3	Poland	5–15	5–15	11–15			21–45	Report
14 Oct	20:30	South Korea	0–3	Japan	3–15	2–15	4–15			9–45	Report
15 Oct	14:00	Poland	0–3	Soviet Union	9–15	5–15	5–15			19–45	Report
17 Oct	13:15	Soviet Union	3–0	United States	15–1	15–8	15–7			45–16	Report
18 Oct	13:50	Poland	1–3	Japan	4–15	5–15	15–13	2–15		26–58	Report
19 Oct	17:15	Romania	3–0	South Korea	15–10	15–9	15–6			45–25	Report
21 Oct	11:15	South Korea	0–3	United States	7–15	13–15	13–15			33–45	Report
22 Oct	19:15	Romania	0–3	Poland	7–15	6–15	8–15			21–45	Report
23 Oct	19:35	Japan	3–0	Soviet Union	15–11	15–8	15–13			45–32	Report

Final standings

Rank Team   Japan   Soviet Union   Poland 4   Romania 5   United States 6   South Korea

1964 Women's Olympic champions  Japan 1st title 12-woman roster Masae Kasai (c), Emiko Miyamoto, Kinuko Tanida, Yuriko Handa, Yoshiko Matsumura, Sata Issobe, Katsumi Matsumura, Yoko Shinozaki, Setsuko Sassaki, Yuko Fujimoto, Massako Kondo, Ayano Shibuki Head coach Hirofumi Daimatsu

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Japan  (JPN) Masae Kasai (c) Emiko Miyamoto Kinuko Tanida Yuriko Handa Yoshiko Matsumura Sata Issobe Katsumi Matsumura Yoko Shinozaki Setsuko Sassaki Yuko Fujimoto Massako Kondo Ayano Shibuki Head coach: Hirofumi Daimatsu	Soviet Union  (URS) Nelli Abramova Astra Biltauere Lyudmila Buldakova Lyudmila Gureyeva Valentina Kamenek Marita Katusheva Ninel Lukanina Valentina Mishak Tatyana Roshchina Inna Ryskal Antonina Ryzhova Tamara Tikhonina Head coach: Oleg Chekov	Poland  (POL) Krystyna Czajkowska Maria Golimowska Krystyna Jakubowska Danuta Kordaczuk Krystyna Krupa Józefa Ledwig Jadwiga Marko Jadwiga Rutkowska Maria Śliwka Zofia Szczęśniewska Hanna Busz Barbara Hermel Head coach: Benedykt Krysik

Gallery

1964 Tokyo Olympics Women's Volleyball

• 
  Sata Isobe spiking ball against Soviet Union National Team, 1964 Tokyo Olympics Women's Volleyball
• 
  Masae Kasai standing in the center of podium as the team leader, 1964 Tokyo Olympics Women's Volleyball
• 
  Yuriko Handa spiking ball against Poland National Team, 1964 Tokyo Olympics Women's Volleyball

References

1. "Olympedia – Women's Volleyball at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games". Olympedia. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
2. Klein, Jeff Z. (2008-05-23). "Remembering Volleyball's 'Oriental Witches'". New York Times. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
3. Kano, Shintaro (February 19, 2021). "Bewitched: How seeds of Japan's 1964 gold in women's volleyball were sewn over a decade". Olympics. Retrieved July 17, 2025.
4. "Women Volleyball Olympic Games 1964 Asia Qualification". Todor66.

External links

• Brazilian site with full results
• Official results (pgs. 621, 656–668)
• Video of the moments of victory and of awarding gold medal in 1964 Tokyo Olympics