Wheelchair racer Tomoki Sato delivered Japan's second gold medal of the Tokyo Paralympics on Friday, adding to a silver and bronze for his country on the same National Stadium track earlier in the day.
Sato made a heroic charge down the final straight to claim the first gold of his Paralympic career, adding it to the two silvers he won in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
"The start and first half of the race was at a faster pace than I had expected. It was a tight battle and that made it a little difficult to settle into a rhythm," Sato said.
The gold medal is Japan's first in athletics at the Tokyo Paralympics and moved the host nation up to 13th on the medal table at the end of competition on Friday.
Hirokazu Ueyonabaru followed Sato home to take bronze, the 50-year-old's second Paralympic medal and first since 2008.
In the morning session at the athletics track, long-distance pair Kenya Karasawa and Shinya Wada won men's silver and bronze, respectively, over 5,000 meters.
The visually impaired T11 runners and their guides were beaten by Yeltsin Jacques as the Brazilian was able to hold off a late-race charge by Karasawa.
"I am disappointed with silver because I had my eye on gold but I ran my race as planned," said Karasawa.
"One major thing I can take away from the race is that I was able to battle to the front in the last lap and put in a performance that I can use (as experience) in the future."
At judo, Yujiro Seto won his way to the 66-kilogram bronze medal bout via the repechage and then beat Georgia's Giorgi Gamjashvili for the medal.
The 21-year-old B3 class visually impaired athlete from Itoshima, Fukuoka Prefecture, won by ippon.
Japan's wheelchair rugby team claimed the huge scalp of two-time defending Paralympic champions Australia, pushing to a 57-53 win that kept their three-game winning streak alive and booked them a place in the semifinals.
The home nation's three-pronged attack led by Daisuke Ikezaki's 24 tries, 14 from Shinichi Shimakawa and 12 from Yukinobu Ike proved too much to handle for Australia.
The Southern Hemisphere team got 30 tries from juggernaut Ryley Batt and 16 from Chris Bond, but little else from their supporting cast.
Japan will face Britain in the semifinals after the Europeans lost to the United States later in the day. Australia will need to beat the Americans to reach a fourth straight gold medal match.
Yuto Sano's 37-point outing helped Japan's men's goalball team to its second win in as many games, this time with an 11-1 defeat of the United States while the women now have a one-draw, one-loss record after their match against Brazil finished 4-4.
Japan remains at the top of its pool in the women's wheelchair basketball but was handed a major reality check by Canada in the form of a 61-35 defeat, the host country's first loss of these games.
The team went ice-cold from the floor in the defeat, shooting 16-for-62, with only Ikumi Fujii breaking into double-figures with 10 points.
The men's wheelchair basketball team did what the women could not, keeping its record unblemished with a 59-52 win over South Korea.
Reo Fujimoto was a standout, scoring 21 points on 71 percent shooting while Kei Akita chipped in 17 points.
Takashi Sanada earned Japan's first wheelchair tennis win, taking a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Carlos Anker of the Netherlands.
The 36-year-old, who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident, is the ninth seed in the Tokyo men's singles tournament and is looking to better the round of 16 exits he made at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics.
The Sanada-Anker match was one of just a few that went ahead on schedule at Ariake Tennis Park as soaring temperatures caused delays on all the outdoor courts.
Japan's sitting volleyball teams were both defeated 3-0, the men going down to the Russian Paralympic Committee and the women to Italy.
