The Japanese Team entered home after the 5th East Asian Games, held from December 5-13, 2009 in Hong Kong (HKG). 34 swimmers (19 men and 15 women) and eight divers (four men, four women) took part in the competition. The Japanese delegation came home with 19 gold medals. The Games were attended by over 2,300 top athletes from nine countries of the region: China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Hong Kong, Macau, DPR Korea, Chinese Taipei and Guam. 22 sports were represented in these Games and more than 1,700 international journalists were accredited to the competition. Overall, China was very strong and dominated the operations.