TABLE TENNIS PLAYERS from Japan

Top 8

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Japanese Table Tennis Players of all time. This list of famous Japanese Table Tennis Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Ai Fukuhara (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 35.84, Ai Fukuhara is the most famous Japanese Table Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages on wikipedia.

Ai Fukuhara (福原 愛, Fukuhara Ai, born 1 November 1988) is a retired Japanese table tennis player and Olympic medalist, winning silver at the 2012 Summer Olympics and bronze at the 2016 Summer Olympics with the Japanese women's team. She is sponsored by All Nippon Airways.

2. Jun Mizutani (b. 1989)

With an HPI of 34.28, Jun Mizutani is the 2nd most famous Japanese Table Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Jun Mizutani (水谷 隼, Mizutani Jun, born 9 June 1989) is a retired Japanese table tennis player and Olympic champion. He became the youngest Japanese national champion at the age of 17. He has the distinction of being the first male singles titlist to achieve five consecutive national championships: 2007 to 2011. Throughout his career, Mizutani competed in 4 Olympic games from 2008 to 2020. After defeating Vladimir Samsonov for the bronze medal by 4–1 in the 2016 Summer Olympics, he finally seized his first singles medal in the three main international tournaments. It was also the first Olympic table tennis singles medal of his country. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Mizutani and Mima Ito won gold in the inaugural mixed doubles event.

3. Koki Niwa (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 33.01, Koki Niwa is the 3rd most famous Japanese Table Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Koki Niwa (丹羽 孝希, Niwa Kōki, born 10 October 1994) is a Japanese male table tennis player. He is the gold medalist at the 2010 Youth Olympics and he won the World Junior Table Tennis Championships in 2010 (doubles) and 2011 (singles). On 21 April 2012, he defeated Ma Long of China, World Rank no 1, which he became the first player qualified for 2012 Olympics from the Asian Olympic Qualifiers. Since 2012, he has been playing for the German Team TTC matec Frickenhausen. He also won the 2014 Russian Open singles title.

4. Kasumi Ishikawa (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 31.07, Kasumi Ishikawa is the 4th most famous Japanese Table Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Kasumi Ishikawa (石川 佳純, Ishikawa Kasumi) (born 23 February 1993) is a retired Japanese table tennis player. A regular member of the Japanese national team, she won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, a bronze at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Women's team. She is a left-handed inverted rubber shakehand player who primarily uses speedy top-spins and loops in offensive play.

5. Mima Ito (b. 2000)

With an HPI of 30.54, Mima Ito is the 5th most famous Japanese Table Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Mima Ito (伊藤 美誠, Itō Mima, born 21 October 2000) is a Japanese table tennis player. She won a bronze medal in the Women's Team event at the 2016 Summer Olympics at age 15. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, she won the gold medal with her partner Jun Mizutani in the inaugural mixed doubles event, bronze in women's singles, and silver in the women's team event. Often termed as the 'greatest threat' to Chinese table tennis dominance, Ito Mima has the highest winning rate against Chinese players in the history of women's table tennis. She has a winning record against several top Chinese players, including world champion Liu Shiwen, former world no. 1 Zhu Yuling, and world junior champion Qian Tianyi. Her signature playing style entails lethal shovel serves, fast short-pimpled backhand punches, and flat forehand smashes. In March 2020 at the Qatar Open, Ito Mima recorded a 4–0 win against reigning Olympic champion Ding Ning in the semifinals. Notably, she won the third set 11–0, the first time a non-Chinese player won a set 11–0 against a Chinese player.

6. Sayaka Hirano (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 27.67, Sayaka Hirano is the 6th most famous Japanese Table Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Sayaka Hirano (平野 早矢香, Hirano Sayaka, born 24 March 1985) is a Japanese five-time national table tennis champion. She competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, reaching the third round of the singles competition. She also competed in the team competition, reaching the bronze medal final but losing to South Korea. At the 2012 London Olympics Women's Team Event semi-finals, she helped Japan overcome Singapore to reach their historic first final by winning her doubles match with Kasumi Ishikawa over Wang Yuegu and Li Jiawei (11-3, 13-11 and 11–4). Japan failed to beat China in the final, but won the first ever silver medal for their country in table tennis. In March 2016, it was announced that she would be retiring after the Japanese Table Tennis League Big Tournament in April. She was beaten in the first round by Yuko Fujii and after the match, she said, "I feel I’ve done everything, I might have wanted to play a little better match. I’ve gone into each match thinking as if it were the last, and managed to end without any regrets". After her retirement as a professional table tennis player, she has become a familiar face in Japanese households as a TV presenter and table tennis sportscaster. She is also an adviser for table tennis club MIKI House.

7. Miu Hirano (b. 2000)

With an HPI of 26.16, Miu Hirano is the 7th most famous Japanese Table Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Miu Hirano (平野 美宇, Hirano Miu) (born 14 April 2000) is a Japanese table tennis player. She won Women's World Cup in 2016 as the youngest ever winner. She won the women's singles at the 2017 Asian Table Tennis Championships by sweeping away three top Chinese players. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, winning a silver medal in women's team event.

8. Maharu Yoshimura (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 23.74, Maharu Yoshimura is the 8th most famous Japanese Table Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Maharu Yoshimura (吉村 真晴, Yoshimura Maharu, born 3 August 1993) is a Japanese table tennis player.