Baseball/Softball - Team Japan

General
Japan won gold at the last Olympic Games to feature softball, in 2008. Despite their underdog status going into the final in Beijing, they secured victory against the heavyweight favourites, United States of America, who had won all three previous Olympic tournaments.

Japan contested for a medal at all four Olympic Games to feature the sport from 1996 to 2008, beginning with a bronze medal game defeat to Australia in Atlanta, the only time they have gone home from the Games empty-handed. Japan made it to the final of the 2000 Games, including a preliminary round win over the US team, but went down in a rematch in the final in Sydney. They took home bronze from Athens in 2004 before completing their set of Olympic medals four years later with their famous gold in Beijing.

Japan's rivalry with the US team extends to most major competitions. The two teams have contested the final of all seven world championships held this century, with Japan winning back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2014 but otherwise losing the other five finals, including the two most recent editions in 2016 and 2018. Japan's only other world title also came against the US, on home soil in Osaka in 1970.

The two teams regularly battle for supremacy at other tournaments like the USA Softball-governed World Cup and International Cup. At the World Cup, Japan were triumphant ahead of the US at the two most recent editions in 2016 and 2017, while the US were too strong for Japan at the USA Softball International Cup in both 2018 and 2019.

At continental level Japan are a dominant force, having won the past five consecutive Asian Games softball tournaments and gold at the 2019 Asian Championships.