Swimming - Team Japan

General
Japan reached the Olympic final of the women's 4x100m freestyle relay for the second consecutive Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. In Brazil, the team finished last in the final, having finished seventh four years earlier in London. Japan made their first appearance in the event at the 1932 Games in Los Angeles, finishing last of five teams.

At the world championships, Japan made the final and finished seventh at both the 2011 and 2013 editions, but at the 2015 event they just missed out on a spot in the final with a fifth-place finish in their heat. At the 2017 and 2019 editions, they were back to familiar territory, finishing seventh on both occasions.

At the Asian Games, the Japanese team won nine gold medals between 1954 and 1994. But, at the five editions from 1998 to 2014 they could only manage silver on each occasion behind an emergent People's Republic of China. However, at the 2018 Games in Indonesia, the Japanese team returned to winning ways, claiming gold ahead of their Chinese rivals in an Asian Games record time.