Twelve men and women, including a male ace and 21-year-old Yusuke Inaba, have been appointed as the representatives of Japan for the water polo at the Tokyo Olympics.
Japan has decided to participate in the host country frame for both men and women in the water polo of the Tokyo Olympics, and the Japan Swimming Federation announced the representative players of men and women on the 19th.
The boys have participated in the Rio de Janeiro Games for the first time in 32 years, and have participated in the Olympic Games for the second time in a row.
Twelve people were selected, including Ace Inaba at the age of 21 and Yusuke Shimizu, a 32-year-old veteran and the oldest player on the team.
Twelve women were selected, including 23-year-old Yumi Arima, who is the main player in the attack, and 31-year-old Rikako Miura, who continues to compete while serving as a physical education teacher in high school.
Twelve men's teams and ten women's teams will participate in the water polo at the Tokyo Olympics.
Divide into two groups and play round-robin in the qualifying league, and the top four teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals.
In the qualifying league, Japan is in the same group as the United States, where men won the gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Games, such as Italy and Hungary, where men won the adult world championships.
Men's informal player
▼ Seiya Adachi
25 years old from Gifu prefecture. Despite its small height of 1 meter and 75 centimeters, it has both speed and strength, and has the ability to shoot in the middle. He played in all six games at the Otoshi World Championship, scoring seven goals, the third in the team. The Olympics will be the second consecutive participation.
▼ Cup Haruki Irario
22 years old from Kyoto prefecture. From high school, I went on to Saitama's powerhouse, Shumei Eiko High School, and at university I have been strengthening at Nippon Sport Science University. He played in all six games and scored three goals in the adult world championships. The Olympics will be his first appearance.
▼ Mitsuaki Shiga
29 years old from Gunma prefecture. Due to my brother's influence, I started playing when I was in elementary school and became a high school student representing Japan. After graduating from the powerful Nippon Sport Science University, he has been leading the national team for a long time while honing his skills by participating in overseas professional leagues. In the adult world championship, he participated in all 6 games and scored 6 goals. The Olympics will be the second consecutive participation.
▼ Takuma Yoshida
26 years old from Shiga prefecture. I started competing when I was in elementary school, and at university I went on to the powerful Nippon Sport Science University to strengthen my strength. Although it is small with a height of 1 meter and 75 centimeters, it has the dexterity to handle both left and right positions. In the adult world championship, he participated in all six games and scored five goals with a highly accurate shot with a success rate of 45%. The Olympics will be his first appearance.
▼ Toru Suzuki
21 years old from Yamagata prefecture. From high school, I went on to Shumei Eiko High School in Saitama, a water polo powerhouse, and then went on to Nippon Sport Science University to strengthen my strength. Taking advantage of his wide field of vision and calm judgment of the situation, he has the dexterity to handle various positions from attack to defense. This will be my first time to participate in the Olympics.
▼ Yusuke Shimizu
32 years old from Kumamoto prefecture. The team's oldest veteran will be the second consecutive Olympic Games. At the last Rio de Janeiro Games, I led the team as the captain of Japan who played in the Olympic Games for the first time in 32 years. It has a powerful shot from the southpaw. During the 2017 match, he suffered a serious injury that ruptured his left shoulder muscle and underwent surgery, but after repeated steady rehabilitation, he recovered and scored five goals in the adult world championship. From January this year, I transferred to the club team of the water polo powerhouse Serbia for a limited time, and have gained practical experience for the Tokyo tournament, which is regarded as the "culmination".
▼ Mitsuru Takada
25 years old from Hiroshima prefecture. I started competing when I was in elementary school, and I went on to the powerful Nippon Sport Science University to strengthen my strength. It supports aggressive Japanese tactics with its characteristic counter-attack that makes use of swimming power and stamina to attack at once. In the adult world championship, he participated in all 6 games and scored 3 goals. This will be my first time to participate in the Olympics.
▼ Atsushi Arai
27 years old from Kanagawa prefecture. Although he is 1 meter and 65 centimeters tall, he has been active as a point getter for the Japanese national team by taking advantage of his outstanding speed. In the adult world championship, he participated in all 6 games and showed high accuracy with a shooting success rate of 38%, scoring the second 10 points in the team. The Olympics will be two consecutive appearances.
▼ Yusuke Inaba
21 years old from Toyama prefecture. It is a young ace of the Japanese water ball world who mass-produces points with a dynamic shot. When he was a high school student, he went to Europe, where water polo is popular, and honed his skills as a professional team. In the World League, where eight of the world's strongest nations compete, he became the top scorer for two consecutive years from 2018. He has scored 11 goals, the most in the team, even in the adult world championships. The Olympics will be his first appearance.
▼ Keigo Okawa
31 years old from Ibaraki prefecture.
He is the representative of the Olympic Games for the second consecutive tournament.
The Japanese national team is mainly in charge of the right side position, and has created a chance to score by taking advantage of his large physique with a height of 1 meter and 83 centimeters and a weight of over 90 kilograms and a powerful swim.
He was the captain of the adult world championships and led the team.
▼ Kenta Araki
26 years old from Fukuoka prefecture.
I entered the powerful Nippon Sport Science University and gained strength and am currently playing in a club team.
Taking advantage of his height of 1 meter and 86 centimeters and weight of 90 kilograms, he is located in the position closest to the opponent's goal and has been active as a "floater" that is the key to the attack.
The Olympics will be his first appearance.
▼ Katsuyuki Tanamura
31 years old from Okinawa prefecture.
A guardian deity who has been entrusted with the Japanese national team's goalkeeper for many years, he will participate in the Olympic Games for the second time in a row.
He has excellent judgment to instantly identify the shooting course and the ability to react to it, and is particularly confident in defending against short-distance shots on a one-on-one basis.
Although it is a water polo that is based on one-on-one defense, it supports the team that takes a more aggressive strategy called "pass line defense" that is located in front of the opponent player and blocks the pass course from the back.
Female informal player
▼ Mirai Koide
28 years old from Chiba prefecture. Originally a swimmer, I turned to water polo when I was in high school. He pulled the team as the cornerstone of the attack and scored 5 points with an amazing accuracy of over 80% in the adult world championship. Currently, I belong to a club team based in Niigata prefecture.
▼ Yuki Niizawa
, 24 years old from Yamaguchi prefecture. I started playing when I was in elementary school, and from junior high school I left my parents for water polo and gained strength in Hyogo prefecture to go on to the powerful Nippon Sport Science University. Although he is 1 meter and 59 centimeters tall, he is a left-handed scorer with abundant amount of exercise, and scored 5 goals in the adult world championships.
▼ Syuri Kondo
, 23 years old from Toyama prefecture. He became the first Japanese national team in the third year of high school, and was the only high school student to participate in the qualifying for the previous Rio de Janeiro Games. Although he did not participate in the Rio de Janeiro Games, he went on to the powerful Shumei University and refined his shooting ability. He plays a central role in the attack of the Japanese national team, scoring 9 points, which is the second highest in the team at the adult world championship. Yusuke Inaba, a Japanese male ace, grabbed a ticket to the Tokyo tournament with his younger brother, who is two years younger.
▼ Yumi Arima
23 years old from Kagoshima prefecture. It has a strong shot from a large physique with a height of 1 meter and 73 centimeters. In the adult world championship, he scored 18 points, the most in the team, and played an active role as a scoring source for Japanese women.
▼ Minori Yamamoto
23 years old from Kyoto prefecture. I started competing when I was in elementary school, and went on to the powerful Shumei University to strengthen my strength. He scored three goals in the adult world championships, and in the winter of that year he studied abroad in Australia for a short period of time to hone his skills and prepare for the Tokyo tournament.
▼ Maiko Hashida
20 years old from Kyoto prefecture. I started competing when I was in elementary school, and from high school I went on to Shumei Eiko High School, a powerful player in Saitama. Currently, I am honing my skills at Nippon Sport Science University. His characteristic is a sharp shot from his right arm, and he scored 5 goals in the adult world championship.
▼ Hanako Kawaguchi
21 years old from Yamaguchi prefecture. I started playing water polo when I was in elementary school. I haven't played a match with the top Japanese national team yet, and I have improved my strength at the powerful Nippon Sport Science University. This is my first time to participate in the Olympics.
▼ Kaho Iwano
21 years old from Mie prefecture. I started playing water polo when I was in elementary school. From Saitama's powerful Shumei Eiko High School to Shumei University, I have grown my strength. It has a high defensive power in front of the goal. I haven't played for the top Japanese national team yet, and this is my first time to participate in the Olympics.
▼ Eigetsu Ura
18 years old from Ishikawa prefecture. I started playing water polo when I was in elementary school. This is a growing first-year college student who entered the powerful Shumei University, and has a dynamic play that makes the best use of his height of 1 meter and 69 centimeters. I haven't played for the top Japanese national team yet, and this is my first time to participate in the Olympics.
▼ Kyoko Kudo
20 years old from Fukuoka prefecture. A third-year college student who has grown up at the powerful Nippon Sport Science University, he has a characteristic of counter-attacks that make the most of his speed. I haven't played for the top Japanese national team yet, and this is my first time to participate in the Olympics.
▼ Marina Tokuyo
, 25 years old from Ishikawa prefecture. I started competing when I was in junior high school, and in high school I went on to Saitama's powerful Shumei Eiko High School to improve my skills. The position is center back, which is the key to defense, and it is a belief that a bullish defense will stand up against foreign players without hesitation.
▼ Rikako Miura
31 years old from Yamagata prefecture. I continue to compete while serving as a physical education teacher at a high school in Yokohama. The position is a goalkeeper, and he first became a representative of Japan in 2008 while attending the powerful Nippon Sport Science University, and has been playing as a guardian deity of Japanese women for a long time since then.