Japan at the 1928 Summer Olympics Japan at the 1928 Summer Olympics The Empire of Japan competed at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Japan Amateur Athletic Federation ("Nihon Rikujo Kyogi Renmei"), founded in 1925, officially took over sponsorship of the Japanese Olympic team from the Japan Amateur Athletic Association in 1928. Japanese government sponsorship of the Olympic effort continued, both financially, and through expansion of the annual Meiji Shrine Games to include a wider variety of sports, including archery, basketball, field hockey, rowing, table tennis, volleyball and equestrian sports. The games became the qualifying event for the Japanese Olympic team, which now for
Olympic Games in the opening ceremony. Though the flame has been an Olympic symbol since 1928, the torch relay was only introduced at the 1936 Summer Games to promote the Third Reich. The Olympic mascot, an animal or human figure representing the cultural heritage of the host country, was introduced in 1968. It has played an important part of the Games' identity promotion since the 1980 Summer Olympics, when the Russian bear cub Misha reached international stardom. The mascot of the Summer Olympics in London was named Wenlock after the town of Much Wenlock in Shropshire. Much Wenlock still hosts the Wenlock