Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

competed at the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The country qualified athletes in cycling, goalball, judo, sailing, and wheelchair basketball. While the first-ever (and only) failure to score Gold in Summer Paralympics was disappointing, resulting in a 64th rank, the number of total medals ranked 17th. Despite this,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

will be the host city of the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

, a Japanese segment was performed during the

closing ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

Support

In September 2015, a representative from the country attended the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games Chef de Mission seminar as part of the country's preparation efforts for the 2016 Games.

Disability classifications

Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories;

amputation Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indi ...

, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness;

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensa ...

;

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories;

visual impairment Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

, including

blindness Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

;

Les autres Les Autres sport classification is system used in disability sport for people with locomotor disabilities not included in other classification systems for people with physical disabilities. The purpose of this system is to facilitate fair competiti ...

, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example

dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition wherein an organism is exceptionally small, and mostly occurs in the animal kingdom. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dw ...

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

. Each

Paralympic sport The Paralympic sports comprise all the sports contested in the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. As of 2020, the Summer Paralympics included 22 sports and 539 medal events, and the Winter Paralympics include 5 sports and disciplines and about ...

then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Some sports, such as

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

, divide athletes by both the category and severity of their disabilities, other sports, for example

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

, group competitors from different categories together, the only separation being based on the severity of the disability.

Medallists

Cycling

With one pathway for qualification being one highest ranked NPCs on the UCI Para-Cycling male and female Nations Ranking Lists on 31 December 2014, Japan qualified for the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, assuming they continued to meet all other eligibility requirements.

Equestrian

Through the Para Equestrian Individual Ranking List Allocation method, the country earned a pair of slots at the Rio Games for their two highest ranked equestrian competitors. These slots were irrespective of class ranking.

Goalball

The

Japan women's national goalball team Japan women's national goalball team is the women's national team of Japan. Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a visual impairment, vision impairment. Its women's team has internationally completed including at t ...

qualified for the Rio Games after finishing first at the 2015 IBSA Goalball Asian-Pacific Championships. Japan's women enter the tournament ranked 3rd in the world. ---- ---- ---- ----

Judo

In total judoka representing Japan won one silver medal and three bronze medals.

Sailing

One pathway for qualifying for Rio involved having a boat have top seven finish at the 2015 Combined World Championships in a medal event where the country had nor already qualified through via the 2014 IFDS Sailing World Championships. Japan qualified for the 2016 Games under this criterion in the Sonar event with a sixteenth-place finish overall and the seventh country who had not qualified via the 2014 Championships. The boat was crewed by Shin'ya Yamamoto (sailor), Junichi Ohnuma and Koji Ishii.

Shooting

The first opportunity to qualify for shooting at the Rio Games took place at the 2014 IPC Shooting World Championships in Suhl. Shooters earned spots for their NPC. Japan earned a qualifying spot at this event in the R5 – 10m Air Rifle Mixed Prone SH2 event as a result of the performance Akiko Sega. It was the only qualification spot Japan earned at the event.

Swimming

The top two finishers in each Rio medal event at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships earned a qualifying spot for their country for Rio. Yasuhiro Tanaka earned Japan a spot after winning silver in the Men's 100m Breaststroke SB14.

Wheelchair basketball

The Japan men's national wheelchair basketball team has qualified for the 2016 Rio Paralympics. ---- ---- ---- ----

Wheelchair rugby

Japan entered the tournament ranked number three in the world. ;Preliminary round ---- ---- Semifinals Bronze Medal Match

Wheelchair tennis

Shingo Kunieda is a Japanese wheelchair tennis player. He is the current world No. 1 in singles. With four Paralympic gold medals, 28 major singles titles – an all-time record in singles of any tennis discipline – and 50 major titles overall, Kunieda is ...

is expected to represent Japan in wheelchair tennis. He would go to Rio as the defending 2008 and 2012 Paralympic gold medalist. Shingo Kunieda, Takuya Miki,

Satoshi Saida is a Japanese pioneering wheelchair tennis player and 2004 Summer Paralympics gold medalist ( Men's doubles with Shingo Kunieda). Saida, a big baseball enthusiast in his childhood, lost his left leg because of illness. At first, he used to p ...

Takashi Sanada is a Paralympic tennis player from Japan who won a series of national championships such as 2011 Osaka Open, Japan Open Tennis Championships, Japan Open and Peace Cup (both 2011 and 2012). He also was a winner of international championships such ...

all qualified in the men's singles event via the standard qualification route. Japan qualified three players in the women's singles event. Kanako Domori,

Yui Kamiji is a Japanese wheelchair tennis player. She has won 26 major titles, as well as a Paralympic silver and bronze medal in singles and doubles, respectively, at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. She also won a bronze medal in singles at the 2016 Rio ...

and Miho Nijo all qualified via the standard qualification route.

References

{{NPCin2016SummerParalympics Nations at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2016 in Japanese sport