Swimming - Team Japan

General
Japan will make their 15th Olympic appearance in the 4x100m medley relay in Tokyo. The only Games they missed was the 1980 edition in Moscow when they were part of a group of boycotting NOCs.

For almost four decades their best result in the event was a fourth-placed finish as hosts to the 1964 Games, but that changed when they won bronze at the 2000 Games in Sydney. They made the final at the next three Games, and took home another bronze from London in 2012 in 3:55.73, which remains their fastest Olympic time in the event to date. At the 2016 Games in Brazil, however, they finished ranked 10th after failing to progress from their heat.

They have never missed a final at the world championships, progressing to the ultimate race on 12 occasions from 1982 to 2019. Their only medal is a bronze at the 1998 edition, with multiple fifth-place finishes the closest they have come to the podium since then.

At continental level, they won their 10th Asian Games gold in the event in 2018, defending their title from 2014.