Japan national badminton team

Summer Olympic Games

Japan made its Olympic badminton debut when the sport became a full medal event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The nation won its first-ever Olympic badminton medal at the 2012 London Olympics, where Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa secured a silver in women's doubles. Japan's first gold medal came at the 2016 Rio Olympics from Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi in women's doubles; at the same Games, Nozomi Okuhara claimed a bronze in women's singles, Japan's first medal in that discipline. Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino won the nation's first mixed doubles medal with a bronze in 2020 Tokyo Olympic and followed it with another bronze in 2024 Paris Olympic, becoming the first Japanese badminton players to win medals in consecutive Olympics.

Medals table

|- ! colspan="2"| Events ! Gold ! Silver ! Bronze ! Total |- | MS | 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 |- | WS | 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 |- | MD | 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 |- | WD | 1 || 1 || 1 || 3 |- | XD | 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 |- ! colspan=2| Total ! style="background:gold| 1 ! style="background:silver| 1 ! style="background:#CC9966| 4 ! 6 |}

List of medalists

World Badminton Championships

Japan has competed in the BWF World Championships since the inaugural tournament in 1977, where Etsuko Toganoo and Emiko Ueno won the nation's first gold medal in women's doubles. After winning medals in 1980, the team did not secure another podium finish until 2003. The country's first medal in a men's event occurred in 2007, with a bronze in men's doubles.

Starting in 2017, the team secured several historical firsts. Nozomi Okuhara became Japan's first women's singles world champion that year. Kento Momota followed as the first Japanese men's singles champion, winning consecutive titles in 2018 and 2019. In women's doubles, Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara also claimed back-to-back gold medals during those years. In 2021, Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi became the nation's first world champions in men's doubles. With three women's singles titles, Akane Yamaguchi is Japan's most successful player across any discipline at the world championships. Mixed doubles remains the only discipline in which Japan has not yet won a title.

Medals table

List of medalists

Most successful players

A list of Japanese players who have won at least two gold medals at the BWF World Championships.

Participation in BWF competitions

;Thomas Cup

;Uber Cup

[[Sudirman Cup]]

:**Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Participation in Badminton Asia Team Championships

The Japanese women's team has achieved significant success in the Asia Team Championships, winning consecutive titles in 2018 and 2020 after finishing as runners-up in the inaugural 2016 edition. The men's team achieved their best result in 2016 as runners-up and subsequently reached the semifinals in 2020 and 2024. In the mixed team event, Japan won the inaugural tournament in 2017 and finished as runners-up in 2019.

Men's team

Women's team

Mixed team

Junior competitive record

World Junior Championships (Individual)

Main article: List of BWF World Junior Championships medalists

Japan began achieving podium finishes at the World Junior Championships in 2007, when Kenichi Tago won the team's first medal (silver) in boys' singles. The nation secured its first gold medals in 2012 through Kento Momota in boys' singles and Nozomi Okuhara in girls' singles. Akane Yamaguchi successfully defended the girls' singles title in 2013 and 2014. As of 2025, Japanese players have won a total of 10 gold medals across four disciplines, with mixed doubles being the only category in which the team has not yet claimed a title.

Medals table

List of medalists

The following table lists the medalists in individual disciplines at the World Junior Championships:

Suhandinata Cup

Asian Junior Team Championships

Men's team

Women's team

Mixed team

Players

Current squad

|- | Kenta Nishimoto | |- | Yushi Tanaka | |- | Koki Watanabe | |- ! colspan="5" | |- | Takuro Hoki | |- | Yugo Kobayashi | |- | Kakeru Kumagai | |- | Hiroki Nishi | |- | Takumi Nomura | |- | Yūichi Shimogami | |- ! colspan="5" | |- | Akira Koga | |- | Hiroki Midorikawa | |}

Women's team

U-24 team

Coaching staff

References

1. (30 July 2021). "Olympics: Japan's Watanabe, Higashino win badminton mixed doubles bronze".
2. "Olympic Analytics - Medals by Countries".
3. (August 1977). "Badminton's First World Championships: Danish Players Win Three Titles at Historic Malmo Tournament".
4. (15 August 2014). "History of the Worlds & Countdown to Copenhagen – Li-Ning BWF World Championships 2014".
5. (28 August 2017). "Okuhara Prevails in Epic – Singles Finals: TOTAL BWF World Championships 2017".
6. (27 August 2017). "Japan’s Nozomi creates history at World Championships".
7. (26 August 2019). "Momota, Nagahara, Matsumoto become Japan's 1st repeat badminton world champs".
8. (19 December 2021). "Breakthrough Titles for Thailand, Japan".
9. (31 August 2025). "BWF World Championships 2025: Yamaguchi Akane overcomes gutsy Chen Yufei for women's singles title".
10. (1 September 2025). "Akane Yamaguchi: "Hard work doesn't always pay off" - 28-year-old's confidence as Japan's first badminton player to become world champion for the third time".
11. [http://www.internationalbadminton.org/thomas.html BWF: Thomas Cup] {{Webarchive. link. (2008-04-10)
12. [http://www.internationalbadminton.org/uber.html BWF: Uber Cup] {{Webarchive. link. (2008-04-10)
13. [http://www.internationalbadminton.org/sudirman.html BWF: Sudirman Cup] {{Webarchive. link. (2008-04-10)
14. (4 November 2012). "Japan Holds Court at Home With Singles Success". Badminton World Federation.
15. Thongsombat, Kittipong. (4 November 2013). "Kwang and Yamaguchi claim junior world championships". [[Bangkok Post]].
16. Sukumar, Dev. (18 April 2014). "BWF World Junior Championships 2014 – Day 6: Chen Stars for China". Badminton World Federation.
17. (29 January 2026). "Announcement of the 2026 Japan Badminton National Team Players and Staff". [[Badminton Association of Japan]].
18. (2024-11-21). "2026年日本代表選手選考基準 (2026 Japan Representative Player Selection Criteria)". Nippon Badminton Association.