Famous Japanese Olympians Through the Years
Since last September’s announcement by the International Olympic Committee that Tokyo won the bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, preparations have been well under way. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) created the Bureau of Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games Preparation on the 1st of January this year. The bureau is tasked to formulate the plans for the 2020 Summer Games to further aid in the capabilities of TMG’s sports administration.
Here’s a look back on some of Japan’s famous Olympic athletes through the years:
Ichiya “Ichy” Kumagai (熊谷 一弥 Kumagai Ichiya, 1890 – 1968) – born in in Ōmuta, Fukuoka Prefecture, he was the first Japanese Olympic medalist who won in tennis in the 1920 Antwerp Olympics.
Kumagae actually won two silver medals, one in the men’s singles event where he lost to the South African Louis Raymond and the other in the men’s doubles event with his tennis partner Seiichiro Kashio, losing to Oswald Turnbull and Maxwell Woosnam from Great Britain.
Sueo Ōe (大江 季雄 Ōe Sueo, 1914 – 1941) and Shuhei Nishida (西田 修平 Nishida Shūhei, 1910 – 1997) – they both mainly competed in pole vaulting.In the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, both athletes tied for second place. 
Sueo Ōe refused to compete with his friend Shuhei Nishida, leaving Ōe with the bronze medal.
When the athletes returned home to Japan, Nishida later recalled, “we joined half of the silver medal with half the bronze medal, which we would both keep. This made us very famous, for these medals were called the Medals of Eternal Friendship.”
Yukio Endo at the 1966 World Championships.
Yukio Endo (遠藤 幸雄 Endō Yukio, 1937 – 2009) – a gymnast, Yukio Endo won gold medals with the Japanese team in three Olympics in 1960 (Rome), 1964 (Tokyo) and 1968 (Mexico). He also received two individual gold medals in parallel bars and individual- all-around at the 1964 Summer Olympics.
Kosei Inoue (井上 康生 Inoue Kōsei, born May 15, 1978 in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki) – a Judo practitioner, he garnered a gold medal in the under 100 kilogram class at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He is widely known for his specialty throws and Ōuchi gari (大内刈, major inner reap) and Uchi Mata (内股, inner thigh throw).
Kosei Inoue. | Daniel Vaulot
