TOKYO - Welcoming the Asian Games in summer for the first time in 32 years next month, Japan is aiming to eclipse its record tally of 78 gold medals by sending its biggest-ever delegation of around 930 athletes.
Some 15,000 athletes and officials from 45 countries and regions will compete in 43 sports at the Sept. 19-Oct. 4 games mostly in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, with the country hosting for the third time after Tokyo in 1958 and Hiroshima in 1994.
Japan finished second behind China in the number of golds in the past two Asian Games, in China's Hangzhou in 2023 as well as in Indonesia's Jakarta and Palembang in 2018, when its 75 golds came close to the record number from 1966 in Bangkok.
Women's wrestling 53-kilogram Paris Olympic gold medalist Akari Fujinami will be one of the biggest home stars on show as she looks to continue her phenomenal 153-bout winning streak at the games staged near her native Mie Prefecture.
Haruka Kitaguchi, the women's javelin gold medalist in Paris, is readying herself for the continental title while Rachid Muratake will be out to win the men's 110-meter hurdle after coming fifth both in Paris and at the world championships in Tokyo last September.
Tomoyuki Matsushita, the men's 400-meter individual medley silver medalist in Paris in 2024, will be joined in the pool by 17-year-old Shin Ohashi who is taking part in three different distances in breaststroke.
Kanoa Igarashi, the men's surfing silver medalist at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, is bidding to secure a place at the 2028 Los Angeles Games by winning the gold.
The men's gymnastics will be led by Olympic individual all-around gold medalists Daiki Hashimoto and Shinnosuke Oka, while Miwa Harimoto in table tennis and Akane Yamaguchi in badminton are both strong contenders to also top the podium.
Japan is eyeing the pinnacle in football, volleyball and softball. Squash and cricket, which will be included in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, will also be on display in the events to be held mostly in Nagoya and other cities in Aichi Prefecture. Tokyo, Gifu, Shizuoka and Osaka prefectures will also host some competitions.
Esports will also be competed after officially joining the Asian Games program in the previous edition.
The flame will be lit in Tokyo on Tuesday and Hiroshima on Thursday before they are combined in Nagoya two days later, officially launching the torch relay.
Fujinami and freestyle BMX rider Rimu Nakamura have been named as the Japanese delegation's flagbearers for the opening ceremony at Paloma Mizuho Stadium.
