Volleyball - Team Japan

Nickname
Ryujin Nippon

General
Japan qualified for Tokyo as host nation, and are making their first Olympic appearance since 2008. They finished 11th in Beijing, which was the first time they had competed at the Games since a sixth-place finish in 1992 in Barcelona. Their recent results are a far cry from the Olympic glory days of the 1960s and 1970s, when they secured three consecutive podium finishes [bronze in 1964, silver in 1968, and gold in 1972] and just missed out on a medal at the 1976 Games. Japan still remain the only Asian team to have won an Olympic medal in men's volleyball.

Japan are also the only Asian team to have won a medal at the world championships, claiming bronze in 1970 and 1974. Their recent results, however, have not been as impressive, with an eighth-place finish in 2006 their best finish this century. They also haven't won a World Cup medal since 1977, but only narrowly missed out at the 2019 edition with a fourth-place finish in the round robin tournament. Japan have never stood on a World League podium, and are yet to progress to the final round in the two editions of the new Nations League.

At continental level, Japan have won four gold medals at the Asian championships this century, including back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2017. They finished fifth at the most recent edition of the Asian Games in 2018, having won silver in 2014 and gold at the 2010 Games in Guangzhou. In recent years, the Iranian team has emerged as one of Japan's strongest rivals for continental dominance, with the two teams sharing all nine Asian Games and Asian championship titles on offer since 2009.