Japan heads to Winter Paralympic Games with biggest team in decades
Japan is fielding 44 athletes across all six sports, its largest overseas delegation to a Winter Paralympics, surpassed only by the 70 at the 1998 Nagano Games.
Japan is fielding 44 athletes across all six sports, its largest overseas delegation to a Winter Paralympics, surpassed only by the 70 at the 1998 Nagano Games.
With one week to go until the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games open on March 6, Japan is preparing for its 11th appearance at the Winter Paralympics, carrying a proud legacy in the competition. Since making its debut at the Innsbruck 1988 Paralympic Winter Games, Japan has won a total of 97 medals – 27 gold, 33 silver and 37 bronze – establishing itself as a consistent force in winter para sports.
With one week to go until the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games open on March 6, Japan is preparing for its 11th appearance at the Winter Paralympics, carrying a proud legacy in the competition. Since making its debut at the Innsbruck 1988 Paralympic Winter Games, Japan has won a total of 97 medals – 27 gold, 33 silver and 37 bronze – establishing itself as a consistent force in winter para sports.
With less than a month to go until the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games open on March 6, Japan is stepping up final preparations for a campaign that will feature broad representation across the six-sport program, including the return of its para ice hockey team.
With less than a month to go until the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games open on March 6, Japan is stepping up final preparations for a campaign that will feature broad representation across the six-sport program, including the return of its para ice hockey team.
Gold medal hopefuls in snowboarding and wheelchair curling will be Japan’s flagbearers at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Paralympics. The country’s Paralympic Committee named Aki Ogawa, one half of Japan’s mixed doubles wheelchair curling team, and para snowboarder Junta Kosuda as the flagbearers while announcing the first 40 members of its delegation on Friday.
A pair of Japanese veterans are aiming to make history at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games in March by ending their country’s Paralympic curling medal drought with victory in the inaugural mixed doubles wheelchair competition.Aki Ogawa, 50, and Yoji Nakajima, 61, have been part of Japan’s curling scene since the sport went through a boom in the country in 2003.
The organizers of the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics have revealed that the number of people who visited the event’s venues totaled about 280,000, far more than their target of 100,000.
The organizers of the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics have revealed that the number of people who visited the event’s venues totaled about 280,000 — far more than their target of 100,000.
A ceremony was held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in the capital to formally close the 12-day international sporting event for the deaf and hard of hearing, which Japan hosted for the first time in the games’ history. The Japanese delegation, comprising around 270 athletes, was represented in every event for the first time.





