Jumpei Furuya won the men's triathlon at the Asian Games on Saturday, giving Japan its second individual triathlon gold medal in as many days in Indonesia.

A day after Yuko Takahashi won the women's event, Furuya won a tight race that came down to the final 10-kilometer run, holding onto his lead until he reached the finish line at JSC Lake Jakabaring in Palembang in 1 hour, 49 minutes, 43 seconds.

"I can't be happier. Winning here was my biggest goal of the season," Furuya said.

"Being able to win a gold medal will definitely be a confidence boost for the Tokyo Olympics (in 2020)," he said.

Furuya was part of the lead group after the 1.5-km swim, and by the time he finished the 40-km bike he pulled clear of the seven-man pack. In the run he managed to create a gap over Kazakhstan's Ayan Beisenbayev, who came home 55 seconds later for silver.

China's Li Mingxu clocked 1:50:49 for bronze and Makoto Odakura, also representing Japan, finished seventh.

At the last two Asian Games, Japan completed a clean sweep of the triathlon gold and silver medals in the men's and women's races.

At the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, Japan also captured gold in the mixed relay, an event that was not held at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

The mixed relay final will take place Sunday, the final day of the 16-day competition.