Mixed doubles is making its debut on the Olympic programme here and the first final was fitting of the occasion as it went into a seventh and final game.

Mizutani and Ito needed to bounce back from 2-0 down against China's top seeds Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen.

They went into a 3-2 lead before the Chinese struck back to send it to a decider.

The home pair sensationally raced into an 8-0 lead in the seventh and closed out the match 5-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6.

Japan had never won an Olympic gold in table tennis before the match, and Mizutani and Ito had lost all three of their previous meetings against Xu and Liu.

"China has beaten us so many times at the Olympics and at the World Championships," said Mizutani. 

"I think we were able to avenge all those losses here at the Tokyo Games.

"I'm really happy."

Ito added: "I'm really, really, really happy. 

"We were able to enjoy ourselves up to the very end because everyone, including our team staff, cheered us on."

Xu and Liu both won Olympic gold medals at Rio 2016 in team competitions.

Chinese Taipei's Yun Ju Lin and Ching I Cheng won bronze.

They triumphed 4-0 in straight games against Emmanuel Lebesson and Jia Nan Yuan of France, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8, 11-5.