Japan participated in the U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games. After an absence of eight years from Olympic competition, the country’s best athletes converged on Los Angeles for the 1984 Summer Games.
Japan was expected to do well in men’s gymnastics and judo, and the fans back home were not disappointed with the results from those two sports.
The main disappointments were in women’s events with only a few medals earned in all and swimming. Japan did not return home from L.A. with any swimming medals.
Still, the overall gold medal tally was a respectable 10, and Japan recorded 32 total medals-good enough for a seventh-place finish in the medal standings.
The following list includes brief information on the men who captured Summer Olympics gold for Japan in 1984:
Koji Gushiken: Gushiken was a star gymnast for Japan in the 1980s. He secured five podium finishes in Los Angeles-with a pair of golds-including the Individual All-Around title.
Shinji Hosokawa: A top judoka throughout the decade of the 1980s, Hosokawa earned gold on the tatami at the Los Angeles Games. He also went on to take bronze at the 1988 Olympics.
Takeo Kamachi: Kamachi won the 25-meter rapid fire pistol gold in Los Angeles at the age of 48.
Yoshiyuki Matsuoka: Matsuoka captured another judo gold for Japan in 1984 with the title in the Half-Lightweight division.
Atsuji Miyahara: A Greco-Roman wrestling standout, Miyahara won a pair of Olympic medals in the ’80s in the Flyweight division. He took gold in Los Angeles, and capped off his career with silver at the Seoul Games.
Shinji Morisue: Morisue earned a trio of medals in L.A. in men’s gymnastics. He got the gold in the Horizontal Bar event, and also went home with the vault silver and a Team bronze for his efforts.
Hitoshi Saito: A top judoka for many years in the Heavyweight division, Saito ascended to the top of the medal podium at both the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. He has to be considered one of the all-time greats in judo.
Hideaki Tomiyama: Tomiyama earned Japan’s lone Freestyle wrestling gold in 1984.
Yasuhiro Yamashita: Arguably the most talented judoka in history, Yamashita had only one chance for Olympic gold and overcame a nagging leg injury on the way to the Open Class title. Yamashita was so accomplished in the sport of judo that his competitive record includes 203 straight victories, no defeats, and only seven draws.
Patrick Hattman lived in Japan for more than a decade and continues to closely follow the country’s best athletes and team sports.
