Tomokazu Harimoto, Hina Hayata and Miu Hirano are among eight players to represent Japan at the inaugural table tennis Mixed Team World Cup in China next month.
The Japan Table Tennis Association said Monday the team's four men are world No. 9 Harimoto, Shunsuke Togami, Ryoichi Yoshiyama and Kakeru Sone, and the four women are world No. 5 Hayata, Hirano, Miyuu Kihara and Miwa Harimoto.
The Japanese governing body once decided against taking part as it struggled to find three willing men and women due to individual ranking points not being awarded by the International Table Tennis Federation, as well as scheduling clashes with the Dec. 4-10 event in Chengdu.
China responded to the JTTA's initial decision by withdrawing its players from Japan's T-League professional competition.
But China reversed the measure when Japan opted to participate after points were made available by the ITTF.