Japan women's national softball team
Encyclopedia
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| 2nd || 2006
Yokohama
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| 1st || 2005 Oklahoma City
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| 2nd || 2006
Oklahoma City
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| 2nd || 2007
Oklahoma City
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| 4th || 2009
Oklahoma City
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| 2nd || 2010
Oklahoma City
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The Japan Women's National Softball Team is the national team of Japan
. It is governed by the Japan Softball Association and takes part in International Softball
competitions. They are ranked number two according to the 2006 ISF World Championship
. 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 medal, 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 roster of the 2008 Summer Olympics National Softball team is listed below:
Head Coach: Haruka Saito
Women’s World Championship.
| 2nd || 2006
2006 Japan Softball Cup
The 2006 Japan Softball Cup is a four-team tournament in women's softball, held in Yokohama, Japan between 17 November and 19 November.-Results:November 17, 2006November 18, 2006-Bronze medal match:November 19, 2006-Gold medal match:...
Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
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| 1st || 2005 Oklahoma City
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| 2nd || 2006
2006 World Cup of Softball
The fourth World Cup of Softball was held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma USA between July 16 and July 20, 2010. USA won their third World Cup by defeating Australia 3-1 in the Championship game.-Final standings:-Position Round:-External links:*...
Oklahoma City
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| 2nd || 2007
2007 World Cup of Softball
The third World Cup of Softball was held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma USA between July 12 and July 16, 2007. USA won their second World Cup by defeating Japan 3-0 in the Championship Game.-Final standings:-Position Round:-External links:*...
Oklahoma City
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| 4th || 2009
2009 World Cup of Softball
The fourth World Cup of Softball was held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma USA between July 16 and July 20, 2010. USA won their third World Cup by defeating Australia 3-1 in the Championship game.-Final standings:-Position Round:-External links:*...
Oklahoma City
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| 2nd || 2010
2010 World Cup of Softball
The fifth World Cup of Softball was held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma USA between July 22 and July 26, 2010. USA won their fourth World Cup by defeating Japan 5-1 in the Championship game.-Final standings:-Preliminary round:-Position Round:...
Oklahoma City
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The Japan Women's National Softball Team is the national team of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It is governed by the Japan Softball Association and takes part in International Softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
competitions. They are ranked number two according to the 2006 ISF World Championship
2006 ISF World Championship
The 2006 ISF Women's World Championship was held from August 27 to September 5, 2006 in Beijing, China. For the sixth consecutive time, the team from the United States won the title, with a 3-0 victory over Japan. The first four teams qualified for the 2008 Olympics...
. 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 medal, 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.
2008 Olympic Team
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 Japans 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:
- Naho Emoto
- Motoko Fujimoto
- Megu Hirose
- Emi Inui
- Sachiko Ito
- Ayumi Karino
- Satoko Mabuchi
- Yukiyo Mine
- Masumi Mishina
- Rei Nishiyama
- Hiroko Sakai
- Rie Sato
- Mika Someya
- Yukiko Ueno
- Eri Yamada
Head Coach: Haruka Saito
The Future of the Japanese National Softball Team
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 FederationInternational Softball Federation
thumb|Map of member states.|400px|rightThe International Softball Federation is the international governing body for the sport of softball. The ISF is a non-profit corporation recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the General Association of International Sports Federations .The...
Women’s World Championship.
Additional Information
- • At the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Japanese prized pitcher, Yukiko Ueno, shut down the seemingly unstoppable American batters. Spectators labeled her the star of the series. With her challenging fast ball, the 26-year-old right hander threw 413 pitches in three full games over two days. In the game against the United States she threw strike after strike with speed and movement even though she had a huge blister on her pitching hand.
- • At the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, the Japanese National Women’s Softball Team had to pull out a 4-3 extra-inning win against Australia with Rei Nishiyama belting a home run in the 12th inning to reach the final. In the game prior to that, Japan lost 4-1 to the United States with the Americans scoring four runs in the ninth which allowed the Americans to reach the final.
- • At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the Japanense National Women’s Softball Team won all their games until the gold medal match in which they lost to the United States 1-0 in extra inning and had to settle for the silver. The Japanese had beaten the United States in an earlier game, ending the American’s 112-game winning streak.
- • In the Athens Olympics in 2004, Yukiko Ueno entered the history books by pitching the first perfect game in Olympic history, leading Japan to a 2-0 win over China.
- • Many softball players from abroad come to Japan to play for Japanese Corporate teams. Each team is allowed two foreigners, some even coming from the United States National Softball team.
Results
- Olympics: Gold Medal - 20082008 Summer OlympicsThe 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
; Silver Medal - 20002000 Summer OlympicsThe Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
; Bronze Medal - 20042004 Summer OlympicsThe 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team... - ISF Women's World ChampionshipISF Women's World ChampionshipThe ISF Women's World Championship is a fastpitch softball tournament for women's national teams held every four years by the International Softball Federation . The number of teams in the tournament began at five in its inaugural event in 1965, went to a high of 28 for the 1994 edition , and now...
: Gold Medal - 1970; Silver Medal - 20022002 ISF World ChampionshipThe 2002 ISF Women's World Championship for softball was held July 26-August 4, 1998 in Saskatoon, Canada. The United States, which went undefeated for the tournament, won a fifth straight world championship with a 1-0 victory over Japan...
, 20062006 ISF World ChampionshipThe 2006 ISF Women's World Championship was held from August 27 to September 5, 2006 in Beijing, China. For the sixth consecutive time, the team from the United States won the title, with a 3-0 victory over Japan. The first four teams qualified for the 2008 Olympics...
; Bronze Medal - 1965, 19981998 ISF World ChampionshipThe 1998 ISF Women's World Championship for softball was held July 20–30, 1998 in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka, Japan. A fourth straight title was won by the team from the United States, coached by Margie Wright, which avenged its only loss of the tournament to Australia by a 1-0 margin in the... - Softball at the World GamesSoftball at the World GamesSoftball was introduced as a World Games sport at the 1981 World Games in Santa Clara and discontinued after the 1985 games in London. It was reintroduced as a women's invitational sport in 2009 in Kaohsiung after it had been removed from the Olympic Games programme...
: Gold Medal - 2009 - 2006 Japan Softball Cup2006 Japan Softball CupThe 2006 Japan Softball Cup is a four-team tournament in women's softball, held in Yokohama, Japan between 17 November and 19 November.-Results:November 17, 2006November 18, 2006-Bronze medal match:November 19, 2006-Gold medal match:...
: 2nd - World Cup of SoftballWorld Cup of SoftballThe World Cup of Softball is a softball tournament run by the Amateur Softball Association.It is a round robin format, with 6 teams. Each team plays each other once, then the two teams with the best records play in a one-game, winner-take-all championship...
: 1st - 2005; 2nd - 2007, 2006