Japan women's national softball team
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing  Japan
|
||
| Softball at the Summer Olympics | ||
 |
2000 Sydney | Team |
 |
2004 Athens | Team |
 |
2008 Beijing | Team |
| Softball at the Summer Universiade | ||
|
2007 Bangkok | |
| ISF Women's World Championship | ||
|
1965 Melbourne | |
|
1970 Osaka | |
|
1974 Stratford | |
|
1998 Fujinomiya | |
|
2002 Saskatoon | |
|
2006 Beijing | |
| Softball at the World Games | ||
|
2009 Kaohsiung | |
| Japan Softball Cup | ||
| 2nd | 2006 Yokohama | |
| World Cup of Softball | ||
| 1st | 2005 Oklahoma City | |
| 2nd | 2006 Oklahoma City | |
| 2nd | 2007 Oklahoma City | |
| 4th | 2009 Oklahoma City | |
| 2nd | 2010 Oklahoma City | |
The Japan women's national softball team is the national team of Japan in international softball competitions. It is governed by the Japan Softball Association. They are currently ranked #1 in the world by the International Softball Federation. In four Olympic Games, since 1996 until 2008, Japan has won one gold medal, a silver medal and a bronze medal. In the top four nations at the Olympics, Japan is the second most successful national team (winning three medals), following the United States (four medals, three gold and a silver), and beating out Australia (also four medals out of which three were bronze and one silver) and China with one silver medal. After winning the Gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Japanese national team was defeated by the United States team at the XII Women's Softball World Championship in Caracas, Venezuela.
The Japanese National Women’s Softball Team received an unexpected result at the last softball game of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. It was the last softball competition before the sport is dropped from the Olympic program, and the hard work and dedication of Japanese National Softball Team led to a surprising gold medal with a victory over the United States in the final. It ended the Americans' 22-game winning streak and denied them a fourth straight title since softball was introduced in 1996. The team fought tough for victory and resulted in Japan's win of three games over two days for the gold. Most players on the team play for Japanese Corporate teams. The national team gets funding from the Japanese government.
The roster of the 2008 Summer Olympics National Softball team is listed below:
Head Coach: Haruka Saito
The International Olympic Committee decided that softball and baseball should not be included in the 2016 Summer Olympics. Still, fast pitch softball tournaments are organized all over the World, and they provide the opportunity for the National teams to compete at the highest level players can attain. The Japan Softball Association holds the Japan Softball Cup, and other competitions include the World Cup of Softball and the International Softball Federation Women’s World Championship.
Hays, Jeff. (2010) "America football, Basketball, and Team Sports in Japan". Facts and Details. March, 2010. Retrieved on Aug 4th, 2010 from FactsandDetails.com:http://factsanddetails.com/japan.php?itemid=765&catid=21&subcatid=140
...
Wikipedia