Japan took part in Olympic Games for the first time in 1912. The leader of the Olympic team was Jigoro Kano who was the founder of modern judo and the first Japanese IOC committee member. He made a great contribution to promotion of sports and Olympic movement. In Japan, three cities played host to Olympic Games, like Tokyo as host to Summer Games in 1964 and 2020(It was postponed one year later due to Covid), Sapporo as host to Winter Games in 1972 and Nagano as host to Winter Games in 1998. However, it is worth noting that Tokyo succeeded in inviting 1940 Summer Olympics thanks to a great effort of Mr. Kano. Mr. Kano passed away during boarding a ship in 1938 when he went back home from IOC general meeting in Cairo. 1940 Tokyo Summer Olympics had to be given up because the war between Japan and China was intensified. The Olympic Games themselves were cancelled because WWⅡ broke out.           

The bronze statue of Kano Shihan(teacher or master) stands in front of Kodokan in Tokyo. Kodokan is headquarters of judo school.
                                                                                                                                                                              On July 20, 2024