Japan at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Japan competed at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. Chiharu Igaya won the nation's first ever medal and the first Asian medalist at the Winter Olympic Games.

Japan at the 1956 Winter Olympics
IOC code	JPN (GIA used at these Games)
NOC	Japanese Olympic Committee
Website	www.joc.or.jp (in Japanese and English)
in Cortina d'Ampezzo
Competitors	10 (men) in 5 sports
Flag bearer	Hiroshi Yoshizawa
Medals Ranked 11th	Gold 0 Silver 1 Bronze 0 Total 1
Winter Olympics appearances (overview)
1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022

Medalists

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Silver	Chiharu Igaya	Alpine skiing	Men's slalom	January 31

Alpine skiing

Main article: Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Men

Athlete	Event	Race 1		Race 2		Total
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Chiharu Igaya	Downhill					DSQ	–
Susumu Sugiyama						3:39.1	28
Susumu Sugiyama	Giant Slalom					3:40.8	45
Chiharu Igaya						3:15.6	11
Susumu Sugiyama	Slalom	1:51.0	38	2:26.0	37	4:17.0	33
Chiharu Igaya		1:30.2	6	1:48.5	2	3:18.7

Cross-country skiing

Main article: Cross-country skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Men

Event	Athlete	Race
		Time	Rank
15 km	Tatsuo Miyao	56:59	48
30 km	Tatsuo Miyao	1'55:40	28
50 km	Tatsuo Miyao	3'25:47	25

Nordic combined

Main article: Nordic combined at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Events:

• normal hill ski jumping (Three jumps, best two counted and shown here.)
• 15 km cross-country skiing

Athlete	Event	Ski Jumping				Cross-country			Total
		Distance 1	Distance 2	Points	Rank	Time	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Hiroshi Yoshizawa	Individual	69.5	76.5	210.5	5	DNF	–	–	DNF	–
Koichi Sato		68.0	65.5	191.5	23	1'08:21	193.400	35	384.900	33

Ski jumping

Main article: Ski jumping at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Athlete	Event	Jump 1			Jump 2			Total
		Distance	Points	Rank	Distance	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Koichi Sato	Normal hill	68.0	91.0	36	66.0	87.5	41	178.5	39
Hiroshi Yoshizawa		80.5	106.5	9	74.0	98.5	18	205.0	13

Speed skating

Main article: Speed skating at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Men

Event	Athlete	Race
		Time	Rank
500 m	Kiyotaka Takabayashi	43.6	30
	Taketsugu Asazaka	43.1	22
	Yoshitaki Hori	42.8	17
	Shinkichi Takemura	42.4	11
1500 m	Yoshiyasu Gomi	2:19.2	39
	Shinkichi Takemura	2:18.3	36
	Yoshitaki Hori	2:15.9	23
	Taketsugu Asazaka	2:15.4	21
5000 m	Yoshitaki Hori	8:53.5	46
	Taketsugu Asazaka	8:23.6	28
	Yoshiyasu Gomi	8:22.2	27
10,000 m	Yoshiyasu Gomi	17:35.9	23
	Taketsugu Asazaka	17:35.3	22

References

• Official Olympic Reports
• International Olympic Committee results database
• Olympic Winter Games 1956, full results by sports-reference.com