Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympics: Team Japan

The Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games start this week and in the lead up, we will take a look at all the National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) competing. Next up is Team Japan.

Team Japan will be represented by one wheelchair curling team: Team Ogawa/Nakajima (mixed doubles).

Team Ogawa/Nakajima: Japan’s long‑awaited return to Paralympic curling

Mixed doubles has been viewed as an avenue to help smaller countries become better-represented in curling — but its inclusion at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games means the return of one of the sport’s most-established nations.

Japan has competed just once in Paralympic curling, back in Vancouver 2010, where their four-person team finished in last place, being one of five teams with three victories, but with just one win from four in the head-to-head.

Having qualified for three consecutive World Wheelchair Curling Championships in the run-up to those Games, they would not return until after Beijing 2022. They placed twelfth in 2023, before finishing ninth last year. This would not be enough to make it in the four-person event, but they were making an impact in the two-person.

Bringing Japanese wheelchair curling into the spotlight

Ogawa Aki and Nakajima Yoji subtly brought wheelchair curling into the spotlight after years in the shadow of their non-wheelchair compatriots, who had stood on the women’s Olympic podium just four years ago.

Two years ago, the duo defeated the top seeds United States in the quarter-finals of the 2024 World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling Championships, but suffered back-to-back losses to China in the semi-finals, and to Italy in the bronze medal game.

A year later, they made history.

They defeated both China and United States in the round-robin, vital victories that saw them progress on head-to-head record, having suffered a shock loss to bottom-of-the-table Brazil. Defeating Canada and Estonia in the play-offs, they defeated Scotland 11-2 to win Japan’s first-ever world title in curling. Making it to the final also ensured the country would return to the Paralympics in the sport for the first time in 16 years.

After the final, Nakajima said, “I can’t believe that we did it; maybe I’ll believe it when I’ll have the medal around my neck.”

“I was excited throughout the game,” added Ogawa.

“Last year we missed out on a medal, but we trained harder and we made it.”

Team Ogawa/Nakajima win gold at World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2025 © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

Meet the team

Team Ogawa/Nakajima

Ogawa Aki

Age: 50
Paralympic Appearances: 2010 (10th)
Fun fact: She will be one of the flag bearers for Japan at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympics Opening Ceremony.

Yoji Nakajima

Age: 61
Paralympic Appearances: 2010 (10th)
Fun fact: He was the skip for Japan during the 2010 Paralympics, the country’s only other appearance. He is Japan’s oldest Paralympian this year.

QUALIFICATION

The Japanese mixed doubles team secured their spot at Milano Cortina 2026 through their points earned at the 2023, 2024 and 2025 World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling Championships.

They placed fifth on the Paralympic rankings with a total of 22 points.

TEAM STATS

2025 World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles champions

New challenges and new memories

But Ogawa and Nakajima are no strangers to the occasion. They were both part of that rink that took the ice all those years ago in Canada. Now, 50 and 61 respectively, they look to go much further in the tournament than they did in the mixed team.

“Back in Vancouver, our aim was just to compete,” said Nakajima in an interview with Kyodo News,“This time is different.”

It will be a different experience for Ogawa in particular. While Nakajima skipped in 2010, she was still the alternate in a team that featured one of the oldest-ever Paralympians, the 75-year-old, Takashi Hidai. Soon, she was part of that quartet and with the introduction of the mixed doubles discipline post-pandemic, Ogawa partnered with Nakajima in a bid to make it to Milano Cortina 2026.

“We wanted to challenge ourselves to become better,” said Ogawa.

“Each and every match will be important.”

It will be important for her to have more playing time this time around, but she will also have the honour of being one of the nation’s flagbearers for the Opening Ceremony.

“I feel both the joy and the weight of carrying the Japanese flag,” she said.

Ogawa Aki at the World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2025 © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

Paralympic legacy continues in Japan

An important word to remember is “legacy”. Often thrown around excessively, but Japan embraced accessibility improvements when hosting the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, which transport and accommodation infrastructure improving, as well as public spaces and the public perception. All of this has not only helped Para sport improve, but it has made the athletes’ lives outside the field of play better too.

Once again, Japan’s oldest team member will be one of the curlers, with Nakajima now 61 and the pair being one of the oldest mixed doubles teams on the circuit.

And despite that, they continue to find higher peaks — a perfect time to bring excitement back to wheelchair curling in a nation that has a rich history on the sheet.