The Japanese Olympic delegation head on Sunday said he hopes the host nation's record Tokyo Games medal haul further ingrains sport into the country's psyche and inspires younger generations to overcome challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Japan set new Olympic medal tally records of 27 gold and 58 medals overall, and although it did not quite reach the original Japanese Olympic Committee target of 30 gold, the delegation said the legacy left is important.
"The impact is huge, mentally, I'm sure children in elementary and junior high school have found an athlete or a team they admire and that will be a legacy. Having a wonderful athlete come from them will also be a legacy," Japan team Deputy Chef de Mission Mitsugi Ogata said.
"It's important to carry it over to (future Olympics in) Paris and Los Angeles...We'll strive to keep developing athletes who have both sporting and human qualities we desire," Ogata said.
After winning 17 gold by the end of July, led by judo's nine, to pass the previous record of 16 set at the 1964 Tokyo and the 2004 Athens Games, Japan added 10 more this month.
The Kawai sisters, Risako and Yukako, were among five to win in wrestling, while Sena Irie took the women's boxing featherweight gold. Daiki Hashimoto secured his second gymnastics gold in the horizontal bar having already won the individual all-around.
Sakura Yosozumi won skateboarding gold in the women's park, Ryo Kiyuna did the same in men's kata karate, another new Olympic sport, before Japan won its first baseball gold on the sport's return to the Olympic fold.
"We've managed to produce a result nearly as good as what we'd targeted, but under the circumstances that is something we did not expect," Ogata said.
"After receiving an unrivaled scale of support from the government and partner companies, we were able to repay their best-ever support with best-ever results. We pay respect to those who developed the athletes across the country, and send a wholehearted word of thanks to the public for its support."
Ogata said mutual cooperation between the national federations and the Japanese Olympic Committee played a part in combatting the summer heat with athletics and triathlon among 15 bodies who shared information on countermeasures.
He also said the inspiration provided by athletes' performances can be "an engine" to drive more people to become involved in sport, bringing more advertising revenue, longer-lived people and a reduction in healthcare costs in the long run.
"No one expected Japan to play the United States in the (final of the) women's basketball, but they showed it can be achieved with time and passion," Ogata said.
"Each athlete did their best to abide by the many (coronavirus) rules and the behavior of each and every one of them inspired trust and a sense of pride," Japan team Chef de Mission Tsuyoshi Fukui said.
"I believe the athletes' sincere efforts to battle through the games is a demonstration of their gratitude... and has moved people's hearts, if only by a little."
